Kenny Penman, FPI director & publisher of Blank Slate Books: I love the three volumes in this series, Peggy Adams’ Plus ou moins.  I freely admit I love it for the art – I can’t read a word! (on which note Peggy has some lovely art to browse on her website here)

(cover artwork for Plus ou moins…: L’Automne by and (c) Peggy Adams, published Les Éditions Atrabile)

And another I loved purely for the artwork is Sergent Laterreur by Touïs and Frydman, published by the famous L’Association:

Ian Rankin, bestselling author and long-time comics fan: My French was never really up to BD! I used to get Echo des Savane, which had BD and features. My son got into a kids’ BD called Kid Paddle, about a kid who lives his life as though in a video game. A lot of the jokes were visual and I became a fan. (Ian’s latest novel, Doors Open, is published by Orion and you can read a special Inspector Rebus short story here)

(cover to L’Echo des Savanes: Le Strip-Tease de Douze, from August 1989, cover by Wolinski, borrowed from the BD oubliées website)

Alex Fitch, broadcaster & reviewer of films & comics: The original Incal series first printed in the UK by Titan Books in the late 1980s was probably my first introduction to bande dessinée and to this day is still one of my favourites. I have to admit I probably wouldn’t have bought it if I didn’t have some strange desire to buy all of Titan’s Graphic Novels in the 80s, but I absolutely loved it when it came out – the heady mix of Science-Fiction, Fantasy and a quest for identity in an alien world. Moebius’ work on the title is some of the finest of his career, no doubt inspired by Alejandro Jodorowsky’s rich and enigmatic scripts. It was probably the first time I saw nudity in comics, which combined with the intelligent story telling made me realise I was reading SF for adults, something that would go on to inform my enjoyment of Warren Ellis’ comics work but something I’ve rarely found in moving pictures. It’s no surprise that the creators tried to sue Luc Besson for similarities between The Incal and The Fifth Element; at least William Gibson and Ridley Scott admitted Moebius influence on the birth of cyberpunk…

(cover to L’Incal 1: L’Incal Noir, by Moebius and Alexandro Jodorowsky, published Humanoïdes Associés)

The original Incal’s 6 volumes tell an amazing adventure of mind altering experiences, strange characters and creatures and have a dreamlike quality I’ve rarely seen in other comics. I hope some English language publisher picks up the rights to the sequels, as I’d love to see how the series ends. I didn’t search out the prequel as The Metabarons never struck me as the most interesting parts of the story, particularly without Moebius’ involvement, but now Ladronn is drawing the final volumes, I’m looking forward to diving into the ‘Jodoverse’ once again… (Alex’s recent pieces are available as podcasts now, including theincluding the Gerald Scarfe special, Oscar Trillo and a Doctor Who celebration)

Pat Mills, writer, editor, Brit comics icon: Conquering Armies – Jean-Claude Gal and Jean-Pierre Dionnet . It came out in the 1970s from Metal Hurlant. There’s probably a collected edition out there of this massive book. I love it for all the reasons some Brit comic fans dislike it. It’s very detailed black and white with fabulous fantasy backgrounds that take me to the movies. There’s no main character, but this is compensated for by the stories and the tone which have a unique and magical ambience of their own.

(beautifully detailed interior art from Conquering Armies by Jean-Claude Gal and Jean-Pierre Dionnet, published Metal Hurlant and  later in English by Heavy Metal)

No super heroes here, no “McDonalds” quick black and white style and minimal backgrounds – this is a true labour of love. I recall Brit fans particularly disliked it because they thought it was “stiff”. They’re probably right and it matters not a jot to my appreciation of this brilliant work. It was my bible for art style on the early Slaines and a key source of inspiration for it . It still inspires me on my current French series – Requiem Vampire Knight.(the first two volumes of Pat’s Requiem Vampire Knight have been translated and published in English, with two more due this autumn. The Savage Critics has a good article on Conquering Armies, which appears to be out of print at the moment)

Matthew Badham, freelance writer and reviewer: I don’t really know that much about French comics. What I’ve seen, I like a lot.  One that I did pick up a few years ago is Maybe Later by (the Angoulême winning) Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian. They normally collaborate on a series called Monsieur Jean, but in Maybe Later, they’re working separately. It’s supposedly a journal of their experience of crafting a Monsieur Jean book, but it’s actually much more than that. It takes in their everyday lives, working processes and their doubts and insecurities about their respective places in the world. It also gives a glimpse ‘behind the scenes’ of the French comics industry, which I found fascinating. A cracking book, thoroughly recommended; Drawn and Quarterly translated it a few years ago into English and you can read a preview on the D&Q site.

