Jerry Spring

Not to be confused with Jerry Springer.

Cover of Jerry Spring #1 (1955)

Jerry Spring is a Franco-Belgian Western comics series created by the Belgian artist Jijé. It made its debut in Spirou magazine on March 4, 1954.[1]

The character aimed to replace the American-made Red Ryder as Belgian publisher Dupuis, which had long paid for the series' license, was growing increasingly dissatisfied with its declining quality. Jijé was Dupuis' jack-of-all-trades, and had already authored a few custom-made pages for Red Ryder during World War II, when the political climate disrupted the availability of the American originals.[2] According to the artist's son, however, his love of the Western genre was sincere and, among his diverse output, Jerry Spring was most representative of his personal affinities.[3] The replacement of Red Ryder by Jerry Spring marked the end of American comics in Spirou, which from now on would be fully based on homegrown material.[2]

  1. ^ BDoubliées. "Spirou année 1954" (in French).
  2. ^ a b Capart, Philippe; Dejasse, Erwin (August 2010). "Le cavalier rouge". Jerry Spring – L'intégrale en noir et blanc (in French). Vol. 1. Marcinelle: Dupuis. pp. 11–16. ISBN 9782800145013.
  3. ^ Pessis, Jacques (2016). "Entretien avec Lorg – Les débuts du fils de Jijé". Barbe Rouge – L'intégrale (in French). Vol. 8. Paris: Dargaud. p. 15. ISBN 9782205075496.