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Jijé (January 13, 1914 - June 19, 1980) was a Belgian comics artist.
Born Joseph Gillain in Gedinne, Namur, he completed various art studies (woodcraft, orfèvrerie, drawing and painting). In 1936, he created his first comics character, "Jojo". Soon a second series followed, "Blondin et Cirage".
In 1939, he started to work for the new magazine Spirou. Because the magazine could not receive foreign drawings during the war, he drew most of the comics during that period. He took over the main series of "Spirou" from the Frenchman Rob-Vel, created his own series "Jean Valhardi" and drew episodes of the American series.
His Catholic faith inspired biographies of Don Bosco and Christopher Columbus, as well as a gospel in comics form, Emmanuel.
After the war, he handed over his existing series to younger artists: André Franquin got "Spirou et Fantasio", Eddy Paape "Jean Valhardi" and Victor Hubinon "Blondin et Cirage".
In the 1950s, he drew new adventures of "Jean Valhardi" and "Blondin et Cirage", while starting a new series, the western "Jerry Spring". He also drew a biography of Baden-Powell. In the mid-1960s, he took over the artwork of "Tanguy et Laverdure" from Albert Uderzo and of "Barbe-Rouge" from Victor Hubinon.
He died at Versailles after a prolonged illness.
External links
- Musée BD Jijé Strip Museum (http://www.jije.org)nl:Jijé