Stephen Desberg (born 10 September 1954 in

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 ...

) is a Belgian writer of comics. In 2010, he was the 10th bestselling author of comics in France, with 412,000 copies of all his comics together sold that year.

Biography

Stephen Desberg was born in Brussels in 1954 as the third child of an American lawyer from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

and a French mother who taught him French at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

after the

Liberation of Paris The liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi G ...

. They settled in Brussels when Stephen's father became responsible for the distribution of

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...

films in Belgium, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. After finishing college two years late, he studied law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, but didn't finish his studies. His youth was mainly dominated by American movies, but he also enjoyed the weekly '' Spirou'' magazine with series like '' Buck Danny'' or the works of

Raymond Macherot Raymond Macherot (30 March 1924 – 26 September 2008) was a Belgian cartoonist. Although not nearly as famous as fellow Belgian cartoonists such as Hergé or André Franquin, Macherot's work, both as artist and writer, remains highly regarded am ...

. He only discovered the authors who published in the main competitor '' Tintin'' magazine much later. He became a regular at the comics shop of Michel Deligne, who also republished classic comics and a fanzine. After Desberg published his first work here, Deligne introduced him to

Maurice Tillieux Maurice Tillieux (7 August 1921 – 2 February 1978) was a Belgian writer and comic artist. He is regarded by many as a major figure of post- war Belgian comics. Early life Maurice Tillieux was born in Huy in 1921. At first he studied for th ...

, one of the major authors of ''Spirou'' at the time. At first, he offered some ideas and synopses to Tillieux for series like ''Jess Long'' and '' Tif et Tondu'', but he eventually moved to full

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally p ...

s for ''Tif et Tondu'', drawn by Will. He started working for a number of other ''Spirou'' authors, including Benn,

Pierre Seron Pierre Seron (9 February 1942 – 24 May 2017) was a Belgian comic book artist. Biography He spent the first few years of his life in Liège then followed the work transfers of his father, an engineer, to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Libourne, F ...

, Raymond Macherot and Eric Maltaite (the son of Will). His first success came in 1980 with '' Billy the Cat'', drawn by Stéphane Colman. He also created ''421'' with Eric Maltaite, in 1983 ''Arkel'' with Marc Hardy, and in 1988 ''Jimmy Tousseul'' with

Daniel Desorgher Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...

. Despite all this, he was simultaneously but unsuccessfully trying to become a professional musician. By the late 1980s, he moved from the young adolescent comics more towards the adult comics and

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 ...

market, with 2 comics with Will and a series with Johan De Moor, the son of Bob De Moor, for

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All tex ...

, his first move away from publisher

Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines. Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French lan ...

. After some more short-lived series and collaborations, he started '' IR$'' with Bernard Vrancken. In 2000 starts '' Le Scorpion'' with

Enrico Marini Enrico Marini (born 13 August 1969) is an Italian comics artist. His works include '' Gipsy'' with writer Thierry Smolderen and '' Le Scorpion'' with writer Stephen Desberg. Biography Marini was born in ( Switzerland) and studied graphic ...

. Both series became a considerable success. In the following decade, Desberg started a considerable number of new series with multiple artists and publishers, making him by 2010 one of the major writers of contemporary Franco-Belgian comics.

Bibliography

*'' Tif et Tondu'', 1978–1991, 14 albums, art by Will,

*''Envahisseurs sur Janus'', 1981, 1 album, art by Xavier Musquera, Michel Deligne *''Les Centaures'', 1982, 1 album, art by

, Dupuis *''Mic mac Adam'', 1982–2000, 6 albums, art by Benn, Dupuis and

Fleurus Fleurus (; wa, Fleuru) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has been the site of four major battles. The municipality consists of the following districts: Brye, Heppignies, Fleurus, Lambusart, ...

*''

421 __NOTOC__ Year 421 ( CDXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Eustathius (or, less frequently, year 11 ...

'', 1983–1992, 11 albums, art by Eric Maltaite, Dupuis *''Arkel'', 1985–1993, 4 albums, art by Marc Hardy, Dupuis *''Gaspard de la nuit'', 1987–1991, 4 albums, art by Johan De Moor,

*''Le jardin des désirs'', 1988, 1 album, art by Will, Dupuis *'' Jimmy Tousseul'', 1989–2000, 12 albums, art by

, Dupuis *''La 27e Lettre'', 1990, 1 album, art by Will, Dupuis *'' Billy the Cat'', 1990–2003, 8 albums, art by Stéphane Colman, Dupuis *''la vache'', 1992–1999, 8 albums, art by Johan De Moor, Casterman *''L'Appel de l'enfer'', 1993, 1 album, art by Will, P&T Productions *''Carmen Lamour'', 1993, 1 album, art by Eric Maltaite, P&T Productions *''Equator'', 1994, 1 album, art by Dany,

Dargaud Société Dargaud, doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud (), publishing its first comics in 1943. H ...

*''Jess Long'', 1994, 1 album, art by

Arthur Piroton Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

, Dupuis *''L'étoile du désert'', 1996, 2 albums, art 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 is now part of Média-Participations, alongside publishers Dargaud and Du ...

*''Le Sang Noir'', 1996–1998, 4 albums, art by Bernard Vrancken, Le Lombard *''Le Crépuscule des Anges'', 1998–1999, 2 albums, art by Henri Reculé, Casterman *''Le Cercle des Sentinelles'', 1998–2000, 4 albums, art by Philippe Wurm, Casterman *'' IR$'', 1999-..., 12 albums, art by Bernard Vrancken, Le Lombard *'' Le Scorpion'', 2000-..., 9 albums, art by Enrico Marini, Dargaud *''Lait entier'', 2001–2002, 2 albums, art by Johan De Moor, Casterman *''Tosca'', 2001–2003, 3 albums, art by Francis Vallès, Glénat *''Les Immortels'', 2001–2005, 5 albums, art by Henri Reculé, Glénat *''Mayam'', 2003–2007, 4 albums, art by Daniel Koller, Dargaud *''Le Dernier Livre de la Jungel'', 2004–2007, 4 albums, art by Johan De Moor and Henri Reculé, Le Lombard *''Rafales'', 2005–2008, 4 albums, art by Francis Vallès, Le Lombard *''

Black Op A black operation or black op is a covert operation, covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black opera ...

'', 2005-..., 6 albums, art by Hugues Labiano, Dargaud *'' Cassio'', 2007-..., 4 albums, art by Henri Reculé, Le Lombard *''Empire USA'', 2008, 6 albums, collective work (with a.o. Enrico Marini, Henri Reculé, Griffo), Dargaud *''Sienna'', 2008-..., 2 albums, art by Chetville,

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

*''Ange & diablesses'', 2009, 2 albums, art by Marc Hardy, Dupuis *''IR$ - All Watcher'', 2009-..., 6 albums, art by various artists, Le Lombard *''Sherman'', 2011, 6 albums, art by Griffo, Le Lombard

Awards

*1991:

Youth Award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

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 ...

for ''Billy The Cat'' *1995: Humour Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for ''La vache'' *2003: nominated for the

Audience Award An audience award is typically an award at a film festival (or some other type of cultural festival or similar competition) which is selected by the audience attending the festival, rather than by the festival jury or a group of critics. Examples ...

at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for ''Le Scorpion'' *2005: nominated for the Youth Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for ''Le Scorpion''

Notes

External links

Biography
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

's Comiclopedia
Official site of Le Scorpion
with biography of the authors {{DEFAULTSORT:Desberg, Stephen 1954 births Living people Writers from Brussels Belgian comics writers