'Le Chevalier Blanc' - 'Sans Peur et Sans Reproche' (Tintin, 1954).
The Belgian artist couple Fred and Liliane Funcken are best known for creating various historical comics for the magazine Tintin in the 1950s and 1960s. While most were one-shot stories, they've also created actual series. Their chivalry romic 'Le Chevalier Blanc' ('De Witte Ruiter' in Dutch, 'The Phantom Knight' in English, 1953-1973, 1987-1988) is their longest-running series. The couple also created the Viking series 'Harald Le Viking' (1956-1967). They additionally launched the western series 'Jack Diamond' (1959-1960), 'Lieutenant Burton' (1962-1967) and 'Doc Silver' (1967-1969) and the swashbuckler comic 'Capitan' (1963-1971). The Funckens are the first known example in Belgian history of a husband and wife creating comics as equals. They were a genuine team, collaborating on both stories and artwork to the point that they are indistinguishable from one another. Throughout their long career, they built up a strong reputation as a reliable unit whenever realistically-drawn and well-researched historical/military artwork was required. Outside the world of comics, Fred and Liliane Funcken are additionally notable for illustrating the best-selling and widely translated non-fiction book series, 'L'Encyclopédie des Uniformes et de Armes de Tous les Temps' (1965-1982), documenting military uniforms throughout history.
Early life of Fred and Liliane
Fred Funcken was born in 1921 in Verviers, in the province Liège (Luik), while Liliane Schorils saw light in 1927 in Soignies, Hainaut (Henegouwen). Fred showed drawing talent at an early age. He was 13 when he drew a series of chromo cards for a chocolate company. His earliest commercial drawings ran in a local paper. In 1939, he started his professional graphic career at Dupuis, publisher of the comic magazine Spirou and the regular illustrated weeklies Bonnes Soirées and Le Moustique. In 1942, when the Nazis banned the import of U.S. comics, Funcken was commissioned by Spirou's editors to continue the latest 'Brick Bradford' story (by Siegel & Shuster) by writing and drawing new episodes, improving the cut-off story.
In 1942, Fred drew his first comic stories after joining the studios of Guy Depière. Originally, he signed most of his work with a variety of mostly anglicized pseudonyms, such as Fred Gu, Fred Dye, Dick John's, Ranch, Mac Bones, Léo Lyon and Hector Hugo. Throughout World War II, he drew the western comic 'Bob Hunter' for L'Eclair, with other adventure series like 'Bricole', 'Tommy Fuller', 'Wolman' and 'Roberjac' running in the children's magazine Bimbo.
'Clem et Shorty' (Heroic, 1956). Dutch-language version.
In 1942, Fred's promising career was interrupted when the Nazi oppressors banned Bimbo because of its anglophone content. A year later, he was sent to Nazi Germany to perform forced labor. After the Liberation of Belgium (September 1944), Fred returned to his country, where a month later, Bimbo returned to the market. He picked up his previous western comic 'Tommy Fuller' again, while also collaborating with Marcel Moniquet and Fernand Cheneval on the science fiction serial 'Akkor, Roi des Planètes', later continued by Cheneval alone. Fred and Moniquet also drew another science fiction series 'Robin Moderne' until Cheneval also succeeded him afterwards.
In June 1945, Guy Depière established another comic magazine, Jeep, for which Fred drew 'Gogo Laroulette'. In Jeep's sister magazine, Blondine (April 1946), aimed at girl readers, Fred drew 'Les Aventures Héroïques de Geneviève'. His comic 'Le Cimetière des Baleines' (1947) was published by Campéador. He was also hired by Havas Belgique as a dummymaker and advertisement artist, and made comic adaptations of Jack London and Rosy Aîné stories for L'Explorateur.
'Une Aventure de Bill Hickock'.
'Le Comte de Monte-Cristo' (Dutch-language verision, Tintin, 1955).
Fred & Liliane Funcken
While Fred Funcken was drawing comics for various magazines in the late 1940s, he was often underpaid and didn't always receive proper recognition for his work. One time he sent a page to World's Press Agency, led by Georges Troisfontaines, but once he went to the office, he noticed his page lying on the ground, where people could step on it. Jijé, already a notable veteran in the rising Belgian comics industry, gave a harsh criticism of Funcken's artwork. Funcken recalled that even Jijé's wife felt that her husband needed to calm down and blamed his temper on a stomach condition. Funcken also felt exploited by his publisher Guy Depière, who tended to alter the artwork and write his own signature underneath it, so he could keep the rights to stories he hadn't created himself.
