Lou! is a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series and animated television series

Cartoon series

A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...

 created by Julien Neel. The comic is published by Glénat

Glénat (publisher)

Glénat Editions SA is a French publisher with its head office in Grenoble. The company publishes many things, including comic books and manga in France, Benelux, and Spain; it was founded by Jacques Glénat. The Spanish subsidiary has its head office in Barcelona. The Benelux subsidiary, Glénat...

 and the animation is broadcasted in France on M6 and Disney Channel

Disney Channel

Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

.

Characters

• Lou- The title character, a twelve year old blond girl (by the fifth comic volume she is fourteen) who is lively, funny, creative and independent. She lives with her mother in an apartment, in the fifth volume they move to a new house after the apartment building burns down. Her best friend is Mina, and she has a crush on her neighbor, Tristan. She also owns a nameless cat.
• Emma - Lou's mother, a woman about 27 years old and a single mother. She appears to have her eyes always hidden under her hair and wears large glasses. In her adolescence she was rebellious and troublesome and fell in love with a rock musician. The rock musician leaves when he learns that she is pregnant and she ends up raising her daughter, Lou, on her own. She manages to finish her studies and becomes the author of a science fiction novel called Sidera: the space wanderer which achieved moderate success. Lou's mother is a fan of video games and the band Queen
  Queen (band)
  Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
  
  . Thanks to Lou, she starts a relationship with her new neighbor Richard, and in the fifth volume she is pregnant again, with Richard being the father. However, Richard leaves her because of an apparent nervous breakdown over how to raise the new baby. In the end, the baby is born and is named Fulgor, becoming Lou's little brother.
• Mina- A black girl who is Lou's best friend since kindergarten. She has a strong and slightly aggressive attitude, so it is not uncommon for her and Lou to argue, but they always make up in the end. Her parents divorce in the first volume, and she lives with her mother, who works as an executive, on a higher class apartment.
• Tristan- A boy with brown hair, who was Lou's neighbor during the first volume (at the end he moves to other city), and is also her secret crush since kindergarten. Tristan seems oblivious to this, but they are hints that he may also have feelings for her. On the fifth volume, he invites Lou to spend some days on his uncle's winter cottage, where they share their first kiss, likely signaling the start of a formal relationship. He likes to practice the acoustic guitar, and is also a fan of videogames, sharing this afficion with Lou's mother.
• Richard- Lou's neighbor, who moved to their building in the first volume, being of a small village named Super Chevelle. Thanks to Lou, he and Lou's mother begin a relationship. He works on a record store, and was formerly a curling player.
• Cat- Lou's pet cat (unclear if it is male or female), with the characteristic of not having a official name, being differently named often by Lou or her mother. It's names include: Mongo-Elvis, Super Satori, Chachoomoo, Hulk, Thinny, etc. It's grey and small.

Comic

• Volume 1: Journal infime (English: Tiny journal) (2004) ISBN 978-2723442756
• Volume 2: Mortebouse (2005) ISBN 978-2723448154
• Volume 3: Le cimetière des autobus (English: The cemetery of buses) (2006) ISBN 978-2723452526
• Volume 4: Idylls (English: Idyls) (2007) ISBN 978-2723458696
• Volume 5: Laser Ninja (2009) ISBN 978-2723467889
• A sixth volume (still untitled) is slated to be released during the remainder of 2011, and other two books are planned, the series will end on the eighth volume with Lou turning 18 years old.

Reception

Volume 1, Journal infime, received the Youth Award for ages 9 to 12

Angoulême International Comics Festival Prix Jeunesse 9-12 ans

The Prix Jeunesse 9-12 ans is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. It rewards the best album for a 9 to 12 years old targeted public.The award started in 1981 as the "Alfred enfant", without the distinction in age groups....

 at the Angoulême Festival

Angoulême International Comics Festival

The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...

 in 2005. Volume 5, Laser Ninja, won the award for best youth comic at the Angoulême Festival in 2010.

Animation

The first comic volume, Journal infime, was adapted into 52 12-minute episodes. The series was produced by GO-N Productions in association with M6 television and Disney Channel France. The series premiered in France on April 5, 2009 on M6, and then later on the French version of Disney Channel, also dubbed in Spanish by Colombian voice actors and broadcast on Mexico's XEIPN-TV from November 2009 until September 2010.