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Largo Winch

Largo Winch is a Belgian comic book series by Philippe Francq and Jean Van Hamme, published by Dupuis.

The principal character is Largo Winch whose birth name is Largo Winczlav. Other important characters include Nerio Winch (his adoptive father), senior Group W executives John D. Sullivan and Dwight E. Cochrane, and his friend Simon Ovronnaz.

Largo Winch started as a series of novels by Jean Van Hamme in the late 1970's, but stopped due to a lack of success and the huge amount of work Van Hamme had in the meantime with his comic books (e.g. Thorgal). When Francq wanted to start a series with Van Hamme, he revived his old hero, and reworked the novels into the first albums of the comic series. Later, new stories followed.

In the first two volumes of the series, L'héritier and Le Groupe W, Largo, a young and handsome orphan, is propelled to the head of a business empire, Group W, after his adoptive father Nerio is murdered, and goes through a lot of troubles to preserve his inheritance and avenge Nerio.

The following albums are more or less based on the same basic plot: someone is trying to harm Largo's company or to take control of it from him, and he has to fight that someone to ensure the survival of his holdings.

All the stories of the series are published in two volumes, the first one being the one putting Largo in an impossible situation, and the second one letting him get out of it. In addition, both volumes share the same background color on the cover.

The stories appear originally in French, and are translated various languages, including Danish, Dutch, English, German, Portuguese, Serbian and Spanish. The series is among the most popular comics series in French, with annual sales of nearly 500.000 copies.

Belgium, 2010, Largo Winch

Belgium, 2010.02.20, Roeselare. Largo Winch