EP Jacobs

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Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs (* the thirtieth March 1904 in Brussels ; † 20th February 1987 ibid; and EP Jacobs or EP Jacobs ) was a Belgian artist of comics . He became famous as the creator of the classic comic series " Blake and Mortimer " and was at times an employee of Hergé .

Life

Jacobs went to school in Brussels and then studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts ( Académie royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles ). He earned his studies as a commercial artist and portrait painter, at the same time he began a promising career as a baritone : in 1929 he was engaged at the opera house in the French city ​​of Lille and won a first prize in a national music competition. In 1940 he became unemployed because of the war and applied to the magazine “Bravo” . To his surprise, he was offered a full job as a colorist. From 1941 he worked there on the series Flash Gordon . When in 1942, when the USA entered World War II, the material from overseas did not materialize and at the same time the German occupiers banned this series , Jacobs created his own characters in the same style: The story of the " U-rays " emerged (French: Le Rayon U ).

He became friends with Hergé and worked with him from 1943 on the new version of his adventures by Tintin (French: Les aventures de Tintin ). Modernized versions of " Tim in the Congo " , " Tim in America " , " King Ottokar's Scepter " and " The Blue Lotus " were created . In the following year new versions of the stories " The Seven Crystal Balls " and " The Temple of the Sun " were created with his help . As Jacobs' share of the Tintin work steadily increased, he wanted Hergé to be named as a co-author, which he refused. Jacobs ended the collaboration in 1947 and could now devote himself entirely to his own projects.

From 1946 Jacobs worked for the new " Journal de Tintin " , where his comic book "Der Kampf um die Welt" (French: Le secret de l'espadon ) was published, the first adventure with the heroes Blake and Mortimer . The last album was released in 1970, after which Jacobs had to stop drawing for health reasons.

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For the albums of the series "Blake and Mortimer" see the main article Blake and Mortimer .

Jacobs is considered one of the masters of Franco-Belgian comics par excellence; in terms of drawing he was in no way inferior to his teacher Hergé . Jacobs refines the Franco-Belgian comic school to an extreme realism, most of his pictures are filled to the brim with loving details and carefully researched equipment and surrounding details. Often its outdoor scenes are so close to reality that even insignificant backgrounds become works of art.

Jacobs' way of working and style were very unusual (for comic production at the time), but explain on the one hand why he only created ten albums in 25 years and on the other hand why they are so incredibly dense and fascinating. Jacobs' method consists of an extremely long preparation time, in which, on the one hand, he prepared sophisticated drafts of texts and actions, and, secondly, carried out extensive studies (mostly also touring the locations of the action and making sketches on site) and finally, in several stages, both the entire story as also carefully composed and planned every single page.

His scenarios are among the best ever written in comic book literature. It is not uncommon for Jacobs' narrow work to be compared with Fred Zinnemann's Western classic 12 o'clock noon : With high narrative credibility, realistic representation (despite the sometimes clear science fiction influences) and compositional density, Jacobs creates in a medium or genre that is often reviled as trivial (here the comic, there the western) an independent art form with quasi-literary claims.

The adventures of Blake and Mortimer continue after Jacobs' death, other scriptwriters and authors (including such prominent names as Jean Van Hamme and André Juillard ) continue the series to this day.

Worth mentioning

  • Hergé put a memorial to his former colleague Jacobs on the cover of “The Pharaoh's Cigars” : as the mummy EP Jacobini .
  • In various albums of the series Percy Pickwick (like Blake Agent of MI5 !) Jacobs is also set a monument: In the short story Random Encounter (in volume 18 of the series) Pickwick encounters EP Jacobs at night, the secretly yellow M s (!) On house walls sprays. In other Pickwick albums, two English agents named Mortimer and Blake appear from time to time.
  • The important people in Jacobs' universe have the traits of people around him. It is obvious that Jacobs portrays himself in Olrik . Blake and Mortimer are modeled on Jacobs' friends Jacques Laudy and Jacques van Melkebeke - both also employees from the Tintin era. Jacobs' first wife, Ninie, appears in the U-Rays as Sylvia .

Works

Awards

  • 1971: Grand Prix Saint-Michel for his life's work

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Jacobs, EP
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jacobs, Edgard Félix Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian comic artist
DATE OF BIRTH March 30, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Brussels
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1987
Place of death Brussels