| William Vance | |
|---|---|
 Vance in 1994 | |
| Born | William van Cutsem (1935-09-08)8 September 1935 Anderlecht, Belgium |
| Died | 14 May 2018(2018-05-14) (aged 82) Santander, Spain |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Area(s) | artist, writer |
Notable works | XIII Bob Morane Bruce J. Hawker Bruno Brazil |
| Awards | full list |
William van Cutsem (8 September 1935 – 14 May 2018), better known by hispen nameWilliam Vance, was a Belgiancomics artist known for his distinctive realistic style and work inFranco-Belgian comics.[1]
William van Cutsem was born inAnderlecht nearBrussels in 1935.[2] After his military service in 1955–1956, he studied for four years at theAcadémie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.[1] Originally from Flanders, he worked most of his life in France, and moved later toSantander, Spain.[3]
William Vance started drawing for theFranco-Belgian comics magazineTintin in 1962.[4] After drawing complete real-life stories of four pages for a few years, he started work on his first series,Howard Flynn, written byYves Duval.[5] Three albums followed, before he created other short-lived series such as the WesternRingo andRoderik. His first success followed with the series about secret agentBruno Brazil, written byTintin's editor-in-chiefGreg, as one of the comics that started the revival and repositioning ofTintin as a more adult-oriented magazine.[6]From 1967 on, he continued the stories ofBob Morane inFemmes d'aujourd'hui, a magazine aimed at adult women. This science fiction series, based on the novels byHenri Vernes, was started byDino Attanasio and continued by Gerald Forton before Vance took over and made it a success. Between 1969 and 1979, 18 albums with his artwork were published.[4] A few years later, the series moved toTintin as well, and Vance was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Felicisimo Coria.[5]
Vance meanwhile started two new series,Ramiro, with stories set in medieval Spain, and from 1976 onwards,Bruce J. Hawker, his personal favourite, starring a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.[7]
His final breakthrough and largest commercial success came in 1984, when writerJean Van Hamme proposed a new series,XIII. First serialised inSpirou magazine, this series of contemporary adventures with action, violence, and complicated intrigues, let Vance draw upon his talent for realistic drawings, action scenes and exotic settings. By 2007, he had drawn 18 albums in the series, which sold more than 14 million copies in more than 20 countries, and was twice adapted into a TV series.[4] The series was coloured by his wife Petra Coria, with whom he lived inSantander, Spain.[1]
In 2010, Vance announced his retirement due toParkinson's disease. He died of the disease on 14 May 2018.[4]
Vance worked in a highly detailedrealistic style which has been described as "precise and nervous", an "inimitable" style resembling no other author.[1][5] An article inDer Tagesspiegel discussing his seriesBruno Brazil called his early work already "meticulous" and "sophisticated", but describes how in the early 1970s it drifted away from the more typical realistic style common in Belgian comics at the time, and became influenced by Dutch comics artistHans G. Kresse. He also started experimenting with the page layout, with large central panels, and with the colouring, which showed influences ofpsychedelic art.[6]
These are the comic albums drawn by William Vance published until 2007. Between 2001 and 2011 most of his older work was republished inTout Vance byLe Lombard and byDargaud.[9]
| Series | Years | Volumes | Scenarist | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Flynn[1] | 1966–1969 | 3 | Yves Duval | Le Lombard andDargaud |
| Ringo | 1967–1978[1] | 3 | Acar | Le Lombard and Dargaud |
| Bruno Brazil | 1969–1995[1] | 11[2] | Greg | Le Lombard and Dargaud |
| Bob Morane | 1967–1980[1] | 18 | Henri Vernes | Le Lombard and Dargaud |
| C'étaient des hommes | 1976 | 1 | William Vance | Deligne |
| Ramiro | 1974–1989[1] | 10 | Jacques Stoquart | Dargaud |
| Roderic | 1979 | 2 | Lucien Meys | Bédéscope |
| XIII | 1984–2007 | 18 | Jean Van Hamme | Dargaud |
| Bruce J. Hawker | 1985–1996 | 7 | William Vance | Le Lombard |
| Marshall Blueberry | 1991–1992[1] | 2 | Jean Giraud | Alpen |
| XHG-C3 – Le vaisseau rebelle | 1995 | 1 | William Vance | Gibraltar |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
