Philippe Francq
Encyclopedia
Philippe Francq is a Belgian
comic book artist
, best known for the series Largo Winch
.
in 1961. He was since his youth an ardent comic reader, who grew up with the comics from Tintin magazine
from the 1950s. His early favourites were Blake and Mortimer
, Spike and Suzy
, Alix
and The Adventures of Tintin
. He finished studying comic drawing at the Saint Luc Academy
in Brussels
when he was 23.
After some minor success with Des villes et des femmes and Léo Tomasini (both at Dargaud
), he met author Jean Van Hamme
, then already one of the most successful European comic authors with Thorgal
and XIII
, in 1988. Van Hamme offered Francq a comic based on some novels he had written ten years earlier, and this was in 1990 the basis for the series Largo Winch
. Since then, this as well has become an extremely successful series, with initial sales of over 600,000 copies per album in French alone, and is now the only series Francq makes anymore, at a rate of one album a year. Philippe Francq lives in the South of France.
Franco-Belgian comics
Franco-Belgian comics are comics that are created in Belgium and France. These countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are known as BDs, an abbreviation of bande dessinée in French and stripverhalen in Dutch...
comic book artist
Comic Book Artist
Comic Book Artist was an American magazine founded by Jon B. Cooke devoted to anecdotal histories of American comic books, with emphasis on comics published since the 1960s...
, best known for the series Largo Winch
Largo Winch
Largo Winch is a Belgian comic book series by Philippe Francq and Jean Van Hamme, published by Dupuis.The principal character is Largo Winch whose birth name is Largo Winczlav. Other important characters include Nerio Winch , senior Group W executives John D. Sullivan and Dwight E...
.
Biography
Philippe Francq was born in EtterbeekEtterbeek
Etterbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It neighbours the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek....
in 1961. He was since his youth an ardent comic reader, who grew up with the comics from Tintin magazine
Tintin (magazine)
Le journal de Tintin or Kuifje , was a weekly Belgian comics magazine of the second half of the 20th century...
from the 1950s. His early favourites were Blake and Mortimer
Blake and Mortimer
Blake and Mortimer is a Belgian comics series created by the Belgian writer and comics artist Edgar P. Jacobs. It was one of the first series to appear in the Belgian comics magazine Tintin in 1946, and was subsequently published in book form by Les Editions du Lombard.The main protagonists of the...
, Spike and Suzy
Spike and Suzy
Spike and Suzy, the British title for Suske en Wiske in Dutch, is a comics series created by the Belgian comics author Willy Vandersteen. The strip is known as Bob et Bobette in French and Willy and Wanda in the U.S. It was first published in De Nieuwe Standaard in 1945 and soon became popular...
, Alix
Alix
Alix, or The Adventures of Alix, is a popular Franco-Belgian comics series drawn in the ligne claire style by one its masters, Jacques Martin. The stories revolve around a young Gallo-Roman man named Alix in the late Roman Republic...
and The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...
. He finished studying comic drawing at the Saint Luc Academy
Institut Saint-Luc
The Institut Saint-Luc is an arts school in Brussels. It consists of six departments, with a total of 2200 students and some 430 employees, divided over five locations in Ixelles and Saint-Gilles.-History:...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
when he was 23.
After some minor success with Des villes et des femmes and Léo Tomasini (both at Dargaud
Dargaud
Les Éditions Dargaud is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1943 by Georges Dargaud.Initially, Dargaud published novels for women...
), he met author Jean Van Hamme
Jean Van Hamme
Jean Van Hamme is a Belgian novelist and comic book writer. He has written scripts for a number of Belgian/French comic series, including Histoire sans héros, Thorgal, XIII and Largo Winch.-Early years:...
, then already one of the most successful European comic authors with Thorgal
Thorgal
Thorgal is a critically acclaimed Belgian comic book series by the Belgian writer Jean Van Hamme and the Polish graphic artist Grzegorz Rosiński. It first appeared in serial form in the "Tintin" magazine in 1977, and has been published in hardcover volumes by Le Lombard from 1980 on...
and XIII
XIII (comic book)
XIII is a Franco-Belgian comics series written and drawn by Belgians Jean Van Hamme and William Vance, revolving around an amnesiac protagonist who seeks to discover his concealed past. With its plot inspired by Robert Ludlum's book The Bourne Identity, XIII was initially serialised in 1984 in...
, in 1988. Van Hamme offered Francq a comic based on some novels he had written ten years earlier, and this was in 1990 the basis for the series Largo Winch
Largo Winch
Largo Winch is a Belgian comic book series by Philippe Francq and Jean Van Hamme, published by Dupuis.The principal character is Largo Winch whose birth name is Largo Winczlav. Other important characters include Nerio Winch , senior Group W executives John D. Sullivan and Dwight E...
. Since then, this as well has become an extremely successful series, with initial sales of over 600,000 copies per album in French alone, and is now the only series Francq makes anymore, at a rate of one album a year. Philippe Francq lives in the South of France.
Awards
- 1992: Nominated for Best Cover and Best Long Comic strip at the Haxtur AwardHaxtur AwardThe Haxtur Award is a Spanish award for comics published in Spain. It is awarded annually at the Salón Internacional del Cómic del Principado de Asturias ....
s, SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... - 1994: Best Drawing at the Haxtur Awards
- 1996: Best Long Comic Strip at the Haxtur Awards
- 2003: Nominated for the Audience AwardAngoulême International Comics Festival Prize Awarded by the AudienceThis Prize Awarded by the Audience is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival since 1989.The prize was known as Alph-Art du public from 1989-2003, the Prix du public from 2004-2006, and since 2007 the Essentiel FNAC-SNCF, since it is sponsored by the retailer Fnac...
at the Angoulême International Comics FestivalAngoulême International Comics FestivalThe Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...
, FranceFranceThe 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... - 2004: Nominated for Best Long Comic Strip at the Haxtur Awards
- 2006: Nominated for the Audience Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival