Billy & Buddy Book 2: Bored Silly With Billy
Billy & Buddy Book 2: Bored Silly With Billy, by Roba, Cinebook
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ORIGINALLY TITLED Boule & Bill when it debuted over in Europe back in the late 1950s, this is the tale of a little boy and his dog.
British cartoonist/historian Lew Stringer noted that this series first saw UK publication in the Valiant weekly comics in the mid 1960s under the series title It’s A Dog’s Life. Much as I was aware of that myself, I’d incorrectly assumed the artist was Franquin, but the style is not too dissimilar with a more rounded jovial Dik Browne touch added to the mix.
A collection of over forty single page vignettes, averaging seven panels a page each with the final one bringing the punchline.
Peanuts, Fred Bassett and a million other such comic strip creations ring in one’s mind when you think of strips of this nature. It’s the very innocence of the stories in this collection that appeals, and without moralistic agenda.
Not groundbreaking but who cares. It’s lasted the test of time by having its own gentle warmth as shown by the very apparent love and friendship Billy and Buddy have for each other... Even when bickering, or woofing at each other.
For all this series title changes over the years, it’s interesting to note that its current UK version features the names of Jimi Hendrix’s sidekicks in The Band of Gypsies; Billy Cox and Buddy Miles.
For more on Billy & Buddy collections visit Cinebook.
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