Benoît Sokal (28 June 1954 – 28 May 2021) was a Belgian

comic artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

, best known for his comics series ''

Inspector Canardo Inspector Canardo is a comics series created by the Belgian artist Benoît Sokal. He was named after the French noun ''canard'', which means "duck". History Sokal created the character Inspector Canardo after graduating from Institut Saint-Lu ...

'', and the ''

Syberia ''Syberia'' is a franchise of graphic adventure games created by Belgian comic artist and video game developer Benoît Sokal. Set within an alternate universe designed by Sokal and introduced in the 1999 video game ''Amerzone'', the series is ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

franchise.

Biography

Benoît Sokal was born in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 1954.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Benoît Sokal". In België gestript, pp. 162. Tielt: Lannoo. According to him, his grandfather was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

General of the cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...

Ukrainian Jewish The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Some of the most important Jewish religious and ...

origin who had to fled for Belgium in 1939 with the help of a German officer he knew since 1914, crossing all Eastern Europe while surviving the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s.Annick RIVOIRE
Benoît Sokal, 45, comic book author, creator of Inspector Canardo, started designing video games. With success. Spite of bubbles
by

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

, May 18, 1999 (in French) Sokal studied at the École Supérieure des Arts Saint-Luc in Brussels, together with many contemporary Belgian comic artists like

François Schuiten François Schuiten (; born 26 April 1956) is a Belgian comic book artist. He is best known for drawing the series '' Les Cités Obscures''. Biography François Schuiten was born in Brussels, Belgium in 1956.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "François Sch ...

. He began drawing for ''

À Suivre ''À Suivre'' or ''A SUIVRE'' (English translation: "To Be Continued") was a Franco-Belgian comics magazine published from February 1978 to December 1997 by the Casterman publishing house. Along with the comic book magazines ''Spirou (magazine), ...

'' magazine in 1978. He created the ''

'' series, featuring a depressed

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form t ...

detective with a penchant for cigarettes, alcohol and ''

femmes fatales A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...

'', before working on other titles. In 1983 he moved to

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Later he joined the software developer

Microïds Microids (formerly Microïds) is a French video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in Paris. Founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano, it attained early success with games published through Loriciel in France and other partners ...

and designed the

s ''

Amerzone ''Amerzone'' (also known as ''Amerzone: The Explorer's Legacy'') is a first-person fantasy graphic adventure game published by Microïds and designed by Benoît Sokal, who based it on his 1986 ''Inspector Canardo'' comic strip ''L'Amerzone''. ''Am ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Syberia II ''Syberia II'' is a 2004 graphic adventure game developed and published by MC2-Microïds. As the direct sequel to 2002's ''Syberia'', it is a third-person puzzle-solving game. Although it is stylistically identical, ''Syberia II'' improves upon ...

'' (published by Microïds, the adventure game label of

Anuman Interactive Microids (formerly Microïds) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano, it attained early success with games published through Loriciel in France and other partners (including Activision ...

). He then founded his own game company,

White Birds Productions White Birds Productions was a French video game developer. White Birds was founded by Benoît Sokal, Olivier Fontenay, Jean-Philippe Messian and Michel Bams in August 2003. White Birds specialised in adventure games but also handled other work, ...

, where he created the adventure game ''

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

'' published through

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

. He died on 28 May 2021 after a battle with long-term illness.

Bibliography

* ''

'', 23 albums, 1981- ;

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Brussels, Belgium. History The company was founded in 1780 by Donat-Joseph Casterman, an editor and bookseller or ...

* ''Sanguine'', with Alain Populaire; 1988, Casterman * ''Silence, on tue!'', with ; 1990, Nathan * ''Le Vieil Homme qui n'Écrivait Plus'', 1996; Casterman * ''Syberia'', 1 album, 2002; Casterman (sketches and drawings for the game ''

'') * ''Paradise'', 2 albums, 2005-, artist Brice Bingono; Casterman

Video games

* ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2004) * ''

'' (2006) ** '' Last King of Africa'' (2008) (Nintendo DS version of Paradise) * '' Sinking Island'' (2007) * ''Aquarica'' (2008) (canceled) * ''

Syberia 3 ''Syberia 3'' is a graphic adventure video game developed by Microïds and published by Anuman for Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It is the third entry of the ''Syberia'' series and follows the adventures ...

'' (2017) * '' Syberia: The World Before'' (2022, posthumous)

Awards

* 1999: Prix Pixel-INA (category "Games") at the Imagina 99 festival,

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

* 2002:

GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...

PC Adventure Game of the YearGameSpy site
* 2003: nominated for the Award for Best Dialogue at the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (french: Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lu ...

References

External links

Sokal publications in ''(A SUIVRE)''
BDoubliées

Bedetheque

on Lambiek Comiclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Sokal, Benoit 1954 births 2021 deaths Artists from Brussels Belgian comics writers Belgian comics artists Belgian humorists Belgian satirists French people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Syberia