His face has always evoked that of a Roman emperor.
Undisputed master of historical comics, this year is celebrating the centenary of the birth of Jacques Martin (1921-2010), the last representative of the "clear line" dear to Hergé, creator of
Alix the intrepid
, and of many others. other classic heroes of Franco-Belgian comics.
"READ ALSO -
Alix: Jacques Martin, a designer in the shadow of Hergé
Travel companion of the creator of Tintin for ten years at the time of the
Journal de Tintin
, then of the Hergé studio, avenue Louise in Brussels, Martin has always claimed that he had brought a lot to the adventures of a little reporter, especially in
The Calculus Affair
.
However, over time, his masterful work centered around Alix continues to be rediscovered by new generations.
Hergé and Jacques Martin in the 1950s. Casterman
The historian of comics Patrick Gaumer who worked for five years on the imposing monograph
Jacques Martin, the time traveler
observed it very closely.
“Celebrating the centenary of the birth of this devil of a man,” he
analyzes
, “is an important thing. This shows today that the works of this great artist of the twentieth century are incredibly coherent. His work, whether it is the adventures of Alix, Lefranc, Jhen or other heroes he has directed, has not aged a bit. It is demanding, rigorous on the historical level, and continues to be a formative one for all the pupils who begin studies in Antiquity and begin to learn Latin ”.
Academician Erik Orsenna doesdid he not declare to
Le Figaro
, in 1998, that Alix had
"accompanied his studies of Latin
"
.
“
Alix made me discover the universe of Latinity. It was for me a substitute for travel. Jacques Martin's albums made visible what was only suffering. His images corresponded to the words of the Latin versions, ”
he explained.
Screenwriter Valérie Mangin, who took over the classic Alix series this year with the publication a few days ago of the excellent fortieth volume
The eye of the minotaur
does not say anything else:
"I think that Alix is a good door to entry into Latinity, she
observes
. I, who was passionate about history, when I started to do Latin at the age of 12, my parents gave me an album of Alix,
Le Dieu sauvage
, and I admit that that changed everything.
Jacques Martin's albums encouraged me to continue in this discipline, which may at first glance seem austere.
But I say it and I will say it again, I love Latin.
The more one enters this language and its universe, the more one appreciates it, from the writings of Caesar to those of Cicero.
Jacques Martin gives a seductive image of Antiquity.
It is not by chance that historian Georges Bischoff described the artist as “a great picture-maker of Antiquity”.
His albums are a good access route for young audiences. ”
Cover of the fortieth volume of the adventures of Alix by the tandem Valérie Mangin and Chrys Millien.
Casterman
Born September 25, 1921 in Strasbourg, Jacques Martin Alsacien at heart who became Belgian for more than thirty-five years, quickly showed himself to be a dreamy boy, passionate about history and travel.
“His beginnings in life were bathed in pain and admiration,”
explains Patrick Gaumer
. His father was a pilot in the prestigious Stork squadron, then based at the Polygon in the town of Neudorf. Little Martin retains the image of his father as a heroic aviator, tragically deceased on December 19, 1932 at the age of 37, when he was only 11 years old. On the other hand, he will always have kept the feeling of not having been loved enough by his mother, Madeleine, who preferred his older brother Christian, who had become an engineer.
". Jacques Martin retains some memories of his Alsatian childhood, including a small scar on his left wrist. At the end of the 1920s, in Alsace at the time in the midst of autonomist tension, his older brother was one day insulted by a revengeful student. Little Jacques intervenes and then takes a stroke of the stylus on the wrist. The “little Frenchman” will at least have shown his exemplary courage as well as unfailing fraternal loyalty.
While completing his studies at an Arts and Crafts school in Erquelinnes, Jacques Martin found himself caught in the turmoil of World War II. It is required by the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO) and is sent to Augsburg to the Messerschmitt factories as an engineer. It was there that he witnessed the collapse of Nazi Germany.
“What characterizes the man,
summarizes Gaumer
, it is above all his energetic and voluntary side. From adolescence, and the beginning of adulthood, Jacques Martin has the will to arrive there pegged to the body. He often wrote it in his private correspondence, when he had not yet been able to prove himself: “I know what I'm worth” ”.
After having dreamed of theater, the budding artist understands that his future will not pass by the boards ... those of the theater at least.
In 1946, after studying Arts and Crafts in Belgium, a country where he was also married, young Martin began to look for ways to publish his drawings.
Box under his arm, he goes to attack comic book publishers.
