Spike and Suzy
| Spike and Suzy | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher |
De Nieuwe Standaard Tintin magazine |
| Publication date | 1946– |
| Number of issues | 270+ |
| Main character(s) | Spike Suzy Aunt Sidonia Ambrose Jerome |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) |
Willy Vandersteen Paul Geerts |
| Artist(s) |
Willy Vandersteen Paul Geerts |
| Creator(s) | Willy Vandersteen |
Spike and Suzy (British title), Willy and Wanda (American title) or Luke and Lucy (in a 2009 film and video game); Flemish: Suske en Wiske, French: Bob et Bobette) is a Belgian comics series created by the comics author Willy Vandersteen.
It was first published in De Nieuwe Standaard in 1945 and soon became popular. Although not in its earlier form, the strip adapted to the Ligne claire style, pioneered by Hergé. This change took place when the strip became serialised in Hergé's Franco-Belgian comics magazine Tintin from 1948 to 1959.
The books revolve around the adventures of the eponymous Spike and Suzy, two children (pre-adolescent or adolescent depending on the album), along with their friends and family. The stories combine elements of comedy, fantasy, and science fiction, such as talking animals, time travel and ghosts. The strip still runs daily in the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, and new books continue to be published; as of 2016, 270 albums have been published.
The main characters are a group of friends. In the first regular comic, Suzy and her Aunt Sidonia meet the orphan Spike and unrelated Professor Barabas. In the next comic, they also meet Ambrose. Later, in De dolle musketiers (book #18, 1953), Jerom (called Jethro in the UK version), the "strongest man in the western hemisphere", was introduced. Apart from Suzy and Aunt Sidonia, none of them are related, and other family is only introduced occasionally to drive a particular story.
Over the course of the series, characters are added and changed, and stories become more didactic. Ambrose and Jethro change significantly: in the beginning, Ambrose was just an amusing fool, but in the Blue Series he appears more sophisticated and heroic, evolving towards a cynical and sceptical man in the current stories. In early stories, Jethro was initially portrayed as an ignorant strong man, who evolved into a sophisticated and quiet man in later works. In most stories Muffin is only a doll, but one very special to Suzy, and they are inseparable. In some stories Muffin comes to life and plays an important role.
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