Ted Benoit

In the 1980s, the “Ligne claire” style (clear line) revolutionized the world of comic art, following in the footsteps of the Dutch artist Joost Swarte. Ted Benoit, who until then had cultivated a style closer to the “Underground” movement, made a radical shift that coincided with a revival among the new generation of the great Belgian classics: Hergé, Jacobs, Franquin... Ted Benoit was one of the leading figures who used the conventions of children’s comics to tell more adult stories, following the example of Floc’h and Yves Chaland. This allowed him to infuse the genre with the conventions of hard-boiled crime fiction, employing a dialogue style influenced by the Nouveau Roman and the French New Wave (Nouvelle Vague), in keeping with the literary ambition of the magazine (À Suivre). 

Rightly considered one of the finest artists to take up the Blake and Mortimer series, Ted Benoit illustrates it with impeccable linework and the touch of modernity he has brought to this classic of Franco-Belgian comics. The graphic quality of his pages in L’Étrange rendez-vous (The Strange Encounter) and L’Affaire Francis Blake (The Francis Blake Affair) makes them highly sought-after items on the art market. In 2023, the cover of the bibliophile edition of L’Affaire Francis Blake was sold for €13,650 by Daniel Maghen Auctions. A record for this artist. 

To ensure that your pages are kept in good condition, we recommend that you never expose them to direct light, as UV rays can damage the media used to produce them. Although Indian ink is a perennial material, the paper support may change when exposed to UV light. Note that watercolor plates require special attention, as this medium is particularly sensitive to light. Pieces containing pastel or charcoal require special care to avoid rubbing.
We advise you to display them away from windows, and to use frames made of pH-neutral conservation materials and “Museum” glass with anti-UV and anti-reflective treatment. If you prefer to keep your works unframed, we recommend storing them flat, in drawing cartons, with sheets of pH-neutral permanent paper in between. Keep them away from light and humidity

Ted Benoit made a name for himself by publishing his artwork in L’Écho des Savanes, Métal Hurlant, and (À Suivre) starting in 1975. His first title, Hôpital (Les Humanoïdes Associés), won the Best Screenplay Award at the 1979 Angoulême International Comics Festival. In the early 1980s, he shifted toward the “ligne claire” style (clear line) of Hergé and Joost Swarte and created the two-volume series Ray Banana (Casterman), which had been serialized in (À Suivre). In the late 1990s, with L'Affaire Francis Blake (The Francis Blake Affair) and then L'Étrange rendez-vous (The Strange Encounter), Ted Benoit definitively brought Blake and Mortimer, the heroes created by Edgar P. Jacobs, back into the spotlight. The final volume of Ray Banana was published in 2014 (La Boîte à Bulles). Ted Benoit passed away in 2016. Complete biography.