From silent comics for young people aged 3 and up to ambitious quality graphic novels, including very underground research and experimentation, the Bang editions catalog is multiple and diverse. An editorial line guided by favorites and the desire to “do work with pleasure”.
There is as much difference between Super Papa and Melvin as between the Smurfs and San Antonio. However, these two comic book heroes have the same creator, Artur Laperla, and are published by Bang, the Barcelona comic book publishing house created twenty years ago by Stéphane Corbinais. An eclecticism desired and assumed by this enthusiast who above all wants to publish “favorites”.
Bang
The expatriate started in the world of the 9th art by introducing some comics by French authors to the Spanish. To the Catalans too because Bang’s titles benefit from several versions, a particularity of this country which gives an important place to regional languages. And the best-selling titles are available in five versions: French, Castilian, Catalan, Basque and Galician. Soon, Bang sought to publish local authors. Spaniards or Catalans, without distinction.
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The opportunity, after a few years of operation, to take the opposite path and try to introduce Iberian productions to the French public. It is in this context that Artur Laperla imagined the adventures of Melvin, a redheaded giant, very muscular and who is wildly popular with women. An erotic comedy in the form of a small format like Elvifrance from the 70s, but in color and superbly drawn. Good feedback from booksellers and readers, but Bang never wanted to tread on the toes of the “big guys”. The Catalan structure aims to be a family house, on a human scale, which limits the number of its outings each year to prioritize quality. Stories and drawings but also the making of books.
Bang Mamut
Some popular successes gave Bang the opportunity to continue his research work over the years. For example the album Mox Nox by Joan Cornellà, a collection of silent trash and gore gags, a phenomenon on the internet, allows Bang to overcome a difficult milestone while the small house decided, at the same time, to attack the younger market. Under the leadership of two authors who became collection directors, Maxi Luchini and Ed, Chileans based in Barcelona, Bang offers the Mamut collection. Comics with content classified according to the age of the readers. It ranges from simple, silent stories for children aged 3 and up to more eventful adventures with a complex narrative for ages 9 and up.
It is at Mamut that we find Artur Laperla, a very productive and inventive Catalan designer, with his famous Super Potato. An album is released every year and is always eagerly awaited in Spain. The next one will be slightly different. The designer wanted to test the series. Super Patate’s next adventure will be distilled into four 16-page booklets published every 3 months. The full album should be released at the end of 2025. This is also one of Bang’s particularities and great qualities: adapting and always renewing itself.
Bang
Among the new products of the year we note the very pretty Wonders by Barcelona-based Marta Cunill, an ecological fable about the resilient power of nature. For fans of Catalan history, don’t miss Pep Brocal’s adaptation of Book of Beasts, medieval masterpiece by Ramon Llull. And for the start of the September school year, Bang et Mamut offers the first volume in a series for the youngest: Super Ninja Kukuro. The adventures of a kid who loves video games and is assigned against his will to a martial arts school. It’s beautifully drawn by the Chilean Marko Torres, with a lot of humor and derision. The little Ninja will be helped in his quest (he wants to acquire superpowers to beat his classmates) by a dragon named Pickle, an endless Source of jokes.