In 1947, Funcken decided to say the graphic industry farewell and get a more lucrative job. In 1949, he went to the department store L'Innovation in Brussels, where, as fate would have it, his future wife Liliane was working as an executive secretary. Her experiences with the comics industry were more pleasing. On the side, she wrote short stories for Spirou and Bonnes Soirées, including for 'Les Belles Histoires de l'Oncle Paul' by Octave Joly, for which Fred sometimes drew stories. Fred and Liliane first met while she was designing displays for L'Innovation. Sparks flew and a relationship and eventual marriage followed. They had one daughter, Claudine.
Liliane motivated Fred to return to comics. She initially just co-wrote, inked, lettered and colored her husband's drawings. But in 1953, when Fred fell ill with the flu, she decided to jump in for him and finish that week's page. Despite never having drawn a comic before, Liliane was graphically experienced enough and thus the artwork matched her husband's style. Fred hated inking, because to him it was like doing the same job twice. But Liliane had a gift for precise rendering of ink by use of a brush. The first time Fred showed editor Evany the page Liliane had inked, he didn't tell him about her contribution, just to test whether he would notice the difference. Evany instantly noticed that the linework was notably "cleaner than otherwise." From that moment on, Fred and Liliane would always work together, handling all aspects of the creative process. Whenever they prepared a script, they both did research and brainstormed everything into a script. Fred usually made the preliminary sketches, did backgrounds and focused on faces and hands. Liliane concentrated on drawing clothing, while inking and coloring everything.
Héroïc Albums
By 1948, Funcken followed his Épierre colleagues Marcel Moniquet and Maurice Tillieux to Fernand Cheneval' s new comic magazine Héroïc Albums. Some stories in this magazine were reprints from Bimbo, but Fred also created new ones, like the 17th-century nautical comic 'Yves et Jannic' (1953) and the aviation comic 'Clem & Shorty' (1956). In 2022, all stories by Funcken for Héroïc Albums were collected and published by Les Editions Hibou.
Dupuis
Through his association with World's Press Agency, Fred Funcken returned to Dupuis in 1953-1954, illustrating several episodes of the historical-educational comic series 'Les Belles Histoires de l'Oncle Paul' in Spirou, scripted by Octave Joly. Under the pseudonym Kendy, Fred also drew romanticized biographical comics for the weekly Bonnes Soirées.
Cover illustrations for Tintin (issue #661, 22 June 1961, and #469, 17 October 1957).
Tintin magazine
In 1952, Fred Funcken was hired by one of the leading comic magazines in Belgium: Tintin magazine. Since Liliane still wrote for the other dominant Belgian comics magazine Spirou, Tintin's publisher Raymond Leblanc convinced her to leave Spirou and join Tintin, since "it wasn't correct for a couple to work for two rival magazines." Thanks to Tintin and Spirou's "gentlemen's agreement" and overall friendly rivalry, the transition went well.
The earliest stories by Fred and Liliane for Tintin were mostly one-shots, drawn in Hergé's characteristic "Clear Line" style. Some were humorous, like the scouts comic 'Luc et Laplume' and the sports gag comic 'Ca C'est Du Sport' (both from 1952). A year later, the Funckens focused on historical-educational comics, drawn in a more realistic, personal style that looked less like a Hergé imitation but still fit the "fine art" standard of the magazine. Hergé himself was very supportive of their work. Some of the Funcken's comics were romanticized biographies of real-life historical characters, like Godfrey of Bouillon, Spartacus or 19th-century archeologist Heinrich Schliemann. They typically were condensed into four-page short stories as a direct answer to Spirou's similar historical-educational series 'Les Belles Histoires de l'Oncle Paul', by Octave Joly. Others adapted historical novels and short stories, like Paul Féval's 'Henri de Lagardère' and Alexandre Dumas' 'Les Trois Mousquetaires', 'Le Comte de Monte-Cristo' and 'La Tulipe Noire' (respectively 'The Three Musketeers', 'The Count of Monte-Cristo' and 'The Black Tulip'). Many would be scripted by Yves Duval over the years.
In Tintin, the Funckens gained a reputation for being reliable draftspeople. At one point, Jacques Martin joked that the magazine might as well be renamed after them, because every time when the editors needed somebody to fill in for artists that fell ill that week, the couple were contacted. As they prepared a story, they divided the work and alternated each other, making it easier to reach their deadlines than giving this task to a solo artist. Between 1955 and 1962, for instance, the Funckens contibuted over 1,600 drawings for the series 'L'Histoire du Monde' by abbot J. Schoonjans. The Funckens were also good friends with Paul Cuvelier and helped him out with his medieval comic 'Flamme d'Argent' (1960-1963). Whenever Cuvelier was depressed, they also offered him comfort. They also helped out Edgar Pierre Jacobs with the 'Blake & Mortimer' story 'Le Piège Diabolique' ('The Time Trap'), a time travel story partially set in the Middle Ages. Jacobs felt they could portray this historical era better than him. However, after finishing the pages, he pretended having done everything on his own, straining their friendship. Nevertheless, Fred and Liliane could still produce the letter he'd sent to him for help, proving the collaboration.
