French Terms:
'bande dessinée' (or 'BD' or 'bédé,' pronounced bay-day) = 'comics'
'bande dessinée chrétienne' = 'Christian comic''
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There were two titles in the "Marc Alban" series published by Ligue pour la Lecture de la Bible (LLB) in Valence, France. The hardcover Poursuite Dans La Ville (Pursuit in the City or Chase Through Town) was released in 1979 and the paperback Menace sur les Maurières (Threat Over the Maurières) in 1983.
Both of these books were 44-page, full-color comic albums with text by J.M. Bloch and Claude Gaasch and artwork by Christian Comics Pioneer Jefko (Jean-Frédéric Kohler).
Poursuite Dans La Ville relates the story of 18-year-old Marc Alban who has just finished high school and decided he no longer has to listen to the advice of his father. Marc's love of cars and fast driving lead him first to a job as an automobile mechanic ... and then to become the getaway car driver for a gang of bank robbers. While hiding out from the police he hears the Gospel, becomes a Christian, and turns himself in.
In Menace sur les Maurières, Marc and his Christian friends decide to restore an old house in Maurières, a small hamlet of the Alps of Provence, as a place to help drug addicts recover. Their rebuilding efforts are mysteriously sabotaged over and over by businessmen who want to control the property for their own purposes, but Marc and his friends are triumphant in the end.
These Christian comic albums were quite popular in many French-speaking countries, including those in Francophone Africa.
It is still possible to order Menace sur les Maurières from LLB in France or LLB in Québec, Canada.
LLB also produces the long-running Tournesol comic magazine.
"Marc Alban" Series covers: