French Cartoon Art in the 1960s and 1970s

'Although there exist quite some studies on the journal, the study by Wendy Michallat is the very first one to rethink its history in a broader perspective, not just that of comics culture, but that of culture at large. And the result is absolutely breath-taking. First of all because Michallat gives a very detailed yet nuanced and well written overview of the various periods of the magazine, whose history is one of nearly permanent crisis and eternal attempts to relaunch new formats and formulas in a publication niche that was much less profitable than it was often thought. Second, and most importantly, because the author succeeds in doing what other studies fail to do, namely explaining the systematic changes in the magazine’s policy.'Jan Baetens, Cultural
Studies Leuven, 3 August 2018

Despite growing academic interest in bandes dessinées, relatively little has been written about the magazines which publish them. Consequently, Wendy Michallat’s study of the youth weekly Pilote is most welcome: it sheds valuable light not only on bandes dessinées development, but also on the evolution of the French press and on broader trends in society. Ample context is given by the huge range of documents consulted: government policy papers; comments by educators and journalists; letters from readers; interviews with artists, editors, and parents. References to other youth publications, some almost forgotten today, as well as to English-language outlets, provide useful points of comparison.
Matthew Screech, French Studies, Volume 73, Issue 3, July 2019, https://doi.org/10.1093/fs/knz104

On ne peut que recommander ce livre bien documenté et bien écrit à tous ceux qui s’intéressent à l’histoire des BD en France.Edward Ousselin, The French Review, Volume 93, No. 1, October 2019

The book is part of Leuven University Press’s Studies in European Comics and Graphic Novels, an impressive series that offers important contributions to this growing field of study. [...] Her scholarship embodies the best of academic writing in that it satisfies the specialist’s need for documentation and deep analysis, while remaining accessible for students and non-specialist readers.Stephanie Schechner, Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature: Vol. 43: Iss. 2, Article 20. https://doi.org/10.4148/2334-4415.2084

Cette étude est toutefois aussi intéressante que les cinq précédentes. Elle éclaire des thèmes peu abordés dans d’autres livres sur Pilote (dont les quatre textes cités, publiés avant 1999) et sur les magazines et la BD des années 1960, mais ici montrés à travers une méthodologie claire appuyée sur des exemples visuels bien choisis.
C[h]ris Reyns, Belphégor [Online], 18, 1 | 2020, Online since 14 January 2020, http://journals.openedition.org/belphegor/2136