The company was founded in 1780 by Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller originally from Tournai.

[2] 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.

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.

[4] This is a selected list of comics series, ordered by year of first publication by Casterman, with main authors given.