| Roger Leloup | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1933-11-17)17 November 1933 (age 91) Verviers, Belgium |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Area(s) | Artist, writer |
Notable works | Yoko Tsuno |
| Awards | full list |
Roger Leloup (French:[ʁɔʒeləlu]; born 17 November 1933) is a Belgiancomic strip artist, novelist, and a former collaborator ofHergé, who would rely upon him to create detailed, realistic drawings and elaborate decoration forThe Adventures of Tintin.[1] He is most famous for theYoko Tsuno comic series.
Roger Leloup was born inVerviers, Belgium in 1933.[2] Fascinated by trains and planes since his youth, he studied Decoration and Publicity at theInstitut Saint-Luc inLiège. By accident, he came into contact with theFranco-Belgian comics scene when his neighbour,Jacques Martin, told him that he desperately needed a colourist. Leloup got the job and started colouring theAlix albumL'ïle maudite in 1950.[2]
Jacques Martin was one of the main artists of theFranco-Belgian comics magazineTintin, and whenHergé was looking for someone to help him with the drawings of vehicles for a series, Martin brought him in contact with Leloup. From 15 February 1953 on, Leloup worked for several years atStudios Hergé, where he drew detailed backgrounds and vehicles for Hergé's comics seriesThe Adventures of Tintin. His work is seen in a wide variety of drawings, such as theGenève-Cointrin airport inThe Calculus Affair and the impressiveswing-wingsupersonic business jet, theCarreidas 160 inFlight 714 to Sydney.[1][2]
Leloup worked for both Jacques Martin, withAlix andLefranc, and for Hergé, but as the production at theStudios Hergé slowed down, and Leloup came into contact with other artists. He worked for a period withFrancis, and also collaborated withPeyo on his less well-known seriesJacky and Célestin. Here, he created a Japanese female character that would later become the inspiration for his own series.
On 31 December 1969, Leloup left Studios Hergé to work full-time on his own series,Yoko Tsuno, with a focus on technology and science fiction. The character Yoko Tsuno, a Japanese woman living in Brussels, is one of the leading examples of the female-fronted comics that appeared in European juvenile magazines during this period. AllYoko Tsuno stories first appeared inSpirou magazine and later as an album series published by editionsDupuis.
He has an adopted Korean daughter, who inspired him to draw the characterMorning Dew, the little Chinese girl fromLe Dragon de Hong Kong, who was adopted by Yoko Tsuno.
Roger Leloup has also written two novels, including one featuring Yoko Tsuno:
Footnotes
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