The company was founded in 1780 by
Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller originally from
Tournai. Casterman was originally a printing company and
publishing house. In 1934, Casterman took over the
Le Petit Vingtième editions for the publication of the albums of
The Adventures of Tintin, from the fourth album of the series,
Cigars of the Pharaoh. From 1942, Casterman published reworked versions and colored versions of the previous Tintin albums. Strengthened by the success of
Hergé's comics, shortly after, Casterman proposed new series with new authors such as
Jacques Martin,
François Craenhals and
C. & V. Hansen. From 1954 on, Casterman published children's books, as well, including the successful
Martine books by
Marcel Marlier and the
Cadet- Rama books written by
Alain Gree (units
Achille et Bergamote and
Petit Tom). Keen to appeal to a more mature market, Casterman decided in 1973 to publish the first albums of
Corto Maltese by the
Italian author
Hugo Pratt. Furthermore, in 1978, Casterman established its monthly magazine
A Suivre, which was to influence the comics revival of the 1980s. Casterman ceased the publication of
A Suivre in 1997. Casterman is now part of
Groupe Flammarion. Casterman's
manga series are published under the imprint
Sakka. ==Main publications==