Michel Ledent (born 16 May 1963), known by the pseudonym Midam, is a Belgian comics author, best known for ''

Kid Paddle ''Kid Paddle'' is a Belgian gag-a-day comic series created by Michel Ledent (Midam) in 1993. It was first published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Spirou (magazine), Spirou'' before branching out into its own volume Franco-Belgian com ...

''.

Biography

Michel Ledent was born in

Etterbeek Etterbeek ( French: ; Dutch: ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Schaerbeek, Wolu ...

near

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 1963. He studied illustration and interior decoration at the

Institut Saint-Luc The Institut Saint-Luc () is an arts school in Brussels, Belgium. It consists of six departments, with a total of 2,200 students and 430 employees, spread over five locations in Ixelles and Saint-Gilles. History The school was founded by members ...

in Brussels, and started creating comics in 1989 for the computer magazine ''Micro-Systèmes''. Under the pseudonym Midam, he joined '' Spirou'' magazine in 1992 as an illustrator for the videogames section. The character he created there, ''

'', soon got its own series, which became very popular, with over 4 million copies sold in French. New albums sell some 400,000 copies in French alone, making it one of the top ten best-selling French language comics series. In 2002, a separate ''

'' magazine was launched, and an animated TV series was created as well, with so far 104 episodes. The spin-off series ''Game Over'' was created in 2004, presenting the misadventures of the main character of the video games Kid Paddle is fond of playing in his own albums. The comic is wordless and is according to Midam inspired by the everfailing quests of

Wile E. Coyote Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each episod ...

. The first album sold 60,000 copies. Other series by Midam were ''Le Gowap'', which was continued by Curd Ridel, and ''Durant les Travaux, l'Exposition Continue'' with

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

. Midam is married to Chilean Araceli Cancino, who translates his works into Spanish.

Bibliography

*''Kid Paddle'': Dupuis, 1996–2007, Mad Fabrik, 2011-present, 15 volumes *''Durant les Travaux, l'Exposition Continue'': Dupuis, 1998 - 2000, with Clarke, 3 volumes *''Game Over'': Dupuis, 2004–2009, Mad Fabrik, 2009-present, 17 volumes, with Adam and others *''Le Miracle de la vie'': Dupuis, 2004, artwork by Clarke, 1 volume *''Harding was Here'': Quadrants, 2008, with Adam, 1 volume

Awards

*2002: Nominated for the Youth Prize 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 ...

for ''Kid Paddle'' *2005: Youth Prize at the

Prix Saint-Michel The Prix Saint-Michel is a series of comic awards presented by the city of Brussels, with a focus on Franco-Belgian comics. They were first awarded in 1971, and although often said to be the oldest European comics awards, they are actually the sec ...

for ''Game Over'' *2006: Prix Canal J for the best youth comic for ''Kid Paddle'' :: Nominated for the Youth Prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for ''Kid Paddle'' :: Nominated for the Youth Prize at the Prix Saint-Michel for ''Kid Paddle'' *2009: Nominated for the Prix Canal J for ''Kid Paddle''

Notes

External links

Midam
homepage

at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Comiclopedia
Biography
at publisher

Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgium, Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines. Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic comics album, albums and magazines. It is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midam Belgian comics writers Belgian comics artists Belgian humorists 1963 births Living people