Bédéciné International Festival of Comics : 2008 Illzach France

2008-Nov-15:16 Ric Hochet & Chick Bill

Bédéciné International Festival of Comics (BD - Bandes dessinées) Illzach Cultural Centre, is the must-attend event for comic book fans. More than meetings with many authors, numerous activities are also organized: exhibitions, drawing workshops, animations, stories, shows.

Illzach is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.

Korea Cartoon Series 4 : 1998

1998-May-04

Lee Hee-jae is a Korean comic artist, who created short stories for Manwhagwangjang magazine in the 1980s. In these stories, he showed a talent in commenting on everyday life. His most famous creation is 'Ganpanstar', a little girl who leaves her native town to live in Séoul. His comic 'Victory or Defeat' described the dreams of an unemployed person, 'The Way of the Paddle' was about a couple who had lost their three children. Lee learned the finer points of the profession from Kim Jong-rae in 1970 and spent the next ten years to shape his style. He made his professional debut in 1981 with 'A Famous Person' and 'Oekse', but he became famous with The Malicious Child (Bad Boys) (1983). Bad Boys was serialized in the cartoon magazines Treasure Island and Boy Central

Park Ki-jeong's literature studies influenced him in his comics storytelling. He started his career in the Jungang Ilbo daily with the 'Gongsujae' strip in 1956. He also produced numerous comics based on actualities and dramatic stories in several newspapers. Park Ki-jeong's dramatic stories, such as 'Dojeonja', reflect the transition between the dark past of the country and a future full with hope. Especially in the 1960s, Park Ki-jeong stood out for his narrative qualities.

His breakthrough came in the 1960s when he gained a huge following with a series of sports comics such as “Challenger” and “Wrestler.” Challenger  deals with a young boxer Huni. After losing his parents, Huni leaves for Japan and learns boxing while working at a restaurant. He decides to become a boxer there as he thinks it is the only way to escape discrimination. Challenger was released in 45 volumes from August 1964 to November 1965. The series was reissued in five volumes 40 years later in 2006. Park Ki-jeong found success both as a graphic artist and a political cartoonist.

Water Spirit - Folk Tales : 2011 Slovenia

2011-May

In Slavic mythology, vodyanoy (Russian); vodník (Czech and Slovak); vodyanyk (Ukraine) Wassermann (German) is a water spirit. He may appear to be a naked man with a pot belly (and bald-headed) wearing a hat and belt of reeds and rushes, conflicting with other accounts ascribing him green hair and a long green beard. The varying look has been attributed in commentary to his shape-shifting ability. When angered, the vodyanoy breaks dams, washes down water mills, and drowns people and animals. Consequently, fishermen, millers, and also bee-keepers make sacrifices to appease him. Thevodyanoy would sometimes drag people down to his underwater dwelling to serve him as slaves

Superheroes : 1995 Canada

1995-Oct-02

The first comic books evolved around the 1930s from newspaper strips. The early comics were American but, with the disruptions of the second world war, a Canadian comic industry flourished. The appearance of Superman in April 1938 marked a major event in comic book history. The character created by Toronto-born Joe Shuster and American writer Jerry Siegel, was the mould from which all other comic book super heroes were cast.

Canada's first national super hero, Nelvana of the Northern Lights was conceived in 1941 by Adrian Dingle to battle wartime super-villains. She was a powerful heroine who symbolized the Canadian North. Canada's second super hero, Air Force Captain an secret agent Johnny Canuck, was Canada's answer to Nazi oppression. Created in 1941 by Leo Bachle, a 16-yer old Toronto student.

Three decades after the Golden Age of wartime super heroes, a new breed of nationalistic heroes appeared. Shunning violence and costumed in Canada's flag, Captain Canuck, a secret agent with double speed and strength was the 1975 brainchild of Richard Comley and Ron Leishman. A decade later, Fleur de Lys and the Anglophone hero Northguard (illustrated in the cachet) joined forces to protect Canada. Their incredible adventures were set in real Montreal area locations by writer Mark Shainblum an artist Gabriel Morrissette - Canada Post

 

Lupin III : 2015-2017 Japan

2015-Aug Lupin Commemorative Postmarks

Lupin III - Fujiko Mine - 

2016-Aug Lupin III

2017-Sep Lupin III

©Monkey Punch/TMS/NTV

Ghost Stories of Greenland : 2020-2023

2021-Sep-17

Qivittoq, or Mountain Wanderer, are created when people leave their settlement in shame, anger, or grief. They wander across the mountains or the ice cap in order to isolate themselves from all other people. Their garments consist of hare or fox skins and their boots are made from twigs, roots, or leather straps. They have red eyes, matted hair, and very dark skin. It is said that the touch of a Qivittoq can cause infected wounds. A creature cannot fully transform into a Qivittoq until it loses all its humanity. A fully transformed Qivittoq can often be seen floating across the mountains and breathing out fire or having a tail of fire. 

