'David Balfour'. Dutch-language version.
Jacques Laudy was a Belgian painter, who also spent twenty years working as a comic creator. With Hergé, Edgar P. Jacobs and Paul Cuvelier, he was part of the original group of artists of Tintin magazine. During this magazine's early decades, Laudy illustrated many historically-themed text stories and several comic serials, most notably his series 'Hassan & Kaddour' (1948-1962), a sort of historical Laurel and Hardy set in a fairy tale version of the Middle East. Since his career as a comic artist was relatively short, and his comics not made available in book format, Laudy remains an unsung hero among the other artists of Hergé's "School of Brussels". However, his contributions to the medium remain interesting, as his classical background as a painter gave Laudy a different and more experimental approach to making comics.
Cover illustrations for Tintin magazine, respectively issue #114 (28 December 1950) and #220 (8 January 1953).
Early life and career
Léopold Jacques Laudÿ was born in 1907 in Schaerbeek, Brussels, into an artistic family. His father was the Dutch-born painter Jean Laudy (1877-1956), who was especially known for painting the Belgian Royal Family. His mother Hélène Dumoulin made watercolor landscape paintings. The family lived in the Brussels suburb Woluwe Saint-Lambert/St. Pieters-Woluwe, where the comic creator Hergé also spent a large part of his life. From age 14, Laudy got his classical training in Fine Arts at the Brussels Academy, where one of his teachers was the painter and muralist Constant Montald. Among his main graphic influences were classical illustrators like Arthur Rackham and Anton Pieck, as well as the painters Louis Buisseret and Alfred Moitroux.
At the Brussels Academy, Laudy became friends with Jacques van Melkebeke and Edgar Pierre Jacobs, two artists whose careers became closely linked to Laudy's in the decades to come. The three friends shared a passion for antique weaponry, and regularly made portraits of each other. Laudy and Van Melkebeke also stood model for Jacobs' famous comic characters Francis Blake and Philip Mortimer, respectively.
Interest in Scotland
Largely inspired by the stories of Sir Walter Scott, during the late 1920s Laudy developed a keen interest in Scotland and especially the fabrication of bagpipes. He paid regular visits to the Edinburgh-based bagpipe manufacturer Andrew Ross. During his lifetime, he personally fabricated and restored over 200 instruments. It may not come as a surprise that Scotland was a regular setting for Laudy's comic stories. In 1984, plans were made to collect Laudy's many sketches and watercolor paintings of Edinburgh in a book called 'Les Rues d'Edimbourg', but this project was never finished. As an inside joke, the Flemish comic creator Willy Vandersteen later gave Jacques Laudy a cameo in his 'Suske en Wiske' album 'Het Spaanse Spook' (1948). His role was the bagpipe player whose instrument is shot away by cannon, but magically still keeps playing music.
'Gust le Flibustier'.
Early comics
At age 33, Laudy began his career in comics and illustration. His early illustrations appeared in Pro Juventute, the magazine of the foundation of the same name for the common good of the youth, established by 1938 by baron and philanthropist Louis-Jean Empain. Also in 1940, Laudy was one of the regular illustrators of covers, short stories and tales for the French and Flemish editions of the children's magazine Bravo!. By introducing his friend Edgar P. Jacobs, a former opera singer, to Bravo! editor Jean Dratz, Laudy played an instrumental role in the debut of one of Europe's most celebrated comic creators. Laudy eventually ventured into creating comic strips himself with the humorous features 'Les Aventures de Bimelabom et Chibiche' (1944-1946) and 'Gust le Filibustier' (1946-1948).
'Rob Roy' (Dutch-language version from Kuifje #52, 1947).
After the Liberation (1944), Laudy made appearances in the Flemish magazine ABC with the chivalry comic 'Trotsart de Moedige Ridder' (1944-1945) and also in Le Petit Monde, to which his Bravo! colleagues Jacobs and Willy Vandersteen also contributed work. In addition, Laudy created the comic story 'Buonamico' for Grand Coeur, as well as illustrations and the comic strip 'Pietje Bovenkast' for Graphica. Some of his work from this time period was signed "Al. Jingle".
'Les Quatre Fils Aymond' (Dutch translation: 'De Legende der Vier Heemskinderen' in Kuifje #4, 1947).
Tintin magazine
In 1946, Laudy was involved in the launch of the Belgian edition of Tintin magazine by Raymond Leblanc's Lombard publishing house. For the magazine's early issues, Laudy made comic serial adaptations of the medieval tale 'The Four Sons of Aymon' ('Les Quatre Fils Aymon', 1946-1947) and of Walter Scott's book about Scottish outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor (1947-1948). From a script by Yves Duval, Laudy also created a comic adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'David Balfour' (1952). For Tintin, Laudy additionally made advertising comic strips for products like Stephens stylographs and ink (1947), Côte d'Or chocolate ('Monsieur Cotdor', 1949-1951) and Ajax bicycles (1949-1951).
'Hassan et Kaddour'. Dutch-language translation.