Joe Gordon, editor FP blog: I was pondering which French comic to pick for my choice for today – Asterix seemed like an obvious choice, being the first French comic I (and I suspect many others) read, picked up alongisde the Tintin albums in the local library (they were also the first comics I tried to read actually in the French language as they were sometimes used in school classes too). I also thought about the excellent Guy Delisle (yes, I know, French Canadian, but still counts, surely?) for his excellent travel lit comics. But in the end I settled on Jacques Tardi, partly because I have long admired his work, partly because he is able to tackle different subject matters very well (from the action-adventure of Adele Blanc-Sec to hard boiled crime like West Coast Blues) and because with the always fine folks at Fantagraphics translating and publishing Tardi’s work in English several of his works are now easily accessible even to anyone who doesn’t read a word of French. A long-standing interest in the history of World War One and his own family history lead to his It Was the War of the Trenches, recently published in English and one of the most interesting comics on the period since Charley’s War in my book (reviewed here).

Garen Ewing, creator of the delightful Rainbow Orchid (a solid FP blog fave): Asterix was my introduction to comics and has remained with me ever since I first read it in the early 70s. My first book was ‘Asterix and the Roman Agent’ and I still think it is one of the very best of the series that Goscinny and Uderzo produced. Recently I’ve been looking again at Yves Chaland’s Freddy Lombard. My introduction to this character was via the pages of Heavy Metal in the 80s, and was probably the first time I was aware of a clear-line style beyond Hergé.

Just looking at his pages makes my heart beat faster! My third pick would be the work of Lewis Trondheim, which I didn’t come to until the early 2000s after I was sent a little sample collection of his work by NBM. I’ve become slightly obsessed by the Dungeon series but also really like the adventure of McConey the rabbit. I must also mention Tardi’s Adele Blanc-Sec – I picked up the Beast/Eiffel Tower books on a trip to New York in the late 90s and am full of anticipation for the new film from Luc Besson. Thank heavens for bande dessinée! Salut!

(Josette salutes the French Tricolor in this lovely sketch by Garen Ewing)

Andy Diggle, writer extraordinaire and one man who doesn’t mind being called a Loser: My bande dessinée pick for Bastille Day is Colin Wilson’s Dans L’Ombre Du Soleil trilogy from Glenat.

And in an extra Gallic-themed treat we’ve got Les Deux Robs – that’s Robs Davis and Jackson – who have very kindly sketched a couple of their favourite characters from French comics. Rob Jackson offers us up this cool depiction of an attacking Marvin from the popular Dungeon series:

(attacking Marvin from the Dungeon series, art by and (c) Rob Jackson)

And Rob Davis whips up a fab cover for an imaginary Tintin adventure, with something of a Mignola influence added to the Herge magic, methinks (suddenly I have an urge for a Hellboy/Tintin team-up!):

(art by and (c) Rob Davis, Tintin created by Herge and (c) Moulinsart)

And back to Garen Ewing once again (and why not?) for this cracking sketch of one of my favourite French comics creators’ characters, Jacques Tardi’s Adele Blanc-Sec (we can’t wait for the UK release of the film version and Fanta’s new printed editions):

(Adele Blanc-Sec sketch by Garen Ewing, Blanc-Sec created by and (c) Tardi)

And Geraint Ford takes a play on Major Grubert by the legendary Moebius, filtered via the cover design for Darwyn Cooke’s Parker (now that’s quite a mash-up combo!):

And a nice treat from Faz Choudhury -  PI Bob Fish and his assistant Le Jeune Albert, created by the great Yves Chaland:

Monsieur Feraille by Winschluss and Cizo – If you combine a vitriolic feeling for satire, a fanatical knowledge of pop culture and an amazingly versatile graphical style, you get Monsieur Feraille.  He is the Tin Man gone bad, Mickey Mouse when the masks come off.  Monsieur Feraille embodies all that is evil in today’s society : violence, exploitation, polution and unbridled egotism.

Les Frustrés by Claire Bretécher – This series of gag strips, which started in Le Nouvel Observateur in 1973, is the ultimate chronicle of the left-wing revolutionaries of May 68.  In an almost surgical way, Bretécher shows them and their failed dreams as they are : more or less educated, more or less middle-class, more or less emancipated, but above all : bored and dissatisfied.

Les Amis by François Ayroles – If ever there was a comic equivalent of Jean-Paul Sartre’s “L’enfer, c’est les autres” (“Hell, that’s all the others”), it’s this small book.  Ayroles traces the friendships of a number of young men and women in a French city, and shows that social discourse is awkward by definition, nobody is honest, everybody is looking out for number one and friendship is an illusion.  Check my earlier review for more.

