Roger Leloup

Infobox Comics creator


name = Roger Leloup
imagesize =
caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1933|11|17
location = Verviers, Belgium
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = Belgian
area = artist, writer
alias =
notable works = "Yoko Tsuno"
awards = full list

Roger Leloup (born November 17, 1933) is a Belgian comic strip artist, novelist, and a former collaborator of Hergé. He is most famous for the series of Yoko Tsuno

Biography

Roger Leloup was born in Verviers, Belgium in 1933.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Roger Leloup". In België gestript, pp. 136-137. Tielt: Lannoo.] Fascinated by trains and planes since his youth, he studied Decoration and Publicity at the Institut Saint-Luc in Liège. By accident, he came into contact with the Franco-Belgian comics scene when his neighbour, Jacques Martin, told him that he desperately needed a colourist. Leloup got the job and started colouring the "Alix" album "L'ïle maudite" in 1950.

Jacques Martin was one of the main artists of the comics magazine "Tintin", and when Hergé was looking for someone to help him with the drawings of vehicles for a series, Martin brought him in contact with Leloup. From February 15, 1953 on, Leloup worked for several years at the Hergé studios, where he drew detailed backgrounds and vehicles for the comics series "The Adventures of Tintin". His work is seen in a wide variety of drawings, such as the Genève-Cointrin airport in "The Calculus Affair" and the design of the impressive Carreidas swing-wing supersonic business jet in "Flight 714".

Leloup worked for both Jacques Martin, with "Alix" and "Lefranc", and for Hergé, but as the production at the Studios Hergé slowed down, and Leloup came into contact with other artists. He worked for a period with Francis, and also collaborated with Peyo on his less well-known series "Jacky and Célestin". Here, he created a Japanese female character that would later become the inspiration for his own series.

On December 31, 1969, Leloup left Studios Hergé to work fulltime on his own series, "Yoko Tsuno", with a focus on technology and science fiction. The character Yoko Tsuno, a Japanese woman living in Brussels, is one of the leading examples of the female-fronted comics that appeared in the European juvenile magazines during this period. All "Yoko Tsuno" stories first appeared in "Spirou" and later as an album series published by editions Dupuis.

Roger Leloup has also written two novels, including one featuring Yoko Tsuno:
* "Le pic des ténèbres" (1989)
* "L'Écume de l'aube" (1991)

He has an adopted Korean daughter, who inspired him to draw the character "Morning Dew", the little Chinese girl from "Le Dragon de Hong Kong", who was adopted by Yoko Tsuno.

Bibliography

* "Yoko Tsuno", 1970– , 24 albums, Dupuis

Awards

* 1972, European SF special award for Belgian comics for "Yoko Tsuno" at the first Eurocon in Trieste, Italy [ [http://www.esfs.info/esfs-awards-1972.html#anchor137611 Eurocon awards site] ]
* 1974: Prix Saint-Michel, Brussels, Belgium, for Best Comic
* 1990: Grand Prix de la Science Fiction Française, category "Youth", for his novel "Le pic des ténèbres", France [ [http://www.noosfere.org/gpi/palmares.asp Winners of the Grand Prix de la SF] fr icon]

References

* Caluwaerts, Stephan and Taymans, André (2001). "Roger Leloup, à Propos de Yoko Tsuno". ISBN 2-930348-01-1
* [http://bdoubliees.com/tintinbelge/auteurs3/leloup.htm Roger Leloup publications in Belgian "Tintin"] , [http://bdoubliees.com/journaltintin/auteurs3/leloup.htm French "Tintin"] and [http://bdoubliees.com/journalspirou/auteurs3/leloup.htm "Spirou"] BDoubliées fr_icon Footnotes

External links

* [http://lambiek.net/artists/l/leloup.htm Roger Leloup biography] on Lambiek Comiclopedia
* [http://www.dupuis.com/servlet/jpecat?pgm=VIEW_AUTHOR&lang=UK&AUTEUR_ID=115 Roger Leloup biography] Dupuis
* [http://www.bdparadisio.com/scripts/detail.cfm?Id=294 Roger Leloup biography] BDparadisio fr icon