Morris (cartoonist)
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Maurice De Bevere (; ; 1 December 1923 – 16 July 2001), better known as Morris, was a Belgian
cartoonist 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 ...
,
comics 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 g ...
,
illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
and the creator of '' Lucky Luke,'' a bestselling comic series about a gunslinger in the American
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
. He was inspired by the adventures of the historic Dalton Gang and other outlaws. It was a bestselling series for more than 50 years that was translated into 23 languages and published internationally. He collaborated for two decades with French writer René Goscinny on the series. Morris's pen name is an Anglicized version of his first name.


Biography

Born in
Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...
, Belgium, Morris attended the well-known Jesuit college in Aalst. His math teacher told his parents the youth would unfortunately never succeed in life, as he passed math classes doodling in the margin of his math books. The student uniforms required there inspired his choices for those of the undertakers in his ''Lucky Luke'' cartoon series. Morris started his career after college drawing in the Compagnie Belge d'Actualités (CBA) animation studios. This was a small and short-lived Belgian animation studio, where he met fellow artists Peyo, André Franquin and Eddy Paape.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Morris". In ''België gestript,'' pp. 143-144. Tielt: Lannoo. After World War II, the company folded. Morris worked as an illustrator for ''
Het Laatste Nieuws ''Het Laatste Nieuws'' (; in English ''The Latest News'') is a Dutch-language newspaper based in Antwerp, Belgium. It was founded by Julius Hoste Sr. on 7 June 1888. It is now part of DPG Media, and is the most popular newspaper in Flanders and ...
'', a Flemish newspaper, and '' Le Moustique'', a French-language weekly magazine published by Dupuis. He made some 250 covers and numerous other illustrations for the latter magazine, mainly caricatures of movie stars. Morris died in 2001 of an embolism following an accidental fall.


''Lucky Luke''

In 1946, Morris created ''Lucky Luke'' for '' Spirou'' magazine, the Franco-Belgian comics magazine published by Dupuis. Lucky Luke is a solitary cowboy who travels across the
Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
, helping those in need and aided by his faithful horse,
Jolly Jumper Jolly Jumper is a horse character in the Franco-Belgian comics series ''Lucky Luke'', created by Belgian artist Morris. Described as "the smartest horse in the west" and able to perform tasks such as chess-playing and tightrope walking, Jolly Ju ...
. The first adventure, "Arizona 1880", was published in ''L'Almanach Spirou 1947'', released on 7 December 1946. Morris became one of the central artists of the magazine. He was one of the so-called ''La bande des quatre'' (Gang of Four), with
Jijé Joseph Gillain (), better known by his pen name Jijé (; 13 January 1914 – 19 June 1980), was a Belgian comics artist, best known for being a seminal artist on the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' strip (and for having introduced the Fantasio character) a ...
, André Franquin, and
Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...
. All four lived and worked for a couple of years at Jijé's studio in
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...
, and became very good friends, stimulating each other artistically. In 1948, Morris, Jijé and Franquin travelled to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
(Will was still too young and had to remain in Belgium). They wanted to get to know the country, see what was left of the Wild West, and meet some American comic artists. Morris stayed the longest of the three, for six years. During his six-year stay in the U.S. Morris met Jack Davis and Harvey Kurtzman, and assisted them with founding their '' Mad'' magazine at
EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...
.Morris biography
on Lambiek Comiclopedia.
In the U.S. he also met René Goscinny, a French comic artist and writer. They developed a long collaboration, and Goscinny wrote all the ''Lucky Luke'' stories between 1955 and his death in 1977. In the 1950s, Goscinny was still fairly unknown, but he became the most successful comic writer in Europe, first with ''Lucky Luke'' and a few years later with his ''
Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...
'' series. Morris's time in the United States were integral to his development, not only because of his collaboration with Goscinny, but because he gathered a great deal of documentation for his later work. He also became familiar with the
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
films of the time. In the following years, Morris introduced many cinematic techniques in his comics, such as freeze-frames and close-ups.
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's style influenced him, which can be seen in the very round lines that characterize the early Lucky Luke albums.Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée, Brussels Many characters in his comics are also clearly based on famous American actors, such as
Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...
,
Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...
,
W.C. Fields WC or wc may refer to: * Water closet or flush toilet Arts and entertainment * ''W.C.'' (film), an Irish feature film * WC (band), a Polish punk rock band * WC (rapper), a rapper from Los Angeles, California * Westside Connection, former hi ...
, and William Hart. He also caricatured unexpected figures, such as Louis de Funès and French singer
Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...
. The first 31 Lucky Luke adventures were published by Dupuis. In the late 1960s, Morris left Dupuis and ''Spirou'' and went to Dargaud and '' Pilote'' magazine. This was started by his friend and collaborator Goscinny. In 1983,
Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...
made a series of 52 cartoons of ''Lucky Luke'', increasing the popularity of the series. 52 more animated cartoons were made in the early 1990s, and three live action films followed. A few videogames based on the series were also made, e.g. for
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
and
Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
. ''Lucky Luke'' is the best-selling European comics series ever, with more than 300 million copies sold, and published in more than thirty languages. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Morris never worked on several series . He made numerous illustrations for stories in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1990s, he did make ''
Rantanplan Rantanplan (; alternatively spelled Ran-Tan-Plan and Ran Tan Plan) is a fictional hound dog created by a Belgian cartoonist Morris and French writer René Goscinny. Originally a supporting character in the ''Lucky Luke'' series, Rantanplan lat ...
'', a spin-off from ''Lucky Luke'', starring the dumbest dog in the West. In 2005 Morris was ranked as 79th for The Greatest Belgian in the
French-speaking community In Belgium, the French Community (french: Communauté française; ) refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French Community has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation (french: Fédé ...
.


Awards

*1972: Grand Prix Saint-Michel,
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 ...
, Belgium *1992: Angoulême International Comics Festival, 20th anniversary Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême


References


External links


Biography
on Dupuis.com

on Telegraph.co.uk

an

BDoubliées

Bedetheque

www.europeancomics.net

in
Lambiek Comiclopedia 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 ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris 1923 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Belgian artists 21st-century Belgian artists 20th-century Belgian writers 21st-century Belgian writers 20th-century Belgian male writers 21st-century Belgian male writers Belgian comics artists Belgian comics writers Belgian cartoonists Belgian humorists Belgian illustrators Belgian caricaturists People from Kortrijk Deaths from pulmonary embolism Lucky Luke Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners Belgian expatriates in the United States