[WhiteWarrior]

The Tintin and Asterix series were two Belgian and French series I grew up with too, along with Gaston and Sprint. The two latter might have other names depending on the languages of the many countries they were published in. They are all part of the postwar European comic book wave. With the exception of Gaston (who was usually singlepagers) all the series were always full album size, and printed on high quality paper. By comparison most of the American series of that time, DC and Marvel titles like Batman and Superman and Fantastic Four, were mostly on low quality pulp paper and using the minimum of three-color-mix raster quality if they were not simply printed in black and white. My country's libraries were always keeping those four labels on stock and they were usually read to rags.

But there were other differences between European and American series than printing quality. American characters were largely Superheroes, or so it seemed, while the European ones were mostly 'normal' guys (Obelix excepted, he fell into the druid's kettle as a kid...) ending up in adventures by accident. And the many superhero series, spearheaded by Stan Lee, were generally trying to be realistic if very very muscled, while the European ones were more slapstick both in humor and drawing style.

Both groups have their advantages. Batman could never have been French, he would not have seen the point in wearing a costume more elaborate than sunglasses. And the US could not have have produced a blonde teenager in tweed and v-sweater casually walking around alone in the deepest Africa. If Superman had been created in Germany he'd have had a swastika on his chest, and Donald Duck made in Belgium would have had pants and a calm temperament.

If I am to pick one favorite though it would have to be the Asterix series, who are placed mostly in Rome and France and Europe about 2000 years ago. The history research put into each of the the 15 first albums or so is astounding. Clothing, food, local customs, relations, socializing and of course history makes these innocuous books into a well camouflaged history course - with warm humor as an addition. I recommend the Asterix series with all its joys to both small and big readers.