Robert Velter

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Rob-Vel , actually Robert Velter (born February 9, 1909 in Paris , † April 27, 1991 in Saint-Malo ) was a French comic artist and the creator of Spirou .

Like his best-known figure, Velter began his professional career as a bellhop - at the age of 16 in London's Ritz-Carlton . He then went to sea, where he hired himself out on ocean liners as a head waiter and game companion. During a cruise he met the American illustrator Martin Branner , as his assistant in the series Winnie Winkle he learned the "comic trade" from 1934 to 1936 in the USA.

Back in France, Velter was able to realize his first own series Subito in 1936 for "Le petit Parisien" under the pseudonym Bozz . In 1937 the title hero of "Le journal de Toto" followed - a cabin boy. In 1938 he created the title series for Spirou , a new youth magazine for the Belgian publisher Éditions Dupuis , for which he first used the pseudonym Rob-Vel . He first used the title hero in a few gags as a page, in order to finally send him on an adventure. Spirous squirrel pips is also a creation of Rob-Vel.

When the draftsman was drafted into World War II in September 1939 , he sent his texts and pencil drawings from the front. His friend, the Belgian artist Luc Lafnet, took over the ink for a short time, but died at the end of the same month. Then Spirou was realized for about four months by Velter's wife Blanche Dumoulien (pseudonym Davine) until Jijé stepped in for a year . When it became more and more difficult to bring the drawings from France to Belgium, Velter finally ceded the series entirely to Jijé in 1943 and sold the rights to Dupuis.

Subsequently, Velter created and drew several other comics, u. a. Le Père Pictou , Les Tribulations du Chien Petto and Bibor et Tribar, which were already created for Spirou magazine . In 1949 he revived his silent strip Subito , to which he devoted himself until 1969, making it his longest-running series after Spirou . From 1971 he drew the classic Strip Professeur Nimbus by André Daix (d. I. André Delachenal) under the pseudonym Darthel .

Velter was never able to repeat the success of Spirou . With the support of the scriptwriter Raoul Cauvin , he staged his creation one last time in 1970 in the nostalgic six-page book "1938 - Spirou 1".

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personal data
SURNAME Velter, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rob-Vel; Bozz; Darthel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French comic artist
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1991
Place of death Saint Malo