Didier Comès (11 December 1942 – 7 March 2013) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

comics artist, best known for his

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

s published in the magazine ''(

À Suivre ''À Suivre'' or ''A SUIVRE'' (English translation: "To Be Continued") was a Franco-Belgian comics magazine published from February 1978 to December 1997 by the Casterman publishing house. Along with the comic book magazines '' Spirou'', '' Ti ...

)''.

Biography

Didier Comès was born as Dieter Hermann Comès in Sourbrodt in 1942.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Comès". In België gestript, pp. 95–96. Tielt: Lannoo. Growing up in a small village in the

Hautes Fagnes The High Fens (german: Hohes Venn; french: Hautes Fagnes; nl, Hoge Venen), which were declared a nature reserve in 1957, are an upland area, a plateau region in Liège Province, in the east of Belgium and adjoining parts of Germany, between the ...

with a German-speaking father and a French-speaking mother, he defines himself as a "bastard of two cultures". He left school at 16 to start working as an industrial artist in a factory in

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also ...

, making his debut in the newspaper ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, "The Evening") is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. It is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in Belgium, competing ...

'' with the comic strip ''Hermann'' in 1969. Four years later he made his first typical long story, ''Le Dieu vivant'', the first part of the series ''Ergün l'errant'', for the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''

Pilote Cover of the first ''Pilote'' issue #0 ''Pilote'' () was a French comic magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as '' Astérix'', ' ...

''. In this story, like in most of his later work, the cinematic images take precedence over the story, which is

fantastic The fantastic (french: le fantastique) is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. Bulgarian-French structuralist literary critic Tzvetan Todorov originated the concept, characte ...

, and centers around death and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

. His breakthrough followed with ''Silence'', a harrowing story featuring a mute boy in the

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

after

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. All these elements, war, mythology, troubled relations, witchcraft, animals, and death, often placed in the Ardennes, the region where he is born and lived, are recurring themes in most of his later graphic novels, long unrelated stories in black and white. Comès was early on influenced by fellow Ardennais comic artists

René Hausman René Hausman (21 February 1936 – 28 April 2016) was a Belgian comic-book writer and artist, best known for his dark fairytales and watercolour drawings. Biography René Hausman was born in Verviers, Belgium in 1936.De Weyer, Geert (2005). ...

and

Paul Deliège Paul Deliège (21 January 1931 – 7 July 2005) was a Belgian artist and writer of comics. He is most famous for his series '' Bobo''. Biography Deliège was born in Olne. He started in the daily '' Le Soir'' with ''Père Bricole et Félic ...

, and would later become friends with his example

Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat, better known as Hugo Pratt (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as '' Corto Maltese''. He was ind ...

. He died, aged 70, in March 2013.

Bibliography

Awards

* 1980: Grand Prix Saint-Michel,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium
Last retrieved 18 October 2006 :: - for best foreign artist at the Lucca Comics & Games, Festival of Lucca, Italy Lucca 1980 website
Last retrieved 18 October 2006 * 1981: Best Comic Book at the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (french: Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after L ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

* 1983: Best Comic at the

Prix Saint-Michel The Prix Saint-Michel is a series of comic awards presented by the city of Brussels, with a focus on Franco-Belgian comics. They were first awarded in 1971, and although often said to be the oldest European comics awards, they are actually the sec ...

Notes

External links

Biography at his publisher Casterman
Last retrieved 18 October 2006

Last retrieved 18 October 2006

Last retrieved 18 October 2006

Sources

* Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; and Mellot, Philippe (1998): "Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 1999–2000".

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, Les éditions de l'amateur. {{DEFAULTSORT:Comes, Didier 1942 births 2013 deaths Belgian comics artists People from Waimes