Publication date October 1959 | ||
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Formats Original material for the series has been published as a strip in the comics anthology(s) Pilote magazine, Tintin magazine, Super As, Le Pélerin and Moustique Junior. Main character(s) Michel TanguyErnest Laverdure Creator(s) Jean-Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo Adaptations Sky Fighters (2005), The Aeronauts (1967) Similar Blueberry, Jerry Spring, Michel Vaillant, Achille Talon, Ric Hochet | ||
Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure is a Franco-Belgian comics series created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Albert Uderzo, about the two pilots Michel Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure, and their adventures in the French Air Force.
Contents
Publication history
Initially titled Michel Tanguy, it made its debut in the first issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959. The series provided Pilote with a competitor to the similar series Buck Danny serialised in Spirou magazine, and Dan Cooper, which appeared in Tintin magazine.
Started in October 1959, the series was continuously published by Pilote until June 1971. Then its publication went on in Tintin (1973), Super As (1979/1980), the Catholic magazine Le Pélerin (around 1981/1984), Moustique Junior (Belgium; 1988). In 2002, the series resumed by two new authors, after a long break caused by Charlier's death.
Tanguy et Laverdure has been translated into languages such as German, Dutch, Danish, Indonesian, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Serbocroatian. It was adapted into a televised series, Les Chevaliers du Ciel, initially broadcast 1967-69, and 1988–91, adapted into a 2005 film, Les Chevaliers du Ciel.
English publications
The comic has been published in English in the British comic magazine Lion between April and September 1966 under the title The Flying Furies. The main characters were renamed with English names, Tanguy became Jim 'Jet' Power and Laverdure Terry Madden. "Flying Furies" was the translation of the first Tanguy- Laverdure adventure "L'Ecole des Aigles". There was an annual published in 1973 with the title The Aeronauts, the same title as the TV series received in Britain. This annual was a slightly edited compilation of two original albums, 11. Destination Pacifique and 12. Menace sur Mururoa, and used the characters' French names.
Story
Tanguy and Laverdure are two friends from the flying school with opposite personalities. While Tanguy is serious, honest and obedient, Laverdure is eccentric, blundering and awkward. However, Laverdure is a strong team mate for Tanguy in difficult situations. Dangerous missions and spying are everyday tasks for the two pilots, who are flying aces and efficient defenders of their homeland.
Leaving the Salon-de-Provence Air School, they are sent to the Meknès Air School to improve their knowledge. Just arrived, they search through the snowy Anti-Atlas to retrieve a lost warhead with confidential information. Later, Michel Tanguy and Ernest Laverdure join the Cigognes squadron, (which once included such flying aces as Georges Guynemer) where they pilot the Mirage III plane. Their adventures lead them to Dijon air base, Tel Aviv and Greenland.
