Arabelle is the last living mermaid.
She is discovered by rich American plastic surgeon HGV Bimbleton on the island of Caprea near Sicily. Bimbleton operates on Arabelle,
giving her human legs, but she retains her ability to breathe underwater. (At one point in the saga, she
temporarily grows two fish-like legs.) With her companion, reformed burglar Fleur
Bleue, and her pet monkey, Kouki, Arabelle becomes involved in a series of light, romantic adventures. The Stories
Arabelle was first serialized in the form
of daily strips in the newspaper "France-Soir"
from 1950 (starting on May 3rd) to 1962. In total, 3,350 strips were published. - The first series
was entitled Arabelle la Dernière Sirène
[Arabelle, The Last Mermaid] and ran from
strip Nos. 1-1051, from 3 May 1950 to 18 September 1953, and contained a narration under the panels. - The second series
ran from strips Nos. 1052-2550 (numbered 1-2499), featured word balloons, and lasted until 1962. The episodes
bore individual titles. Additionally, in 1957-1958, the Sunday weekly "Journal
du Dimanche" published 53 full pages. In 1967, the comics supplement
to "Journal du Dimanche", "L'Illustré du Dimamche", published Grabuge sur l'Archipel [Battle
On The Archipelago] (Nos. 17-24).
1) The Daily Strips:
Strips Nos. 340-408, however, were subtitled Arabelle, La Dernière Sirène
Chez Venus [Arabelle The Last Mermaid
On Venus] (June-August 1951).
In it, Arabelle and her friends travelled
to Venus, helped make peace with the native Amazons and, back on Earth, launched a plan to settle Venus!
1.(1-166) Arabelle et le Prince [Arabelle & the Prince]
2.(167-318) Arabelle et l'Enfant Sirene [Arabelle & The Merchild]
3.(319-476) Arabelle en Espagne [Arabelle in Spain]
4.(477-622) Arabelle et la Mer [Arabelle & The Sea]
5.(623-740) Arabelle contre Big Caugham [Arabelle vs. Big Caugham]
6.(741-1047) Arabelle la Derniere Sirene [Arabelle The Last Mermaid]
7.(1048-1172) Arabelle et le Collier de Gensis Khan [Arabelle & Gengis
Khan's Necklace]
8.(1173-1345) On A Vole Un Spoutnik! [They Stole A Sputnik!]
9.(1346-1504) Arabelle et Bel Canto [Arabelle & Bel Canto]
10.(1505-1567) Kilt et Whisky [Kilt & Whisky]
11.(1658-1805) Paris by Night
12.(1806-1881) Arabelle et les Penibles [Arabelle & The Difficult People]
13.(1882-2047) Arabelle en Norvege [Arabelle In Norway]
14.(2048-2201) Arabelle du Cote d'Aden [Arabelle In Aden's Neighborhood]
15.(2202-2411) Arabelle et Lord Pennybox [Arabelle & Lord Pennybox]
16.(2412-2499) Arabelle et le Puchamoa [Arabelle & The Puchamoa]
featured word balloons
2) The Reprints:
Some of Arabelle's material (but not the
early strips) was reprinted in the 1960s as follows:
1. In 1964, Editions Denoel published
"Paris by Night" (2nd Series,
No. 11) as a regular mainstream paperback.
2. In 1967 and 1968, Editions de Poche
published four digest-sized b&w magazines:
1. Arabelle en Espagne [Arabelle In Spain]
(2nd Series, No. 3) (1967)
2. Arabelle et le Bel Canto (2nd Series, No. 9)(1967)
3. Opération Cristobal (2nd Series, No. 6, Part 1) (1967)
4. Rendez-vous avec l'Atome [Rendezvous With The Atom]
(2nd Series, No. 6, Part 2) (1968)
3. Finally, in 1978, publisher Glenat
put out Arabelle La Dernière Sirène: Le Monstre du Tonsberg [Arabelle The Last Mermaid: The Tonsberg Monster] (2nd Series, No. 13) .
3) Arabelle's Return:
In 1972, "Tintin" magazine editor
Michel Greg
commissioned Jean Ache to draw two new
adventures of Arabelle for his magazine.
These were:
1. Les Sirenes Sont Parmi Nous [The Mermaids Are Among Us]
(TI Nos. 1218-1233, 1972)
2. Méfiez-Vous des Sirenes! [Beware The Mermaids!] (TI Nos. 1245-1257, 1972)
3. Mission Spéciale pour un Dauphin [Special Mission for a Dolphin] (Tintin Sélection No. 20, 1973)
In these, it was revealed that Arabelle
was not the last Mermaid, and that other Mermaids lived secretly among men. Arabelle became the leader of her people.
.