Michel Ledent (born 16 May 1963), known by the pseudonym Midam, is a Belgian comics author, best known for '' Kid Paddle''.

Biography

Michel Ledent was born in

Etterbeek Etterbeek (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the Cit ...

near

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 1963. He studied illustration and interior decoration at the

Institut Saint-Luc The Institut Saint-Luc () is an arts school in Brussels, Belgium. It consists of six departments, with a total of 2,200 students and 430 employees, spread over five locations in Ixelles and Saint-Gilles, Belgium, Saint-Gilles. History The school ...

in Brussels, and started creating comics in 1989 for the computer magazine ''Micro-Systèmes''. Under the pseudonym Midam, he joined '' Spirou'' magazine in 1992 as an illustrator for the videogames section. The character he created there, '' Kid Paddle'', soon got its own series, which became very popular, with over 4 million copies sold in French. New albums sell some 400,000 copies in French alone, making it one of the top ten best-selling French language comics series. In 2002, a separate '' Kid Paddle'' magazine was launched, and an animated TV series was created as well, with so far 104 episodes. The spin-off series ''Game Over'' was created in 2004, presenting the misadventures of the main character of the video games Kid Paddle is fond of playing in his own albums. The comic is wordless and is according to Midam inspired by the everfailing quests of Wile E. Coyote. The first album sold 60,000 copies. Other series by Midam were ''Le Gowap'', which was continued by

Curd Ridel Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet, a culture, or any edible acidic substance suc ...

, and ''Durant les Travaux, l'Exposition Continue'' with

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a common surname ...

. Midam is married to Chilean Araceli Cancino, who translates his works into Spanish.

Bibliography

*''Kid Paddle'': Dupuis, 1996–2007, Mad Fabrik, 2011-present, 15 volumes *''Durant les Travaux, l'Exposition Continue'': Dupuis, 1998 - 2000, with Clarke, 3 volumes *''Game Over'': Dupuis, 2004–2009, Mad Fabrik, 2009-present, 17 volumes, with Adam and others *''Le Miracle de la vie'': Dupuis, 2004, artwork by Clarke, 1 volume *''Harding was Here'': Quadrants, 2008, with Adam, 1 volume

Awards

*2002: Nominated for the Youth Prize at the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; ) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occur ...

for ''Kid Paddle'' *2005: Youth Prize 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 ...

for ''Game Over'' *2006: Prix Canal J for the best youth comic for ''Kid Paddle'' :: Nominated for the Youth Prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for ''Kid Paddle'' :: Nominated for the Youth Prize at the Prix Saint-Michel for ''Kid Paddle'' *2009: Nominated for the Prix Canal J for ''Kid Paddle''

Notes

External links

Midam
homepage

at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the prov ...

Comiclopedia
Biography
at publisher

Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines. Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. Initially a French language publisher, it now ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midam Belgian comics writers Belgian comics artists Belgian humorists 1963 births Living people Spirou (magazine) people