Anngiaq, or The Secret, is a spirit of a baby or a fetus who was born in secret and then killed. The spirit lives on, looking for the love of which it was deprived. The spirit finds the skull of a dog, which it uses as a boat, and searches out relatives of its mother. It will drown them or shoot them with arrows as punishment for their crime. It can crawl into siblings born after it and kill them by causing internal bleeding. The only way the Anngiaq can be stopped is for the secret to be revealed. 

The cachet for the first day cover depicts Kiiappa, also known as the Big Mask.

All the designs on the stamps and the stories behind them are taken from this book, Bestiarium Greenlandica, which was published in 2018 by Milik Publishing. It was edited by Maria Bach Kreutzmann and illustrated by various artists. 

The first-day cancellation for all issues has a drawing of Umiarissat, who are warriors with bushy beards, big hats, and shiny weapons. They disguise themselves as seals, and when they reach shore, they turn into human-like creatures to attack settlements and butcher the people. 

Stranger Things : 2026 Royal Mail

2026-Jan-13 Stranger Things First Day Cover featuring all 10 new stamps cancelled with the alternative Spennymoor postmark.

Welcome to Hawkins - a place where everything is turned Upside Down

Beloved characters and mysterious monsters are the stars of striking new stamps celebrating the hit Netflix show Stranger Things 

Five stamps feature key “real” world figures from each series of the show, set against a red background (Eleven and Joyce - Dustin, Lucas and Mike  - Steve, Robin and Erica  - Nancy, Jonathan and Henry  - Eleven, Jim and Dr Kay) 

Five more stamps, again one focused on each series, depict characters linked to the alternate dimension, known as the Upside Down, with a blue background (Will, the Demogorgon and Barbara  - Jim, a Demodog and Will  - Max, the Mind Flayer and Billy  - Eddie, Dustin and Max  - Vecna, Holly and Mr Whatsit)

Stranger Things Miniature Sheet features young Hawkins heroes Lucas, Will, Mike and Dustin riding their iconic 80s bikes in the shadow of the Mind Flayer.

British artist and official Stranger Things illustrator Kyle Lambert’s exclusive new stamp designs contain hidden features revealed when the stamps are exposed to UV light. 

Tribute to Daniel Azulay : 2022 Brazil

2022-Jun-13

Daniel Azulay (1947-2020) was a Brazilian media figure, active in many disciplines, from paintings, children’s books, TV shows, video games to comics. Early in his career he made the superhero parody comics ‘Capitão Sol’ (1967) and ‘Capitão Cipó’ (1968-1969), but he is best remembered for the ‘Turma do Lambe-Lambe’ (1975) franchise, which inspired both a children’s TV show as well as its own 1983-1984 comic magazine. Always dressed in colourful ties, shirts and suspenders, Azulay gave children a positive outlook on life with respect for the environment – Lambiek Comiclopedia

The stamp shows a composition by Daniel Azulay himself. Besides his signature, it can be read his  catch-phrase “Cotton candy for you!” The background is made with blue and yellow colors and some colored pencils, an art tool often utilized by Azulay, Techniques employed were drawing and computer graphics - Brasil Post

The Little Polar Bear : 2008 Switzerland

2008-Apr-03

The Little Polar Bear is a franchise about a polar bear cub named Lars who first starred in a number of books written by Dutch author, Hans de Beer. The books were adapted into animated series and a full-length movie

Comic Art in Malta - Diabolik : 2025

2025-Aug-11

Romics XIX International Comic Festival : 2016 Italy

XIX Romics - 2016 Apr

artwork by Paolo Barbieri

Romics is an international semiannual comic book, animation, and gaming convention in Rome, Italy. The event takes place over four days, usually during April for the spring edition, and October for the autumn one. Until the twelfth edition in 2012, it was held annually, most often in October. The event is held, for both its editions, in the Rome trade fair district. The first Romics was held 2001-Nov

 

Robert E Howard : Conan the Barbarian

Robert Ervin Howard (1906 – 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre. The Robert E Howard Museum lis located in Cross Plains Texas. Annually Howard's hometown celeberates his achievements

La Bande Dessinee - Comics Festival - 1970 France

1970-May-10 Chazelles-Sur-Lyon France

Comics Festival (La Bande Dessinee) - Youth & Culture Center