Line #9 Creator/AndreFranquin


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6	->''Compared to Franquin, I'm a poor illustrator indeed.''
7	-->-- '''Hergé'''
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9	André Franquin (3 January 1924 – 5 January 1997) was one of the best-known figures of the [[FrancoBelgianComics Franco-Belgian school of comic books]]. He is mostly famous for his work on ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' and his own creation, ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'', whose title character is the archetype of the [[TheSlacker slacker]] AntiHero. He was a key member of the "Marcinelle school", which, unlike the ''ligne claire'' school popularized by Franchise/{{Tintin}} creator Creator/{{Herge}}, emphasized dynamic movement and more cartoonishly exaggerated physical features.
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11	Born in Etterbeek, UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} (coincidentally Hergé's hometown), Franquin discovered early in life a passion for cartoons, and his first works were published by a daily newspaper when he was barely 11. After studying at Saint-Luc, a school of religious art, he was noticed by an alumnus, who hired him as a collaborator on animated features. The end of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the arrival of American-style animated cartoons proved overwhelming for the small studio, but the experience was a formative one for Franquin, who became acquainted with two fellow employees, Creator/{{Morris}} (who went on to create ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'') and Creator/{{Peyo}} (who went on to create ''ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit'' and eventually ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'').
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13	In 1946, Franquin started working for the illustrated weekly ''Le Moustique'', and Jijé took him on as a collaborator and then his successor on ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio''. Although the series had already passed through the hands of two illustrators, Rob-Vel and Jijé himself, it was with Franquin that it reached its full potential, and many fans are unaware to this day that Franquin [[invoked]][[MyRealDaddy was not, in fact, the creator of the series]]. He introduced many of the key recurring characters of the Spirou mythos, such as Seccotine, the Count of Champignac, Zorglub and, most famously, the Franchise/{{Marsupilami}}.
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15	Franquin created other series during that period, notably ''Modeste et Ponpon'' and ''Le Petit Noël''. But Franquin's most famous and well-liked creation, Gaston Lagaffe, began, ironically enough, as a throwaway character invented to fill in empty spaces in the pages of the illustrated weekly ''Magazine/{{Spirou}}''. One-panel gags evolved into short strips, and Gaston then became a supporting character in ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'', before [[BreakoutCharacter acquiring his own series]]. From 1968 Franquin abandoned ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' altogether and focused on ''ComicBook/GastonLagaffe'', whom he infused with some of his own personality traits, especially an instinctive distrust of any form of authority.
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17	Strangely for someone with such a keen sense of humor (or perhaps not), Franquin struggled with recurring bouts of clinical depression, a trait he expressed through another series titled ''ComicBook/FranquinsLastLaugh''.
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19	He entered a period of semi-retirement in the 1980s after a particularly severe nervous breakdown, although he continued working on ''Gaston Lagaffe'' and other illustrative projects right until his passing from a heart attack two days after his 73th birthday in 1997.

Context Creator / AndreFranquin