Gérald Forton (10 April 1931 – 16 December 2021) was a Belgian-born French comic book artist. He was the grandson of

Louis Forton Louis Forton (born March 14, 1879, in Sées, Orne (department), Orne; died February 15, 1934, in Saint-Germain-en-Laye) was a French screenwriter and Comic strip, comic strip artist. Louis Forton was one of the pioneers of French comic strips. ...

, creator of ''

Les Pieds Nickelés ''Les Pieds Nickelés'' ( French for "The nickel plated feet") is a French comic series, originally created by Louis Forton. The comic premiered on June 4, 1908 in the newspaper L'Épatant, published by Société Parisienne d'Édition. It i ...

''.

Life and career

In 1950, Forton wrote his first short stories in Caméra 34. In 1951, he illustrated ''Jim Cartouche''. The following year, he began illustrating the series '' L'oncle Paul'' for '' Spirou''. In 1953, he created ' alongside author

Jean-Michel Charlier Jean-Michel Charlier (; 30 October 1924 – 10 July 1989) was a Belgian comics writer. He was a co-founder of the famed Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Pilote''. Life Charlier was born in Liège, Belgium, in 1924.De Weyer, Geert (2005) ...

. From 1955 to 1956, he illustrated ''Le garage bleu'' and the adventures of ' in '. Throughout the 1960s, he illustrated multiple influential comic series in the Francophone world, such as ''Grégory le Marin'', ', and ''

Blake and Mortimer ''The Adventures of Blake & Mortimer'' is a Belgian comics series created by writer and comics artist Edgar P. Jacobs. It was one of the first book series to appear in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Tintin'' in 1946, and was subsequentl ...

''. In 1977, he participated in the ' and illustrated '. He also illustrated the French versions of several

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, such as

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

, the

Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk ...

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

, and the

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

. From 1978 to 1981, he published multiple comics based on the works of Michel Roquebert for . In the 1980s, he collaborated with

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book store, comic book specialty stor ...

, and

First Comics First Comics is an American comic book publisher that was active from 1983 to 1991 and then from 2011 to present (stylized as 1First Comics), known for titles like '' American Flagg!'', '' Grimjack'', ''Nexus'', ''Badger'', '' Dreadstar'', and '' ...

. Alongside his activities as a cartoonist, Forton participated in the storyboards for the animated series ''

The Legend of Prince Valiant ''The Legend of Prince Valiant'' is an animated television series based on the ''Prince Valiant'' comic strip created by Hal Foster. Set in the time of King Arthur, it is a family-oriented adventure show about an exiled prince who goes on a quest ...

''. He returned to the Franco-Belgian comics scene with

Semic Comics Semic Comics ( is one of the leading comic book publishers in France. It is officially known as Semic S.A. Along with French comics, the company formerly published the official translations of products produced by DC Comics and Marvel Comics. T ...

in the early 2000s. In 2013, he revived his grandfather's series ''Les Pieds Nickelés'' in collaboration with and Éditions l'Apart. In 2017, he illustrated a new edition of the series, ''Teddy Ted 1899'', more than forty years after the series' last publication in ''

Pif Gadget ''Pif Gadget'' (also simply known as ''Pif'') was a French comics magazine for children that ran from 1969 to 1993 and 2004 to 2009. Its readership peaked in the early 1970s. Predecessors ''Pif'' has its origins in ''Le Jeune Patriote'', a yout ...

''. Forton died on 16 December 2021, at the age of 90.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forton, Gérald Belgian comics artists Belgian storyboard artists Belgian humorists 1931 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Belgian artists 21st-century Belgian artists People from Brussels Spirou (magazine) people