Jacques Martin

Jacques Martin discovered comic art at a very early age through the Buster Brown comic books. It was on the backs of these pages that he made his first drawings, most of which depicted airplanes (his father was a pilot). From this passion for drawing sprang an insatiable interest in history. After the war and until 1948, he alternated between series such as Lamar, l'homme invisible (Lamar, the Invisible Man), Œil de Perdrix (Partridge Eye), and The Secret of the Calumet. He also created Le Hibou gris (The Grey Owl) and  La Cité fantastique… While continuing his contributions to Bravo and Story, Jacques Martin suggested the character of Alix—Alix the Fearless—to the Journal de Tintin, which began appearing in the magazine for readers aged 7 to 77 on September 16, 1948. In 1952, he set aside Alix to focus on a contemporary plot featuring a reporter named Lefranc in La Grande Menace (The Great Threat). In 1953, Hergé invited him to join his studio. Jacques Martin’s involvement lasted nineteen years, during which he worked on several Tintin stories without abandoning Alix and Lefranc. Over the following decades, he created new series: Jhen, Arno, Orion, Kéos, and Loïs. Having assembled a team of young artists around him, Jacques Martin was committed to ensuring they would continue the series he had created. He therefore had numerous projects in the works until January 21, 2010, the day the artist passed away in Switzerland. 

© Casterman