Edmond-François Calvo (; 26 August 1892 - 11 October 1957) was a French comics artist. Born in 1892 in

Elbeuf Elbeuf () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A light industrial town situated by the banks of the Seine some south of Rouen at the junction of the D7, D321 and the D313 roads. The ...

, France, he was in the army in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and started publishing cartoons in the 1920s. He had many different jobs, including working as a woodcarver and an innkeeper, until 1938, when he became a full-time artist. Most of his work had animals as the main characters, which together with his popularity and productivity gave him the nickname "The French Walt Disney". His best known work is '' La bête est morte'' (started clandestinely in 1942, published as a book after the liberation in two parts in 1944-1945), a satire on the second World War with the different countries depicted as different animals, a system that would later be used by

Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...

in his graphic novel ''

Maus ''Maus'', often published as ''Maus: A Survivor's Tale'', is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. It depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a History of the Jews in P ...

''. The story was written by Victor Dancette and Jacques Zimmermann, and the comic was translated in English and Dutch. Other well-known works include ''Patamousse'' (1943-1946), about a rabbit, and ''Rosalie'' from 1946, where the main character wasn't an animal but a living car. ''Cricri souris d'appartement'' became the eponymous series for ''Cricri magazine''. His last major series was ''Moustache et Trottinette'' (1952-1958), which was continued after his death by Jean Trubert. He also contributed cartoons to satirical magazines like ''

Le Canard enchaîné (; English: "The Chained Duck" or "The Chained Paper", as is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism ...

'', and was active as a sculptor. Calvo died in 1957 in the

20th arrondissement of Paris The 20th arrondissement of Paris (known in French as the ''XXe arrondissement de Paris'' or simply as "''le vingtième''") is the last of the consecutively numbered arrondissements of the capital city of France. Also known as Ménilmontant () af ...

. Calvo's graphical style, while often admired, has not really been influential. Only

Albert Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo (), was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the '' Astérix'' series in collaboration wit ...

, the artist of ''

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

'', was directly influenced by Calvo after visiting him while still young.

Bibliography

This is a list of published books of his work, not the many other works he made for newspapers or magazines. *1939: ''Robin des Bois'' (reprinted 1949) *1941: ''Les Voyages de Gulliver'' *1943: ''Un chasseur sachant chasser'' *1943-1946: ''Patamousse'', 3 albums, written by Calvo *1944-45: ''La bête est morte'', translated in Dutch (1946, reprint 1977) *1944: ''Croquemulot'' *1946: ''Rosalie'', reprinted in 2012 by Gallimard *1946: ''Mr. Loyal'' *1946: ''Anatomies atomiques'' *1947: ''Cendrillon et le Petit Chaperon rouge'' *1947: ''La Belle au bois dormant'' *1947: ''Souricette'' *1947-1948: ''Le Petit Poucet'', 2 albums *1948: ''Le chevalier du feu'' *1949; ''Don Quichotte'' *1953-1955: ''Coquin le Petit Cocker'', 5 albums, written by Marijac *1956-1960: ''Moustache et Trottinette'', 14 albums, written by Calvo, translated in Dutch (2 albums) *1957: ''Cricri souris d'appartement'', 2 albums, written by Marijac

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvo, Edmond-Francois 1892 births 1957 deaths French comics artists