Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme (16 October 1918 – 25 July 2021), better known by his pen name Henri Vernes (), was an author of action and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

novels. He published over 200 titles in the action and science-fiction genre. He was most noted for the creation of the character

Bob Morane ''Bob Morane'' is a series of adventure books in French, featuring an eponymous protagonist, created by French-speaking Belgian novelist Henri Vernes, the pseudonym of Charles-Henri Dewisme. More than 200 novels have been written since his in ...

, a hero whose adventures spanned fifty years and went from straight adventure and science-fiction to fantasy. Vernes also wrote the text of many comics albums and animated movies. Dewisme used a number of other pseudonyms, including Jacques Colombo, Robert Davids, Duchess Holiday, C. Reynes, Jacques Seyr, Lew Shannon, and Ray Stevens, as well as his real name.

Biography

Henri Vernes was the child of Valérie Dupuis and Alphonse Léon Dewisme. After his parents separated, he was raised by his maternal grandparents. At age sixteen he dropped out of high school and worked for a time as helper in his father's butcher shop, but eventually went back to school at

Enghien Enghien (; nl, Edingen ; pcd, Inguî; vls, Enge) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1January 2006, Enghien had a total population of 11,980. The total area is , which gives a population de ...

. In 1937 he fell in love with a Chinese woman, "Madame Lou", and went with her on a two-month trip to Canton, using a fake passport. Back in Tournai, in 1938 he married Gilberte, daughter of a diamond cutter; but the marriage dissolved in 1941. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he served in the army's intelligence services. In 1944 he published his first book, ''La Porte Ouverte'' (''The Open Door''). In 1946 he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and wrote for a while for an American news agency and French newspapers. Still, he continued writing novels. In 1949 he published ''La Belle Nuit pour un Homme Mort'' (''Good Night for a Dead Man''), and moved back to Belgium. Between 1949 and 1953 Vernes wrote several tales for weekly magazines like ''Heroïc Albums'' and ''Mickey Magazine'', under various pen names. In 1953 he was invited to write an adventure novel for the series ''Marabout–Junior'' (Éditions Gérard). His ''Conquérants de l'Everest'' (''Conquerors of the Everest'') was an instant success, and he became a leading writer of that collection. Those books saw the debut of Vernes's most popular hero,

, and of his main companions Bill Ballantine, Frank Reeves, Aristide Clairembart; as well as of his first

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...

, Roman Orgonetz. The first comics album, ''L'oiseau de feu'' (''The Fire Bird'') came out in 1959, drawn by

Dino Attanasio Dino Attanasio (real name Edoardo Attanasio, born 8 May 1925) is a Belgian author of comics. Biography Attanasio was born in Milan. After studies at the Academy of Arts of Milan, Dino Attanasio started to work in illustration and animation in ...

, and was another resounding success. Between 1959 and 1967 Bob Morane was the star of many more books, albums, a short film, ''L'espion aux cent visages'' (''The Spy with a Hundred Faces'' (1960), and a TV series that ran through 26 episodes. Through that period Vernes started several other adventure cycles and introduced several other characters, such as the villain Monsieur Ming (also known as "L'Ombre jaune" or the Yellow Shadow), Dr Xathan, and Miss Ylang-Ylang. After 1967 the Marabout–Junior collection was reformatted and renamed ''Pocket Marabout''. Vernes continued writing for the series, with old and new characters. His popularity remained strong, and by 1970 the series had sold over 15 million books. In 1974 he started the cycle of ''Ananké'', considered by many to be his masterpiece. However, this success did not save Marabout from the publishing crisis of the 1970s, and in 1977 the series came to an end with issue 142, ''Bob Morane dans le Triangle des Bermudes'' (''Bob Morane in the Bermuda Triangle''). Over the next 28 years, Vernes authored scores of new titles, including the adult Don cycle (whose books he signed "Jacques Colombo") and supervised many re-issues of his older works. His 200th novel, the Bob Morane adventure ''La guerre du Pacifique n'aura pas lieu'' (''The Pacific War Will Not Happen'') was issued in 1996. Vernes was the subject of a documentary, ''Henri Vernes, un aventurier de l'imaginaire'' (1997), and in 1999, at age 81, he was decorated as ''Officier'' in the Belgian Order of Arts and Letters. A fan club, Club Bob Morane, was created in 1986 on the hero's 33rd anniversary.

Works

Novels

* 1953 : '' La Vallée infernale''

Albums

* 1962 : '' Les tours de cristal'' (Marabout, vol. 3) * 1973 : ''Les géants de Mu'' (Dargaud) * 2000 : ''Le lagon aux requins'' (éd. Nautilus) the sharks lagoon illustrations by

René Follet René Follet (10 April 1931 – 13 March 2020), sometimes known by the pen name Ref, was a Belgian illustrator, comics writer and artist. Biography René Follet was born in Brussels in 1931.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "René Follet". In België gest ...

References

External links

Biography of Henri Vernes by Patrice Sanahujas

bobmorane.fr The world of Henri Vernes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernes, Henri 1918 births 2021 deaths People from Ath Belgian writers in French Belgian male novelists Belgian comics writers Belgian science fiction writers Belgian centenarians Men centenarians Bob Morane 20th-century Belgian writers 20th-century Belgian male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Belgian military personnel of World War II