François Craenhals (15 November 1926 – 2 August 2004) was a Belgian

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

artist best known for the comic series ''Chevalier Ardent'' and ''Les 4 As''.

Biography

François Craenhals was born in

Evere Evere (; ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). , the municipality had a population of 43,608 inhabitants. The total area is , which gives a population density of . In common with all of Brussels' municipal ...

in 1926.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "François Craenhals". In België gestript, pp. 96–97. Tielt: Lannoo. He was a fan of American comics by

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist and illustrator who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently a ...

and

Hal Foster Harold Rudolf Foster, FRSA (August 16, 1892 – July 25, 1982) was a Canadian-American comic strip artist and writer best known as the creator of the comic strip '' Prince Valiant''. His drawing style is noted for its high level of draftsmanship ...

, and created his first comic ''Karan'' in the vein of ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

'' at the end of the 1940s. For the weekly magazine ''Le Soir Illustré'', he made at the same time a medieval comic about a knight. When he presented these comics to ''

Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...

'' magazine, he was accepted as art director and gradually started making short comics for the magazine. His first main series debuted in 1953: ''Pom et Teddy'' was a series about a boy and a girl and their pet donkey, and the first stories were gentle stories about a circus. Craenhals soon became one of the main producers of comics for magazines and newspapers, and a number of collaborators joined his studio. He worked for the Averbode magazine ''

Petits Belges ''Zonneland'' is a Belgian Dutch-language youth magazine published by Averbode (publisher), Averbode since 1920. A French version called ''Petits Belges'' also started in the same year. It changed its name to ''Tremplin'' in 1960. History and pro ...

'', and published for many years ''Primus et Musette'' in ''

La Libre Belgique ''La Libre Belgique'' (; ), currently sold under the name ''La Libre'', is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Together with ''Le Soir'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in both Brussels and Wallonia. ''La Libre'' was ...

''. He was one of the first comics artists to join

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...

at the editor

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Tournai, 90 kilometres southwest of the centre of Brussels, Belgium. History The company was founded in 1780 by Don ...

, where his two main series were published: the juvenile ''Les 4 As'' about a band of four youngsters (three boys and a girl) and their over-the-top adventures; and the more adult, ''

Prince Valiant ''Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur'', often simply called ''Prince Valiant'', is an American comic strip created by Hal Foster in 1937. It is an epic adventure that has told a continuous story during its entire history, and the full s ...

''-inspired ''Chevalier Ardent'' (''The Brave Knight''), about a young knight in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Both series were reasonable good selling series, and the latter was a critical success as well. In the 1990s, Craenhals moved to Rivières-de-Theyrargues in the south of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where he continued drawing his two series until his death in 2004 in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

.Obituary in ''The Comics Reporter''
(Last retrieved 25 October 2006)

Bibliography

His comics have been translated in many languages, including Dutch,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Swedish.

Awards

* 1976: Best Story 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 ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Notes

Sources

* Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; and Mellot, Philippe (1998): "Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 1999–2000".

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, Les éditions de l'amateur.

External links

Biography at Comiclopedia
(Last retrieved 25 October 2006)
Bio- and bibliography at Casterman
(Last retrieved 25 October 2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Craenhals, Francois 1926 births 2004 deaths Belgian comics artists Tintin (magazine) people People from Evere