Marcel Allain was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

 mostly remembered today for his co-creation with Pierre Souvestre

Pierre Souvestre

Pierre Souvestre was a French lawyer, journalist, writer and organizer of motor races. He is mostly remembered today for his co-creation with Marcel Allain of the fictional arch-villain and master criminal Fantômas...

 of the fictional arch-villain

Villain

A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...

 and master criminal Fantômas

Fantômas

Fantômas is a fictional character created by French writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre .One of the most popular characters in the history of French crime fiction, Fantômas was created in 1911 and appeared in a total of 32 volumes written by the two collaborators, then a subsequent 11...

.

The son of a Parisian bourgeois family, Allain studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 before becoming a journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

. He then became the assistant of Souvestre, who was already a well-known figure in literary circles. In 1909, the two men published their first novel, Le Rour. Investigating Magistrate Germain Fuselier, later to become a recurring character in the Fantômas series, appears in the novel.

Then, in February 1911, Allain and Souvestre embarked upon the Fantômas book series

Book series

A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher....

 at the request of publisher Arthème Fayard, who wanted to create a new monthly pulp magazine

Pulp magazine

Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...

. The success was immediate and lasting.

After Souvestre’s death in February 1914, Allain continued the Fantômas saga alone, then launched several other series, such as Tigris, Fatala, Miss Téria and Férocias, but none garnered the same popularity as Fantômas. http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/marcelallain.htm

In 1926, Allain married Souvestre’s girl-friend, Henriette Kistler. In total, Allain wrote more than 400 novels in his prolific career.

By Allain and Souvestre

• 1. Fantômas (1911; transl. 1915; retransl. 1986)
• 2. Juve contre Fantômas (1911; transl. 1916; retransl. 1987)
• 3. Le Mort qui Tue (1911; transl. 1917)
• 4. L'Agent Secret (1911; transl. 1917)
• 5. Un Roi Prisonnier de Fantômas (1911; transl. 1919)
• 6. Le Policier Apache (1911; transl. 1924)
• 7. Le Pendu de Londres (1911; transl. 1920)
• 8. La Fille de Fantômas (1911; transl. 2006) (ISBN 1932983562)
• 9. Le Fiacre de Nuit (1911)
• 10. La Main Coupée (1911; transl. 1924)
• 11. L'Arrestation de Fantômas (1912)
• 13. La Livrée du Crime (1912)
• 14. La Mort de Juve (1912)
• 15. L'Evadée de Saint-Lazare (1912)
• 16. La Disparition de Fandor (1912)
• 17. Le Mariage de Fantômas (1912)
• 18. L'Assassin de Lady Beltham (1912)
• 19. La Guêpe Rouge (1912)
• 20. Les Souliers du Mort (1912)
• 21. Le Train Perdu (1912)
• 22. Les Amours d'un Prince (1912)
• 23. Le Bouquet Tragique (1912)
• 24. Le Jockey Masqué (1913)
• 25. Le Cercueil Vide (1913)
• 26. Le Faiseur de Reines (1913)
• 27. Le Cadavre Géant (1913)
• 28. Le Voleur d'Or (1913)
• 29. La Série Rouge (1913)
• 30. L'Hôtel du Crime (1913)
• 31. La Cravate de Chanvre (1913)
• 32. La Fin de Fantômas (1913)

By Allain alone

• 33. Fantômas est-il ressuscité? (1925; transl. 1925)
• 34. Fantômas, Roi des Recéleurs (1926; transl. 1926)
• 35. Fantômas en Danger (1926; transl. 1926)
• 36. Fantômas prend sa Revanche (1926; transl. 1927)
• 37. Fantômas Attaque Fandor (1926; transl. 1928)
• 38. Si c'était Fantômas? (1933)
• 39. Oui, c'est Fantômas! (1934)
• 40. Fantômas Joue et Gagne (1935)
• 41. Fantômas Rencontre l'Amour (1946)
• 42. Fantômas Vole des Blondes (1948)
• 43. Fantômas Mène le Bal (1963)

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