Ma Maman Est En Amérique, Elle A Rencontreé Buffalo Bill by Jean Regnaud and Emile Bravo -Little Jean’s mother has died, and his father hasn’t had the courage to tell him.  She is supposed to be in America, that mythical land of dreams and opportunities.  Slowly though, Jean discovers that many of his dreams are false, and that this discovery is all part of growing up. (Fanfare/Ponent Mon published an English language edition of this too – Joe)

Un Homme Est Mort by Kris and Etienne Davodeau – After the Second World War, the city of Brest is one big (re)construction site, where thousands of workmen toil to build a city of the future.  When they go on strike for better working conditions, they are met with brutal reprisals.  This book shows the origins of the intense opposition between left and right, which would dominate French politics for the rest of the 20th Century.

Les Petits Ruissiaux by Rabaté – One hot summer somewhere in the French Province (i.e. not in Paris), and old man who thought his life was over and all he could expect was fishing and dying, finds adventure, new experiences and love through a series of accidental occurances.  It’s a french movie on paper : talkative, slightly humorous, only registering what’s happening – a great, great comic.

La 2,333e Dimension by Marc-Antoine Mathieu – Jules Corentin Acquefacques, Mathieu’s hero, doesn’t have adventures like a normal comic book hero.  Instead, he struggles with all the formal aspects of the medium : perspective, color, linearity, the confinement of the strip and the page.  Formalistic to the extrem, these books never fail to be funny and exciting.

Et voila, there you have it.  Fourteen BD that to me, say “France”.  Naturally, I will have forgotten most of the titles that you had expected here.  So, why not draw up your own list ?  I’m not going anywhere.

Astérix Le Gaulois by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo – I don’t think I’d be able to credibly give my list of 14 great French BD without including Astérix.  Everything I know about France, about regional differences and specialties, and about man’s pettiness in general, I learned from the little gaul.  This series (well, let’s say up and until Astérix et les Belges) is the best satire on life in Western Europe in the 20th Century bar none.

Blueberry by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud – It would seem to me that the US would rather limit Gir’s output to the sci-fi work he did as Moebius, but I prefer the raw Western saga about the very flawed Lieutenant Blueberry, the stubbled lonesome cowboy who really shoots faster than his shadow — to kill.  When read from first to last, this series shows French comics growing up in terms of content, theme and graphical prowess.  Start with Angel Face or Ballade Pour Un Cerceuil.

Monsieur Jean by Dupuy and Berbérian – This is the ongoing chronicle of an up-and-coming famous author in Paris, his struggle to make it in the literary world, and his continuing battle with the world around him, with women, children, friends and passers-by.  What makes this series interesting is not just the sitcom-like atmosphere, or the great 60s-like art that both authors contribute to, but the fact that Jean, although an everyman, grows from book to book.  He overcomes his fears, changes his views, and generally finds his way.  Also try Dupuy and Berbérian’s Journal d’un Album, one of the best accounts of what it takes to create a real good comic.

Route De Nuit by Jean Graton – Rather than fast cars, advertising and ludicrous sound effects, this early episode in the long-running series Michel Vaillant is about honesty, friendship and growing up.  It’s set amongs those other knights of the road : cross-country truckers.  In the early ’60′s France was still a large country, and in this book, these distances play an important part.  It also taught me that crime is often a last resort for desperate people.

L’Aigle Sans Orteils by Lax – Continuing the vast distances theme, this book chronicles the early years of one of the most heroic sports events ever : the Tour de France.  Before high-tech bikes or multi-million dollar advertising deals, the Tour was a battle against technical failure, the elements and your own human weakness.  When it ended in glory, that glory was immense.  When it ended in failure, that failure was bottomless.  I wrote about this book earlier for the blog.

L’Ascension du Haut Mal by David B – This six-part series tells the story of how the author’s family learned to cope with his brother’s epilepsy, but it is much more than that.  David B also draws a quite revealing portrait of what it means to be young in the 1970′s, when all traditions were questioned and new life was an experiment.  The book is also a great experience in terms of graphical style, which is at once naive and brutally realistic, and exquisitely combines real life elements with the world of dreams and the subconscious.

Approximativement by Lewis Trondheim – The ultimate autobiographical graphic novel, in which BD powerhouse Trondheim broadly exhibits all his frustrations, obsessions, fears and shames.  Rather than his Petits Riens webcomics, I choose this, as it shows how Trondheim develops as an artist, but also as a storyteller.  The book also paints a fascinating picture of the Paris comic world, and of the early years of  l’Association, the revolutionary small press that Trondheim helped found.

(this is a new one for me – slash type comics fiction involving two of the French Revolution’s major figures, Robespierre and Saint-Just, enjoying the the fraternising bit of liberty, equality and fraternity, in this page from Deviant Art member myst-walker-in-gray’s French Revolution series, (c) myst)

Okay, its not a Bastille Day cartoon, but I quite liked the artwork so I thought I’d share it today – it was on a wine bottle cover in my local French deli/restaurant and they were kind enough to let me take a pic for my Flickr when it caught my eye. Vive la revolution! Wanders off for a nice brioche…