Born in Brussels on January 16th, 1939, Jean Van Hamme is a great artistic talent who holds degrees in finance, journalism, and civic law.
After a brilliant international career, he left his job as general manager of Philips Belgium in 1976 to become a writer.
While writing six novels based on the adventures of "Largo Winch" for Mercure de France, he also took up scriptwriting for the magazine "Tintin, " including strips for artist Attanasio ("Modeste et Pompon"), a mythological adventure ("Epoxy"), and episodes of "Corentin" for Paul Cuvelier, "Michael Logan" for André Beautemps, "Domino" for Cheret, "Mr Magellan" for Géri, and, for Dany, "Arlequin" and "Histoire sans héros" ("Story Without a Hero, " Cinebook/Europe Comics).
He then started on the legendary "Thorgal" saga for Grzegorz Rosinski (Le Lombard, Cinebook/Europe Comics in English), with whom he later created "Le Grand Pouvoir du Chninkel" for Casterman.
He then created the "XIII" series alongside Vance at Dargaud, and "Les Maîtres de l'orge" for Vallès at Éditions Glénat.
We can also thank him for several television scripts (including the adaptation of "Maîtres de l'Orge"), and for the cinema ("Diva" by Jean-Jacques Beneix and "Meurtres à domicile" by Marc Lobet).
In 1987, he managed publisher Dupuis, launching the best-selling series "Largo Winch" with Philippe Francq, and devising what would later become the "Aire Libre" collection, for which he wrote the stories "S.
O. S. Bonheur, " illustrated by Griffo, and "Lune de guerre, " with Hermann.
Having closely examined the techniques of popular storytelling, Van Hamme has become a scriptwriter who turns everything he writes into gold, including bringing the characters of "Blake et Mortimer" back to life in 1996 with illustrator Ted Benoît, continuing in the tradition of Edgar P. Jacobs.
In addition to teaching at the Institut d'Arts de Diffusion (Louvain-la-Neuve), he has also served as chairman of the Centre Belge de le Bande Dessinée.
Polish comics artist Grzegorz Rosinski is not so much an illustrator as a movement.
And the idea of movement is also a fitting way to describe the artist's work as a whole. Over the course of his remarkable career, his only fear was to be defined and limited by some form of identifiable style. In this way, ever since publishing his first illustrations at the age of 16, Rosinski never stopped evolving and advancing as a graphic artist. After earning a degree in fine arts in Warsaw, Rosinski soon became the star and artistic director of "Relax, " the first Polish comics magazine.
But he never stopped seeking new opportunities, which in 1976 led him to come to Belgium. He would soon meet author Jean Van Hamme, whose fantasy saga "Thorgal" would launch them both into the comics ether. Over the years, Rosinski stayed loyal to both his collaborators and his readers, but his high level of production allowed him to vary his work, alternating between "Thorgal" and other notable series such as "La complainte des landes perdues" (Dargaud; "Lament of the Lost Moors, " Cinebook), with writer Jean Dufaux.
Starting in 2010, while continuing to illustrate the original "Thorgal" series, Rosinski took on the additional task of supervising the creation of "The World of Thorgal, " a new collection of stories taking place in parallel with the main series, and brought to life by a talented crop of authors and artists. After 40 years, the "Thorgal" series remains as vibrant as ever, and peers and readers alike view Rosinski as one of the legendary figures of our era.
