That's interesting, I wasn't aware that Globi isn't that famous on the other side of Le Röschtigraben. This goes to show how different our cultures can be, even in such a small country. Last time I ventured into the French part of Switzerland, I actually ended up in the back of a police car due to a little infrastructural misunderstanding. I felt a bit like Globi in the comics, stupidly getting into trouble.
But I am shocked to hear that even Petzi is more known there...must admit I never liked Petzi as a kid, maybe it's the weird eyelashes.

(There is one character that is probably even more known than Globi in the German part of Switzerland and that's Pingu, but I didn't mention him because this thread is about comics. Pingu is just as badass as Globi, love them both)

Hey, I remember that bird! Not sure how I got acquainted with it, but he's a vague childhood memory that seemed almost lost until you conjured it again, thanks! :D

Speaking of promotional comics / popular comic book series, that also reminds me of <i>Lurchi's Abenteuer</i> - though debatable whether it's a proper comic - and the <i>Mecki</i> series - ditto, but it evolved into a proper comic series later on.

And my favorite Mecki comics were by Volker Reiche, who is also the creator of <i>Willi Wiedhopf</i> and <i>Strizz</i>.

Also very very popular in Germany in the late 70's, the 80's and the 90's was the comic book <i>Yps &amp; Co</i>, although admittedly most of its popularity is probably due to the so called "gimmicks" that were included with it (like the pet sea monkeys or the facial composite kit).

Most of the popular German comics are well known over here in the German speaking part of Switzerland, perhaps not quite as well known as the Franco-Belgian heavyweights like Asterix/Tintin/The Smurfs/Gaston/Lucky Luke/Marsupilami/Spirou etc (my personal favorite of those is Thorgal btw) but all the ones you mentioned have safely made it across the Rhine. The only one I didn't know yet is Lurchi, and I must say that little fellow is awesome, consider me a new fan. What's more impressive than a fire salamander wearing a Jägermeister hat using a shoe as a rowing boat? That's Biene Maja class material!

Often considered as one of the best argentinian comic ever:
"El Eternauta" [The Eternonaut] Script: Héctor Germán Oesterheld; Art: Francisco Solano López
(I found a english translation of first and second chapter but I don't know if exist more, although seems to be there are french and italian translation of the entire saga)

http://wordswithoutborders.org/graphic-lit/the-eternonaut

Another beloved argentinian comic:
"Nippur de Laggash" Script: Robin Wood; Art: Lucho Olivera

http://es.scribd.com/doc/6586947/Nippur-de-Lagash-Historia-Para-Lagash (First episode in spanish, I could't find any translation)

And my personal favorite: "Gilgamesh el Inmortal" [Gilgamesh the Immortal] Script: Robin Wood; Art: Lucho Olivera
(not confuse with Gilgamesh The Forgotten One)

http://gilgameshelinmortal.blogspot.com/2012/04/gilgameshel-inmortal-de-lucho-olivera-y_7361.html [sadly only in spanish]


Oh! Corto Maltese!!! Another great comic that I enjoyed so much...

This, I really liked this one. It's a big 50s alien invasion with a humanitarian outlook. I know it has been translated to a couple European languages. Off the top of my head I know of French and Italian, in Italy it was such a massive success it pretty much single-handedly kickstarted the sequel back in the 70s. The English version is a mystery, if it ever got one it must have been a very limited and obscure edition.

The other big Argentinean comic is Mafalda (imagine Peanuts but with world politics), this one is way bigger and has been translated to dozens of languages, including Greek and Chinese as my memory goes.

Ernie Pike (war stories) is another pretty big one what also got some success in europe.