Cubitus

[kyoo-bi-tuhs]

This is about the comics series and its fictional dog character; for the fore-limb joint, see elbow.

Cubitus is a Franco-Belgian comics series, and the inspiration for the Wowser cartoon series appearing in the United States. Cubitus was created by the cartoonist Dupa, and features Cubitus, a large anthropomorphic dog, who lives with his owner Semaphore. The strip has been adapted to a Japanese cartoon series named Don Don Romeru to Ron, which is re-titled as Wowser for American audiences.

Synopsis

The series tells the story of Cubitus, a good-natured large, white dog endowed with speech. He lives in a house in the suburbs with his master, Semaphore, a retired sailor, next door to Seneshal, the black cat who is instinctually Cubitus' enemy.

A vast majority of the album publications collect single page gags, but a few gather collections of shorter stories or, in rare cases, one long story throughout the entire album.

Characters

Cubitus: Hero of the series, he is a white dog with a large belly, a black snout and yellow tail. Initially a dog with hair covering the eyes, Cubitus ended up becoming still more anthropomorphic. Nearly entirely human in behaviour, he walks on two legs, has hands instead of paws, and is able to perform any human action, although he retains his canine love of bones.
Semaphore: A retired sailor who is the "Master" of Cubitus, even if sometimes the relationship of master and dog can be reversed. In the series, Semaphore's role is mainly to create inventions that are intended to be functional and aid his friends, but in the end lead to trouble.
Seneshal: A black cat, close neighbour and Cubitus' worst natural enemy. In longer stories the character may be Cubitus' friend, inexplicably.
Ventenpoupe: an old friend of Semaphore, and a swindler.

Publication history

Cubitus first appeared in the comics magazine Tintin on April 16, 1968. The series gained immediate popularity, and began album publication in 1972. After several years of gags and album publications, it became the title strip for a magazine of its own. The first publication of Cubitus was published by Le Lombard in December 1989, though it proved shortlived, lasting only six issues.

In 2005, the series was relaunched by Pierre Aucaigne (scenarist), and Michel Rodrigue (artist) under the title Les nouvelles aventures de Cubitus.

Bibliography

Dupa albums

Du meilleur tonneau
Cubitus illustre ses ancêtres
Un oscar pour Cubitus
La corrida des hippopotames casqués
Pour les intimes
Heureux qui, comme Cubitus
Raconte-moi, Cubitus
Tu le fais exprès ou quoi?
L'ami ne fait pas le moine
Cubitus et la boîte qui parle
Chien sans soucis
Cubitus, tu nous fais marcher
Cubitus, chien fidèle
Cubitus, pas de salades
Cubitus, est-ce bien sérieux?
Alerte au pédalosaure
Cubitus, quand tu nous tiens!...
Tout en caressant Cubitus
Cubitus, remets-nous ça
Toujours avec deux sucres
L'esprit égaré
Les enquêtes de l'inspecteur Cubitus
Cubitus, donne la belle papatte
Tout ça c'est des histoires
Cubitus, chien sans accroc
Cubitus se met au vert
Chat, ch'est du chien!
Copain toutes catégories
Cubitus fait toujours le beau
Cubitus, au au poil près
Cubitus et les cumulus de Romulus
Cubitus mon chien quotidien
Un bouquet gardin pour Cubitus
Chien indispensable
L'héritage du Pastaga
Cubitus ne mord jamais
Si tous les gags du monde...
Cubitus, ça n'arrive qu'à toi!...
Tu te la coules douce...

Les Nouvelles Aventures de Cubitus

En avant toute!
Un chien peut en cacher un autre
En haut de la vague

Impact

Cubitus, who is very popular in France and other European countries and has been seen in numerous books and TV cartoons. An animated series was launched in Japan one year only after the beginning of the series.
Cubitus and Senechal appear on ten self-adhesive stamps lauched by the French Poste in September 2006.
A statute of Cubitus, built by Yves Cauwenberghs, was erected on Octobre 3rd, 2002 iat Limal, were Dupa passed the 30 last years of his life.
A wall painting of Cubitus can be seen in Brussels.