Boule et Bill

• Format — Bande dessinée • Publisher — Dupuis, Dargaud (in French) Cinebook Ltd (in English) • Date — 1959–present • Main Char Team — Boule, Bill • Writers — Jean Roba (until 2003) • Artists — Jean Roba • Creators — Jean Roba, Maurice Rosy

Boule et Bill first appeared in the Belgian comics magazine Spirou on December 24, 1959. The ambition was to make a sort of European Peanuts. The debut was made in a so-called mini-récit (mini-story), a story in 32 very small pages, printed on the inner spread of the magazine. Roba had until then mainly made illustrations for the magazine and had helped some other authors (including André Franquin), and now started with his own series. A few months later, a four-page comic with the same heroes appeared, and shortly thereafter Roba created a weekly one page comic. For the next twenty-five years, Boule et Bill was one of the most popular series of the magazine, and appeared mostly on the back cover. From 1961 to 1965, the strip appeared in British comic Valiant, renamed It's A Dog's Life. Boule's name was changed to Pete and Bill's was changed to Larry. Apart from those changes this strip was mostly the same. 21 Albums were edited by Dupuis until 1985, containing one long story and some 800 gags. Thereafter, Roba changed from editor, moving to Dargaud. In 2006, Jean Roba died, but he had announced that he wanted the series to be continued, and had appointed Verron as his successor.

Boule et Bill relates the homely adventures of seven-year-old boy Boule and his dog Bill, a Cocker Spaniel, as well as that of Boule's mother and father and Caroline the turtle. Bill, while slightly anthropomorphized, basically acts as a normal dog, and the whole series places comical adventures in the realistic setting of a normal family in a normal town, with normal lives. Most of the gags happen in or around the house, but also include an almost yearly holiday setting with the family travelling away from home, usually at the beach.

• Illustration — Statue of Boule & Bill in Jette, Belgium • Boule is a young boy, always dressed in a blue overalls and a yellow T-shirt. He is an ordinary boy who goes to school and has friends with whom he plays a lot. • Bill is a Cocker Spaniel. He can't speak but resorts to many tricks to make himself understood. He can communicate with other animals, such as his best friend, Caroline. He is very resourceful and cunning to find food, likes sleeping on sofas but dislikes bathing. Some of the most recurring gags revolve around Boule and his dad tricking Bill into a bathtub for a reluctant wash. His long ears provide him with many abilities. • Boule's mother stays at home and complies with domestic tasks. Her concerns are to keep the house clean and to prevent disasters from Boule and Bill's ideas. • Boule's father tries to educate his son properly by taking advantage of his questions and blunders. However, he fails most of the time, even if he is quite proud of his personal knowledge. He works for an advertising company, likes gardening and sleeping on the sofa, which is also appreciated by Bill, which provides some recurring gags. • Caroline is a green tortoise who belongs to Boule's family. She lives in the garden. When Bill first met her, he feared she could eat his bones, but was then reassured, for she eats only lettuce. Caroline is insomniac. • Madame Stick is the neighbour of Boule's family. The widow of a colonel, she is very strict and severe. She is the owner of Corporal, a cat who is Bill's arch enemy. • Gérard is a young snobbish boy and owns a dog similar to him. He tries to dwarf Boule and Bill but ends up being overcome by their inventiveness. • Monsieur Coupon-Dubois is the boss of Boule's father. A very respectable man, Boule's father sometimes invites him to his home or is being trusted with precious objects, and finds it difficult to prevent Bill's blunders. • Pouf is Boule's best friend, but is also a rival for Bill, who often teases him. He wears long hair which covers most of his head and a cap. • Hildegarde is Pouf's cousin who lives in the country. She appeared a few times in the series. • Boule's teacher

Boule et Bill were first published by Dupuis in 1959, then from 1988 by Dargaud. • Tel Boule, tel Bill • Boule et Bill déboulent • Les Copains d'abord • Système Bill • Bulle et Bill • Tu te rappelles, Bill? • Bill ou Face • Souvenirs de famille • Le fauve est lâché • Bill, chien modèle • Bill de match • Sieste sur ordonnance • Papa, Maman, Boule et... moi, 1972 • Une vie de chien, 1973 • Attention chien marrant!, 1974 • Jeux de Bill, 1975 • Ce coquin cocker, 1976 • Carnet de Bill, 1976 • Ras le Bill, 1977 • Bill, nom d'un chien!, 1978 • Bill est maboul, 1980 • Globe-trotters, 1982 • Strip-Cocker, 1984 • Billets de Bill, 1987 • Les V'là!, 1999 • Faut rigoler!, 1999 • Bwouf allo Bill?, 1999 • Les Quatre Saisons, 2001 • Quel cirque!, 2003 • La Bande à Bill, 2005 • Graine de cocker, 2007 • Mon meilleur Ami, 2009 • À l'abordage!!, 2011 • Un amour de cocker, 2013 • Roule ma poule!, 2014 • Flair de cocker, 2015 • Bill est un gros rapporteur!, 2016 • Symphonie en Bill majeur, 2017 • Y a d'la promenade dans l'air, 2018 • Bill à facettes, 2019 • Bill se tient à Caro, 2020 • Royal taquin, 2021 • L'échappée Bill, 2022 • Te fais pas d’Bill, 2023 • Bill donne sa langue au chat!, 2024 • Peinture à l'os, 2025

Cinebook has been publishing the books in English, with Boule and Bill renamed Billy and Buddy, respectively. • Remember this, Buddy? – Jun 2009 – • Bored Silly with Billy – Sep 2010 – • Friends First – Jun 2012 – • It's a Dog's Life - Sep 2013 - • Clowning Around - Jun 2014 - • Buddy's Gang - Oct 2016 - • Beware of (Funny) Dog! - Jul 2019 - • Fetch and Carry On - Aug 2022 - The series is translated in about 15 other languages, in which the characters names also vary: • Breton: Boulig ha Billig • Catalan: Bola i Bill • Finnish: Vili & Bill • German: Schnieff und Schnuff • Icelandic: Boule og Bill • Italian: Bill e Bull • Polish: Ptyś i Bill • Spanish: Bill y Bolita • Swedish: Bullen

Boule et Bill is among the best-selling French-language comics, with 300,000 copies for the new album by Verron in 2009.

Three animated television series based on Boule et Bill were produced: • Boule et Bill (1975) broadcast on RTB • Boule et Bill (2005) broadcast on TF1 with 104 episodes • Boule et Bill (2015) broadcast on France 3 and directed by Philippe Vidal. It includes two seasons comprising 26 10-minute episodes.

A Nintendo DS video game based on the comic was launched in 2008 by Atari and Anuman Interactive.