Harald le Viking - 'L'Escale de la Peur' (1968).
Le Chevalier Blanc
Eventually, Fred and Liliane Funcken were allowed to launch their own comic series in Tintin: 'Le Chevalier Blanc' (1953-1963), scripted by Raymond Macherot. The first episode debuted in issue #40 (7 October 1953). The main character is a noble knight, Jehan de Dardemont, who returns from the Crusades only to find his father has been murdered. He decides to become a masked crusader, dressed in white, nicknamed 'the White Knight', because he fights against injustice. The series ran in Tintin's Dutch-language version under the title 'De Witte Ruiter' (and not 'De Witte Ridder' as sometimes is believed) and was also one of the earliest comics created on the European continent to be released in the United Kingdom, where it appeared under the title 'The Phantom Knight'.
After ten stories, the white knight put his sword aside in issue #767 (4 July 1963). In 1981, a new story was drawn by a different artist: Crisse. At the request of Tintin publisher Lombard, more stories would follow in the late 1980s, this time by the Funckens again, but scripted by Didier Convard. In 2014, 'Le Chevalier Blanc' was collected in album format by BD Must, both in a French and Dutch version.
Harald Le Viking
Another medieval comic series by the Funckens was 'Harald Le Viking' (1956-1985), who debuted in issue #25 (20 June 1956). Created at the request of Tintin publisher Raymond Leblanc, the young Viking Harald and his friend Ragnar enjoyed three long adventures until 1962. In 1966, 1967, 1973 and 1985, he returned, but in shorter tales, scripted by Fronval and later Jacques Acar . The series also ran in Dutch under the title 'Harald de Viking'. Two stories starring Harald the Viking, scripted by Fronval, also ran in the French magazine J2 Jeunes, drawn by Guy Mouminoux. In 2014, the 'Harald the Viking' stories by the Funcken were collected and released by Lombard in book format.
Jack Diamond, Lieutenant Burton and Capitan
A shorter-lived series by the Funckens was 'Jack Diamond' (1959-1960), scripted by André Fernez. The plot follows a heroic cowboy. Three albums were published by Le Lombard. With Yves Duval as scriptwriter, the Funckens made another western series, 'Lieutenant Burton' (1962-1967), about a cavalry lieutenant. In 2011, stories would be collected in book format by Bédéphage, spread over two volumes. Duval and the Funckens additionally collaborated on 'Capitan' (1963-1967), a swashbuckler series set in the 17th century. Two albums were published by Bédéscope.
Doc Silver
Finally, the Funckens and Yves Duval also made the western comic 'Doc Silver' (1967-1969). Contrary to their previous series in this genre, Doc Silver doesn't revolve around a cowboy, but instead a travelling doctor, Gary Silver. The comics aren't set during the Wild West either, but at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century. This allows the medic to meet historical characters like Pancho Villa and get drafted during the First World War. Le Lombard collected the series in five albums.
Graphic contributions
In 1956, the Funckens illustrated a biblical comic, 'L'Histoire de Jesus' (Casterman, 1956), scripted by Robert Bastin. In 1987-1988, the publishing company Brain Factory International released a four-volume comic book series where Franco-Belgian comic authors visualized several songs by singer Jacques Brel in comic strip form. The third volume, 'Ces Gens-Là' (1988) featured a contribution by Fred and Liliane Funcken.
Recognition
In 1991, the Funckens were knighted by king Boudewijn/ Baudouin as a Knight in the Order of Leopold. This would be the only honor they received throughout their entire career.
Doc Silver - 'La Vallée de la Peur'(Dutch-language version, 1969).
Final years and death
In the early 1970s, Fred and Liliane Funcken left the comics industry for a while to focus all their time and energy on the 17-volume illustrated collection 'L'Encyclopédie des Uniformes et de Armes de Tous les Temps' (1965-1982). The books were an enormous success and translated in English and German. An extra book followed a few years later, 'Les Soldats de la Révolution' (1988). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Funckens continued working with scriptwriter Yves Duval, on whom they collaborated on the historical epic 'La Plus Grande Historie du Monde' (1974) and the chivalry series 'Les Croisades des Saint-Preux' (1983-1984). In 1993 and 1994, they created two historical comics about Napoleon for La Dernière Heure, 'La Chute de l'Aigle', about the battle at Waterloo, and 'Le Sultan de Feu'.
Fred Funcken passed away in 2013 in Brussels , at age 91. Liliane survived him for two years, dying in 2015, at age 88.
'Capitan - Mission Spéciale' (1973), Dutch-language version.