Editing Blueberry (comics) (section)

===Homage series===
At the start of the 2010s, French ''Bande Dessinée'' publishers introduced a new concept into their release line-ups, that of the homage, or tribute series. Goal of those series was to give (predominantly) younger and less established artists a chance to apply their own spin to classic BD series, either by art, scenario, or both. These one-story works were explicitly intended as one-off projects encompassing at the very most two volumes only, and were most definitely neither intended as a continuation of a series nor as a spin-off series, and required the express permission of the original creators or their heirs. Even though purist fans consider the phenomenon with much reservations,<ref>In the US comics industry, the replacement of comics artists and/or writers of an ongoing series, sometimes even frequently so, is a generally accepted phenomenon and very commonplace; not so in the European ''bande dessinée'' world after the 1968 revolt at the Dargaud editorial offices, where replacing any member of the original creator team is generally frowned upon by fans and met with suspicion, even when one or more of the original creator team is deceased. Publishers therefore usually tread with extreme caution, when contracting new artists or writers for an existing series, especially when it concerns a popular one. The amount of care taken by the European comics publishers notwithstanding, unsuccessful comics takeovers from the original creator(s) remain rather rule than exception. In addition, European comics remain the legal purview of their creators and/or heirs &ndash; contrary to the US comics industry where creations usually become the property of the publishers &ndash; , and not few of them, such as [[Hergé]] and [[Franquin]], have stipulated in their wills that they do not wish to have their creations continue as comics after their death with other artists/writers in any form or format, though film adaptations and/or spin-off merchandise (coined "Para BD" in French, literally "on behalf of comics") are usually exempted by these artists in order to provide their heirs with a source of income.</ref> the new concept caught on and several classic series have in the meantime received what the French call "''XYZ [vu] par...''" (="XYZ [as seen] by...") treatment. One of the first classic series to see outings in the format had been ''[[Valérian and Laureline]]'' by Giraud's lifelong friend [[Jean-Claude Mézières]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Valérian par...'' |url=https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-29668-BD-Valerian-par.html |language=fr |access-date=2022-07-26 |archive-date=2022-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726090350/https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-29668-BD-Valerian-par.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Sfar and Blain====
In November 2019 Dargaud published a homage book made by the duo [[Joann Sfar]] and [[Christophe Blain]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Tomblaine |first=Philippe |title=Le retour de Blueberry : antihéros amer(icain) selon Sfar et Blain… |url=http://bdzoom.com/148966/lart-de/le-retour-de-blueberry-antiheros-americain-selon-sfar-et-blain |work=BDzoom.com |date=25 November 2019 |language=fr |access-date=27 August 2022 |archive-date=27 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827081454/http://bdzoom.com/148966/lart-de/le-retour-de-blueberry-antiheros-americain-selon-sfar-et-blain/ |url-status=live }}</ref> after Isabelle Giraud had unexpectedly given permission to embark on a new ''Blueberry'' project for the very first, and as of 2025 only, time since her husband's death. As if to underscore the uniqueness of the occasion, the duo was permitted to create a two-volume album story as ''Blueberry''{{'}}s first homage release. Their two-volume story deals with a by white settlers incited Apache uprising and is set between the albums "Trail of the Navajo" and "The Man with the Silver Star".<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Blueberry (Blain/Sfar)'' |url=https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-67863-BD-Blueberry-Blain-Sfar.html |work=Bedetheque.com |language=fr |access-date=2022-07-26 |archive-date=2022-07-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726090349/https://www.bedetheque.com/serie-67863-BD-Blueberry-Blain-Sfar.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The first third-party ''Blueberry'' interpretation series was launched with much fanfare and has seen several translations &ndash; albeit in far less languages that the three origin series &ndash;, to wit in Croatian, Dutch, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Blueberry door...'' |url=https://www.stripinfo.be/reeks/index/41318_Blueberry_door |work=stripINFO.be |language=nl |access-date=2022-08-04 |archive-date=2023-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405172839/https://www.stripinfo.be/reeks/index/41318_Blueberry_door |url-status=live }}; includes other language editions; {{Cite web|url=https://www.editorialecosmo.it/product/product-11526/|title=BLUEBERRY – RANCORE APACHE 1 – Editoriale Cosmo|access-date=2023-04-17|archive-date=2023-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417160111/https://www.editorialecosmo.it/product/product-11526/|url-status=live}}</ref>

For undisclosed reasons, the conclusion of the two-volume story was delayed for over half a decade, with all involved having observed a complete information black-out on the matter. It was only in the autumn of 2024 that it was finally revealed that its release was expected for April 2025.<ref name="blu25"/>

*1: ''Amertume Apache'' (Dargaud, 11/2019, {{isbn|9782205077988}})