WEBORGERS-
The Belgian Comics (8a)
JIDÉHEM
The father of Sophie
HEROÏC-ALBUMS AND GINGER
Jidéhem started his career as comics creator in a legendary weekly Belgian comics magazine: Heroïc Albums. He was a mere 17 years old when he published his action stories with a detective-like character :Ginger, from 1952 to 1956.
This magazine, considered as second rate at the time, was a good opportunity for some future famous Belgian comics authors, when they still were beginners in the trade.
Maurice Tilleux and his famous hard-boiled detective stories, Weinberg, Tibet, Greg, Craenhals, and many other Belgian artists were published there. The weekly comics magazine had a rather short life, from 1945 to 1956.
When Heroïc Albums collapsed, Jidéhem was hired by the "Spirou Magazine" editor to back-up André Franquin who was overworked by the multiple comics series he produced for the magazine and illustration works for editorials.
STARTER AND... LIFE-LIKE CARS WITH A PERSONALITY!
Jidéhem took over in 1957 the illustration of the "Starter Chronicles" from Franquin; this allowed him to develop the Starter character (a mechanics) see left image, in the roadster and draw hundreds of automobiles from the mid-fifties to the eighties.
His expressive drawings of cars and the brief but pertinent comments of the journalist Jacques Wauters (who created the Chronicles in 1952), made these chronicles one of the editorials with the most readership in "Spirou Magazine" along the years of publication, ending in 1975.
In these chronicles, as well as in the full features comics with Starter as a central character, appeared the real talent and taste of Jidéhem for illustrating all technical objects. It was not cold realism (as some draftsmen realize with optical enlargers!) or lifeless blueprints. On the contrary there was life and movement in the car drawings of Jidéhem!
GASTON LAGAFFE... BY JIDÉHEM
When Jidéhem teamed with Franquin, the latter had started in the magazine his famous character Gaston Lagaffe, evolving in the editorial pages. The success was so quick that Franquin and the editor were thinking of a regular series featuring Gaston. End of 1957, Franquin launched a series of gags, each one on half a page of strips in the magazine, that was intended to be a weekly feature. However he could not keep the pace, due to the bunch of series to finish (in Spirou or elsewhere) so he relied on Jidéhem to go on with the drawings since a very early stage of the series. Franquin, of course controlled the image of Gaston as a character, took care of continuity in the pages and invented the gags. Very quickly, Jidéhem will be on his own to draw completely most of the next 460 gags of the Gaston saga, under basic directives of Franquin
Respectful of pencil models given by Franquin and adapting his own drawings to Franquin's style, he certainly contributed to the phenomenal success of Gaston series. Jidéhem could also give his own touch to the multiple nightmares created by Gaston acting as a mad DIYer and as a dangerous scientist following the occasion. There the talent of Jidéhem could create and express all the technical objects of fantasies dreamed by Gaston... just remember his chemical set, his automatic mail delivery system, his nature harp, and more, and more...! Or his outdated car, of which we offer you here an explosive view due to Jidéhem
And then, this invaluable gift to the Gaston stories: Mr De Mesmaeker, named after the real name of Jidéhem by Franquin.
SPIROU... BY FRANQUIN AND JIDÉHEM
From 1958 to 1960, Jidéhem will design and draw most of the settings and backgrounds of the strips in the Spirou stories, due to the big difficulties that Franquin faced to continue the series, however still in high demand. Jidéhem even finished by himself the "Panade à Champignac" (Troubles in Champignac) after the 5 first pages created by Franquin (1967).
SOPHIE FIRST, THEN GINGER BY JIDÉHEM
After having produced close to 20 books with his main character:
Sophie (starting in 1963), Jidéhem 
came back to the character he first created in the fifties: Ginger.
The setup was modernized and the Ginger character now in 1981 looked a little bit older than the original one. There was still a lot of action with plots involving detective work and James Bond kind of situations with technical environment.
After being published in the Spirou Magazine first, 3 adventures of Ginger (48 pages each) were issued as comics books (albums). There was a fourth story in the Magazine as well: "Le Prisonnier du Kibu" that never was published as an album.
Due to changes of policies, and of editor for the Magazine, a fifth story totally finished by Jidéhem was not taken by the publishers! Finally, Jidéhem recycled and adapted the script to support an adventure of Sophie that was issued as No 19 of the series: "L'Odyssée du U 522".
A pity for the Ginger series that Jidéhem made full of suspense, mysteries, light fantastic, and with some ambiences evoking the Noir novels from time to time. As usual, settings and backgrounds were a first class job by this talented cartoonist.
NATACHA
In the early 80's, Jidéhem collaborated to one big adventure of Natacha, sexy air stewardess created by Walthéry. In two volumes, 'Snapshots for Caltech' and 'The Uncertain Machines', the story propelled Natacha in speculative science-fiction. The participation of Jidéhem was a positive and talented addition to the illustrations of the settings and the backgrounds. Imaginative and detailed it certainly participated to the specific mood of this Natacha saga.
A RETROSPECTIVE
From the Starter Chronicles were selected 120 models of cars illustrated by Jidéhem, with related comments by Jacques Wauters, and bundled in two volumes printed on glossy paper: '60 Voitures des années 60' (60 Cars of the Sixties) and '60 Sportives de Starter' (60 Sport Cars by Starter). A real feast for the old cars lovers and for the fans of Jidéhem!
This will let them hope that some day a publisher will re-issue the series of car posters in bigger format that Jidéhem designed for the Spirou Magazine. Cars drawings with a soul...
E.Borgers
freeweb@rocketmail.com
Copyright© 1996,1997 E.Borgers for text and setup.
All drawings on this page: Copyright 1997, Jidéhem. Photo on top: copyright 1997, E.Borgers (see complete disclaimer in front page)
Most recent revision: 7 June, 1997
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