Writer/Artist: Alain Saint-Ogan (1875-1974); Greg (pseudonym of Michel Regnier) (1931-1999)
 
Zig et Puce are two teenagers who, with their pet penguin, Alfred, find themselves involved in numerous adventures, many of which contain fantastic elements.  One of the earlier classic stories took the two heroes to the 21st Century.  In the 1960s, Zig & Puce prevented the sabotage of the super-powered "Prototype 0-0" and thwarted a would-be world conqueror who used an antigravity mineral to power a flying aircraft carrier.
 

Genre Stories   Writer/Artist: Alain Saint-Ogan    - Zig et Puce au XXIème Siècle [Zig & Puce In The 21st Century] (Hachette graphic novel No. 9, 1935)  - Zig et Puce et le Professeur Medor [Zig & Puce & Prof. Medor] (Hachette graphic novel No. 11, 1941) - Zif & Puce en Atlantide [Zig & Puce in Atlantis] (1948; not originally collected by Hachette; reprinted in 1992 in Futuropolis, Vol. 6) - Zig et Puce et l'Homme Invisible [Zig & Puce & The Invisible Man] (Hachette graphic novel second series No. 2, 1949)    Writer/Artist: Greg    - Le Prototype Zéro-Zéro ("Tintin" Nos. 819-848, 1964; Lombard No.3, 1967)  - La Pierre qui Vole [The Flying Stone] ("Tintin" Nos. 852-882, 1965; Lombard No. 4, 1968)

Zig & Puce on Venus

 
 

Zig & Puce by Greg

Publishing History   Zig et Puce is one of the oldest French adventure strip, created in 1925 by Alain Saint-Ogan, who followed in the footsteps of Louis Forton, creator of les Pieds Nickeles (and grand-father of Gerald Forton).  Saint-Ogan created Zig et Puce for "Le Dimanche Illustré" [The Illustrated Sunday], a newspaper that lasted from 1924 to 1940.   Zig et Puce was the first modern French comics series, reflecting the influences of not only Les Pieds Nickelés, but also of American cartoonists George McManus' Bringing Up Father and Martin Branner's Winnie Winkle, both published with success in France at the time.  It used word balloons exclusively, a clear, semi-caricatural drawing line and established modern story-telling comics conventions.   In 1929, following in the footsteps of Zig et Puce, Belgian cartoonist Hergé created the immortal character of Tintin.

 
After their original publication in "Le Dimanche Illustré", Zig et Puce appeared in a variety of newspapers until 1952.  In the meantime, their adventures were collected in a series of 11 graphic novels by Hachette, published between 1927 and 1941.  After the War, Hachette released five more graphic novel.  A six-volume omnibus reedition was published by Futuropolis  from 1986 to 1992, collecting all of Hachette's first series of graphic novels, the first two graphic novels of the second series, plus the uncollected Zig & Puce in Atlantis.

.
  

The Authors   Alain Saint-Ogan (1895-1974) is, with Hergé, the founding father of French-language comics.  Saint-Ogan started as a cartoonist in 1913, publishing in a variety of newspapers and magazines.  In 1925, he created Zig et Puce and was the first French artist to use word balloons.  He continued producing Zig et Puce, as well as other less memorable children's series, until the late 1940s.  Zig et Puce's pet penguin, Alfred, was for a long time used to designate a major French comics award.  Alain Saint-Ogan also co-wrote a 1945 fantasy novel, Le Voyageur Immobile [The Motionless Traveller] with Camille Ducray.