Hermann

Hermann Huppen was born on July 17, 1938, in Bévercé (Ardennes). His childhood, marked by the war and exile in Brussels, prompted him to learn a trade at a very young age. He quickly earned his cabinetmaker’s diploma before taking evening classes in architectural drawing and interior design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Saint-Gilles (Belgium). At age 18, he joined his sister in Canada, where he spent three years before returning to Belgium.

It was not until 1964 that Hermann became involved in the 9^th Art, following his marriage to Adeline Vandooren, whose brother, Philippe Vandooren (alias Morphée), edited a Scout magazine to which he would contribute his first story.

Juggling a part-time job as an architect while pursuing drawing, Hermann created short educational stories, including Livreuse d’avions (Airplane Delivery Girl) and Une histoire de l’Oncle Paul (An Uncle Paul's Story), published in 1965 in Le Journal de Spirou. Noticed by Greg, he was quickly taken on as an apprentice in the master’s studio. By 1966, Greg was writing for Le Lombard the series that immediately established Hermann’s undeniable talent in the realistic vein: Bernard Prince.

After a detour with Jugurtha—the story of a Numidian prince fighting against the Roman invaders—for which he drew the first two albums, Hermann embarked on a new series with Greg, Comanche, whose publication began in December 1969. Eight years later, he felt the urge to create his own story. Greg expressed doubts about his abilities as a scriptwriter, despite a few short Bernard Prince stories he had already written on his own. Hermann took him at his word and launched into his first solo series, Jeremiah. He gradually abandoned his flagship series Bernard Prince, taken over by Dany, and Comanche, continued by Michel Rouge. In 1984, he temporarily stepped away from the post-apocalyptic themes of Jeremiah to create Les Tours de Bois-Maury (The Towers of Bois-Maury), a medieval epic where his realism, applied to a bygone era, works wonders. What was meant to be a standalone album became a second series that he would run concurrently with Jeremiah, alternating their production.

Always striving to raise the bar higher, he released his first one-shot, Missié Vandisandi, in 1991, followed in 1995 by the rebellious Sarajevo-Tango, a direct-color graphic novel whose historical and social themes earned him the Oesterheld Prize. He continued exploring this theme with Caatinga in 1997. Two years later, he released On a tué Wild Bill (Wild Bill is Dead), in which he captured the ruthless world of the pioneers.

In 2000, in collaboration with Van Hamme, he created Lune de Guerre (War Moon), an artwork that depicts the absurdity and stupidity of humanity. Then, with his son, he drew Liens de Sang (Blood Ties), a pseudo-crime thriller with fantastical elements.

In 2002, Jeremiah became a 35-episode television series produced by MGM, in which Luke Perry played the title role and Malcolm-Jamal Warner played Kurdy. 

Hermann published no fewer than 120 graphic novels throughout his 60-year career. He achieved recognition in 2016 when he was awarded the Grand Prix de la Ville d’Angoulême by his peers. Through his productivity, longevity, success, and ability to reinvent himself, Hermann has established himself as a pillar of the 9th Art and a master of direct color.

In 2017, the Galerie Daniel Maghen dedicated a major retrospective to him, tracing nearly 50 years of his career through artworks from his flagship series Comanche, Jeremiah, Bernard Prince, Les Tours de Bois-Maury, and his more personal albums Caatinga and On a tué Wild Bill (Wild Bill is Dead).

The artist passed away on March 22, 2026, in Brussels at the age of 87.