Jean Graton (10 August 1923 – 21 January 2021) was a French comic book author and

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. Graton created the character Michel Vaillant and the eponymous series in 1957.

Biography

Graton was born in

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, France, in 1923. He moved to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1947 and worked there in

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

and

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

companies. He was hired by '' Spirou'' magazine in 1952, for which he illustrated '' Belles Histoires de l'Oncle Paul''. Determined to create and draw his own characters, he got a job for ''

Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...

'' magazine. From 1953, he published his own stories in ''Tintin''. Some consisting of a few strips, and most related to

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

s and

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

s, were published in 1957 by

Le Lombard Le Lombard (), known as Les Éditions du Lombard () until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when '' Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard became part of Média-Participations since 1986, alongside publishers Darg ...

in an album entitled ''Ca c'est du sport!''. In 1957, Graton created the character Michel Vaillant. Some short comics were published in ''Tintin'' and acquired huge popularity. As soon as 1959, a full album was published by Le Lombard. In 1966, Graton created the ''Les Labourdet'' series with his wife, Francine, and published it between 1967 and 1970 in the ''Chez Nous'' magazine. In 1972, he created Julie Wood, a character who starred first in her own series, then in the ''Michel Vaillant'' series. In 1982, Graton started, with his son Philippe Graton, his own publishing house, Graton Editeur. He launched, with Philippe Graton, the ''Dossiers Michel Vaillant'' series in 1995, each album of which being dedicated to a famous driver. In 2000, they created the ''Palmarès Inedit'' series, made up of comics that were drawn by Graton in the 1950s and 1960s, including the ''Labourdet'' series, as well as comics that had not been published before. In 2004, Graton, at the age of 80, decided to retire and to stop drawing. His works are continued by Philippe Graton and the Studio Graton, which he created himself. On 21 January 2021, Graton died in

, Belgium, at the age of 97.Décès de Jean Graton, créateur de Michel Vaillant et dernier monstre sacré de l’âge d’or de la BD franco-belge

Graphic style

The huge popularity of Graton's series is partly due to their extreme realism. Graton's works, particularly the ''Michel Vaillant'' series, are notable for featuring real-life people, drivers, teams, races, and places. Graton is widely recognized as a great automobile and

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

drawer. The several descriptions of places, circuits, and cars he gave in his series are highly well-documented, specific, and realistic. Graton used to take a lot of notes, illustrations, and photographs of the various automobile-related places he attended as an automobile-passionate. He was later assisted with this work by his son Philippe, who has a passion for photography.

Relation with motorsports

Graton's passion for motorsport went back to his childhood. Later in his life, he attended numerous

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

and other motorsport races, and was acknowledged by famous drivers. His series inspired some drivers to choose such a career.

Awards

* In 1986, at the

Morzine Morzine (; ), alternatively known as Morzine-Avoriaz (), is an alpine commune on the Swiss border in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is located in the French-Swiss Chablais historical ...

Avoriaz Avoriaz (, ) is a French mountain resort in the Portes du Soleil in the French commune of Morzine, on a shelf above the town of Morzine. Cars are forbidden in Avoriaz; transport includes horse-drawn sleighs and snowcats during winter. One ...

BD Festival, he received the "Le sport: Une œuvre, un Auteur" (''Sport: A work, an author'') award. * In 1989, at the Belgian Bande Dessinée Festival at Han sur Lesse, he was rewarded by the president of the festival and the Belgian minister, Amand Dalem, a "prix spécial d'exception pour l'ensemble de son œuvre" (''special prize for his whole work''). * In 2004, at the 19th Automobile Festival, he was given the "Grand Prix de l'Art" award. * In 2005, he was named "Chevalier de l'Ordre de Léopold" by

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Bibliography

* ''Les Histoires vraies de l'Oncle Paul'' (24 stories, published in 12 albums, 1953–1954) * ''Ça, c'est du sport!'' (1 album, 1957) * ''Michel Vaillant'' (96 albums, 1959–2007) * ''Les Labourdet'' (9 albums, 1967–2008) * ''Un exploit de Michel Vaillant'' (1 album, 1972) * ''Julie Wood'' (12 albums, 1976–1980) * ''Dossiers Michel Vaillant'' (9 albums, 1995–2008) * ''Palmarès inédit'' (6 albums, 2000–2006)

References

External links

Michel Vaillant official page

at Le Bedetheque
Jean Graton
at BD Paradisio
Jean Graton Fan Club

at Lambiek {{DEFAULTSORT:Graton, Jean 1923 births 2021 deaths Artists from Nantes Belgian comics artists French comics artists Belgian comics writers French advertising artists and illustrators Belgian advertising artists and illustrators Belgian sports comics artists French sports comics artists Michel Vaillant Writers from Nantes