Jean Graton, the creator of the famous Michel Vaillant, died this Thursday, January 21, at the age of 97, announced Dupuis editions. The designer was born on August 10, 1923 in Nantes (Loire Atlantique). Passionate about drawing, Jean Graton moved to Belgium in 1947. He started his career with advertising drawings before being hired in 1949 for the newspaper. The sports, remind our colleagues of Franceinfo .
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He then worked for the World’s Press agency where he fed the Spirou newspaper. He also offers his services to Journal Tintin, for which he created in 1957 the famous character of Michel Vaillant. This series, dedicated to motorsports, has 70 albums. “Among these readers of Michel Vaillant, several have become F1 drivers, among the greatest, journalists and even designers, Jean Graton knew how to convey his passion in style. He was the first to understand that to tell stories, you had to be inspired by reality ”, indicates the press release of the Dupuis editions.
“The last sacred monster of the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics”
Jean Graton was not only the creator of Michel Vaillant, it was also: the illustrations of the newspaper Les Sports, the Belles Histoires de l’Oncle Paul in Spirou, the covers and Complete Histories of the newspaper Tintin, Julie Wood, the Labourdets .
Commander of Arts and Letters, Knight of the Order of Leopold, he is described as “The last sacred monster of the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics”.
“His friends and colleagues were called Goscinny, Uderzo, Charlier, Peyo, Roba, Franquin … He passed away peacefully in Brussels at the age of 97, surrounded by his family”, concludes the press release from Dupuis editions.
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