Marcinelle school

As École Marcinelle refers to a style in the comic. The term refers to a group of Belgian comic book artist who worked in the period after the Second World War for the comics magazine Spirou, whose editorial offices located in the city Marcinelle were in the 40s at Charleroi. The name École Marcinelle is often used as a counter-concept to so-called " Ligne Claire ". A formal distinguishing feature is the assignment to the comic publishers Dupuis, who represents the École Marcinelle, and Le Lombard, the publisher of the Tintin magazine as its " house style ", the " Ligne Claire " was.

This distinction might in the 1940s and early 1950s their entitlement have had, in the course of the following decades the publishing assignment as a criterion of demarcation became increasingly disabled, since it is precisely the leading members of the Ecole Marcinelle also worked for Tintin (eg, André Franquin, Willy Maltaite ) later.

Also, a clear delineation of stylistic styles or "schools" seems hardly possible. While the Ligne Claire defined by distinctive design features, the appearance of the École Marcinelle is much more mixed. A certain degree of generality has at most the statement that members of the Ecole Marcinelle often represent a dynamic character style in which the visualization of motion is of great importance, while on the other hand, the Ligne Claire often acts a bit static.

Just as Hergé stands as a symbol for the Ligne Claire, the term École Marcinelle inseparable from the artist Joseph Gillain ( Jijé ) is connected. In the period after the Second World War Jijé had taken with André Franquin, Maurice de Bevere ( Morris) and Willy Maltaite a number of young talented illustrator under his wing and made with them at his home in Waterloo a home and studio community. A regular visitor to the later so- called "Gang of Four " was also Eddy Paape. They all owe their start Jijé in Spirou.

This group forms the core of quasi École Marcinelle which also includes also Jijés later student Jean Roba and Jidéhem be counted. The term École Marcinelle thus stands for all comic artists who have been influenced by Jije.

The most important representatives of this style are:

• Jijé (Joseph Gillain )
• André Franquin
• Morris ( Maurice de Bevere )
• Eddy Paape
• Peyo (Pierre Culliford )
• Jean Roba
• Willy Maltaite
• Jidéhem (Jean de Mesmaeker )
• Maurice Tillieux

Source

• Klaus D. Schleiter (ed.): Spirou and its authors. Mosaic pieces - one -by- stone -Verlag, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-932667-60-3 ( Zack dossier 2).