Hassan & Kaddour
Laudy's best-known work for Tintin was, however, 'Hassan et Kaddour', a series starring two Arabian scoundrel pranksters. The duo debuted in issue #18 (29 April 1948). In their first adventure, 'Hassan Le Voleur de Bagdad' (inspired by the classic Hollywood film 'The Thief of Bagdad'), the main heroes Hassan and Kaddour appear to be an Arabian Nights version of Laurel & Hardy. The thin and brainy one, Hassan, constantly gets the duo in trouble, resulting in the corpulent Kaddour getting the blame and, as a result, the caning. In the following episodes, the 'Hassan et Kaddour' stories dropped their slapstick tone and developed into an adventure comic with absurd elements. After Hassan marries the Caliph's daughter, the two companions magically end up all over the world and in several different time periods. During their adventures, they fly to Egypt, sail on a 17th-century Spanish galleon and foil a plot against Napoleon Bonaparte. In their final Tintin serial, of which the last episode appeared in issue #728 (4 October 1962), Hassan and Kaddour visit Laudy's beloved Scotland, a fitting end to the artist's career as a comic creator.
Between 1948 and 1962, six 'Hassan et Kaddour' stories were serialized in Tintin magazine. Most were written by Jacques van Melkebeke, the first two under the pen name J. Alexander, and three more anonymously. The final 1962 serial was scripted by Yves Duval. An additional 'Hassan et Kaddour' story called 'Chasseurs de Chimères' appeared in 1960-1961 in Tremplin magazine, but it is believed that this might be a solo work by Van Melkebeke.
The final Hassan & Kaddour story in 1962 was set in Laudy's beloved Scotland. Dutch-language version.
Ons Volkske
Besides Tintin, Laudy was additionally present in the Flemish magazine Ons Volkske between 1951 and 1956 with shadow-play comic pages. In the period 1956-1965, he also appeared in the newspaper Le Soir with occasional historical stories. For Petits Belges/Tremplin, he illustrated episodes from the life of emperor Charles V ('L'Histoire comique de Charles Quint' (1954-1955) and comic stories reworkings of Belgian folk legends (1956-1958). In 1987, these legends were reprinted in the newspaper La Libre Belgique under the title 'Légendes de Belgique'.
'Monsieur Cotdor' (1950), advertising strip for Côte d'Or. Dutch-language version..
Retirement from comics
Laudy's classical background often led to an unconventional approach to the comics medium. For instance, he had the tendency to make his speech balloons rectangular, instead of round. His 'Hassan & Kaddour' series also had no permanent setting. In each new story, his characters suddenly found themselves in different historical eras and countries. This free-style artistic approach didn't sit well with Tintin's strict art supervisor Hergé, who wanted all the comics in his magazine to stick to his standards and make logical sense. The frequent disputes between Laudy and Hergé presumably partially motivated Laudy to leave the comic industry. In general, Jacques Laudy had a love-hate relationship with the medium of comics. Seeing himself mostly as an illustrator, he found speech balloons ugly filler. In addition, he was deeply disappointed with how his harmoniously colored drawings looked once they had been printed.
Atmospheric and poetic, but also slightly old-fashioned, Laudy's comics weren't very popular with Tintin readers either. As a result, publisher Lombard never took the effort to give them proper book releases. After 1962, Laudy devoted the rest of his career to making paintings and bagpipes. He also became a successful portrait painter, commissioned by, among others, Shah Mohamed Reza Pahlavi of Persia and his wife. Even his old boss Hergé posed for a portrait.
Painting from 'Le Royaume d'Edgar J' depicting several of Laudy's characters, as well as the painters Moitroux and Buisseret.
Recognition
Within comic circles, Laudy sank into obscurity over the next couple of decades. It wasn't until the mid-1970s before smaller publishing imprints like RTP, Bedescope, Distri BD and Éditions Jonas began releasing limited-edition book collections with his comics output. New appreciation for his comics happened the same decade, when Laudy was awarded the 1974 Prix Saint-Michel by the city of Brussels for his entire comics oeuvre. In 1991, he was also named Knight in the Ordre of Leopold, and then Baron, by King Baudouin/Boudewijn. In 1992, a large overview exhibition of his work was held in the Belgian Comic Strip Center.
Portrait by Jacques Laudy of Knight François Hadoque, based on the character from the 'Tintin' stories by Hergé.
Eccentric personality
In his biography about comic creator Bob De Moor, comic historian Ronald Grossey also profiled the other professionals in De Moor's life, including Laudy and his remarkable personality. Laudy was by all accounts a very old-fashioned man, who regarded himself as an anachronism. He romanticized the Middle Ages and preferred to live in that era instead. Despite living in the city of Brussels, the artist rarely traveled by foot, but usually rode his horse Marouf. While during the 1920s gas and electricity were already widely available, Laudy preferred to light his house and studio with candles. In addition to bagpipes, Laudy was also a keen weapon collector. With Jacques Van Melkebeke, he shared an interest in occultism and the metaphysical world. The two men sometimes held séances, where mediums had to provide access to the world of the dead and tables apparently "danced".
Death, legacy and influence
Jacques Laudy died in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert on 23 July 1993 at the age of 86. Shortly after his death, his semi-autobiographical book 'Le Royaume d'Edgar J' (Loempia, 1993) was published posthumously. It featured fictionalized descriptions and watercolor illustrations of the author's friendships with Jacques Van Melkebeke and Edgar P. Jacobs. The book also documented his memories of Edinburgh and childhood visits to the Flemish coastal village Klemskerke.
Because of his limited comics work, only a few latter-day comic creators have named Jacques Laudy as a notable influence on their work, for instance Kees Sparreboom and Laurent Parcellier.
Jacques Laudy in the 1940s.