First original page of the sixth volume
Les Légions perdues
published in 1965. Casterman
After a few lean years, thanks to Georges Cartigny, an uncle who took him under his wing, he made a decisive encounter, that of Raymond Leblanc.
The former resistant, founder in 1946 of the
Journal de Tintin
, with Hergé, hired him within this revolutionary illustrated for the time.
Martin got to know the masters of the “clear line” there, from Hergé to Bob de Moor, including Paul Cuvelier and Edgar P. Jacobs.
With them, he quickly became one of the representatives of the so-called “Brussels” school, known in particular for its realism and thoroughness.
Cover of Alix's very first album published in 1946 in the Belgian edition of
Journal de Tintin.
Casterman
Never equaled paper peplum
It was in 1948 that his favorite character was born, the intrepid Alix, son of a Gallic chief, freed slave who became Caesar's emissary through the barbarian worlds in 50 BC.
How did the brave Alix arise from the pen of this Strasbourg resident, now established in Belgium?
“He was born in ten minutes, at the end of 1946,
answers Patrick Gaumer.
It was the blessed time when his uncle introduced him to Raymond Leblanc.
The latter orders a new comic book series from young Martin.
"
Read also Angoulême celebrates the 70 years of Alix, the first resolutely modern ancient hero
Jacques Martin sits down at his drawing table. He thinks back to a scene from
Ben-Hur
where a section of wall collapses on a Roman chief returning from a battle, and this is how he conceives the first plate of
Alix the intrepid .
. It is first refused to him. But two years later, while on vacation in Alsace, in the Moselotte valley, he received a telegram signed Raymond Leblanc, which ordered him to return immediately to Brussels to complete this adventure ... From there, everything quickly followed in the life of Jacques Martin. In 1953, while the antique Alix series became a formidable paper peplum never equaled since then, Martin joined the Hergé studio and worked on several Tintin stories. At the time, this tireless storyteller even developed a new scenario of the adventures of Tintin. The story takes place in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Tintin receives a distress message from an abandoned exploration in the Spitsbergen archipelago. Survivors with botulism,the reporter with the powder puff would then engage in a "match-pursuit" to bring them strychnine. The story will however remain in the cartoons of the designer. Meanwhile, Martin creates the character of journalist Guy Lefranc, double contemporary of Alix.
Needless to say, Jacques Martin remains overwhelmed by the success of the valiant Alix. The special envoy from Rome was soon accompanied by the young Enak, a faithful companion met in the album
Le Sphinx d'or
, published in 1956. In this regard, one cannot ignore a certain homosexual reading which still prevails among some. exegetes of Alix. For a long time Jacques Martin got angry when we made this kind of reflection. Tired of war, the artist will answer, not without a certain fatalism, in the columns of
Figaro
, in November 2001:
"What do you want me to say, despite all my denials, I have never been able to stop people with misplaced ideas from spreading such rumors.
In this case, Tintin would be married to Captain Haddock, and Blake would live as a couple with Mortimer.
The real problem lay elsewhere: it was a question of not violating the drastic censorship which then raged on publications intended for young people.
Everyone found a solution.
Besides, Enak was imposed on me by my publisher, I remind you. "
Alix will very quickly be accompanied by the young Enak, a faithful companion met in the album
Le Sphinx d'or
, published in 1956. Casterman
Towards the end of his life, after having contracted an eye disease called the macula, Martin, more than ever anxious to see his work continued after his death, formed young designers capable of continuing his work.
Thanks to him, Alix has become an icon of Franco-Belgian comics.
In 2012, in the
Alix Senator
series
, the Valérie Mangin-Thierry Démarez tandem began to recount the adventures of an Alix with white hair.
In 2012, in the
Alix Senator
series
, the Valérie Mangin-Thierry Démarez tandem began to recount the adventures of an Alix with white hair.
Casterman
For several years now, the buyers of Jacques Martin's work have focused on remaining as close as possible to the ancient truth.
With more than 70 comic books sold in nearly 12 million copies, and translated into sixteen languages, it is easy to imagine the victorious smile of Gladiator Martin at the end of a fight in the arena.
Ave Martin!
Those who read you greet you.
And will continue for a long time.
Jacques Martin,
The time traveler
, monograph by Patrick Gaumer, 416 p., Published by Casterman.
49 euros.
The Eye of the Minotaur, Alix Tome 40
, by Jacques Martin, Valérie Mangin and Chrys Millien, 48 p., Published by Casterman, 11.95 euros.
