Matthew ScreechIn English-speaking countries, Francophone comic strips like Hergés's Les Aventures de Tin Tin and Goscinny and Uderzo's Les Aventures d'Asterix are viewed--and marketed--as children's literature. But in Belgium and France, their respective countries of origin, such strips--known as bandes dessinées--are considered a genuine art form, or, more specifically, "the ninth art." But what accounts for the drastic difference in the way such comics are received?

LITERATURE AND LITERARY CRITICISM