Jhen: 'Jehanne de France' (Dutch-language version, 1985).
Jean Pleyers is a Belgian comic artist, specialized in historical comic series. He best-known for co-creating such series as 'Jhen' (1978) and 'Kéos' (1992-1999) with the Franco-Belgian comics legend Jacques Martin. He has also been the sole creator of the sci-fi serial 'Les Êtres de Lumière' (1981-1983) and his own historical series 'Giovani' (1996-2002).
"Publi-strip" for Oxy petrol stations (Kuifje #6, 9 February 1971). Dutch-language version.
Early life and career
Jean Pleyers was born in 1943 in Verviers into an artistic family. His father was a sculptor, and his mother a musician. He attended the École Supérieure des Arts Saint-Luc in Liège, where the future comic creators François Walthéry, Dany and Pierre Seron were among his fellow students. Pleyer's major graphic influences were Paul Cuvelier and Jacques Martin. In 1966, Jean Pleyers became the assistant of comic artist Gérald Forton, participating in the artwork of five stories of Forton's cowboy series 'Teddy Ted' in Pif Gadget, as well as the 'Tiger Joe' episode 'Safari pour Espion' in La Libre Belgique Junior (script by André-Paul Duchâteau). He subsequently contributed several short stories to the newspaper supplement Le Soir Jeunesse, which were later collected in the album 'West Stories' (1977) by Michel Deligne.
In 1969, Pleyers drew two installments of the educational historical feature 'Les Belles Histoires de l'Oncle Paul', written by Octave Joly for Spirou magazine. In the early 1970s, Pleyers made a brief appearance in Tintin magazine with the short story 'Un Royaume Pour de la Boue' (script by Jean-Claude Pasquiez, 1970) and a series of advertising strips for Oxy petrol stations (1971). In 1971, he also assisted Paul Cuvelier on the lettering of 'La Caravane de la Colère', an episode of the title comic of Lombard's girls' magazine Line. He then adapted about a dozen science fiction novels of the publishing house Fleuve Noir into comic stories for the pocket book collections of Éditions Artima, such as Aventures Fiction, Sideral and Hallucinations.
Adaptations of the Jimmy Guieu novel 'Les Êtres de Feu' for Aventures Fiction and of the Jean Murelli novel 'L'Orgue de l'Épouvante' for Hallucinations.
Wandering years
Despite these early efforts, Pleyers spent most of the 1960s and 1970s trying to find his way in life. He had flings as a bartender, factory worker, waterski hauler and appeared in small roles in opera and cinema. He also traveled a lot, spending six months in the Sahara, and organizing spiritualist sessions for tourists in Spain. During most of the 1970s, Pleyers squatted with Paul Cuvelier, according to an interview in L'Est Républicain in 1993 living in "old embassies, surrounded by homosexual drug addicts". Spending three years on the Lesser Antilles, he drew the comic story 'Pat le Guadeloupéen' in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city of the French isle of Guadeloupe. In 1977, Michel Deligne published Pleyers' erotic comics album 'Les Enragés de la Peste Blanche'.
Jhen - 'L'Archange'. Dutch-language version.
Jacques Martin collaborations
In 1977, Jean Pleyers applied for a job with comic creator Jacques Martin, a promise he had made to his mentor Paul Cuvelier shortly before his death. It was the beginning of Pleyers' stable career in mainstream comics, although on a regular basis he and his wife would continue to embark upon spiritual trips to the Asian continent. Picking up a concept he had initially worked on with Cuvelier during the 1960s, Jacques Martin offered Pleyers the artwork of a comic project about the French serial killer Gilles de Rais. This evolved into the series 'Xan', of which the first story, 'L'Or de la Mort', was serialized in Tintin in 1978, followed by 'Jehanne de France' in 1980. However, after two books, Tintin's publisher Lombard didn't show any interest in releasing further installments in book format, so the authors turned to Casterman, where the comic was retitled to 'Jhen'. The 'Jhen' series was set during the Hundred Years' War and followed the adventures of a young sculptor, architect and painter named Jhen Roque, while the stories also feature real-life historical characters like Jeanne d’Arc, French king Charles VII and the previously mentioned Gilles de Rais. Like with most of Martin's series, the comic had a great sense of historical accuracy, which Pleyers captured in a baroque and detailed drawing style.
'Kéos'.
After eight albums, Pleyers and Martin left 'Jhen' in 1990 to co-create three albums of 'Kéos' (1992-1999), a series set in Ancient Egypt. In 2000, Martin and Pleyers collaborated on one more album of 'Jhen', 'L'Archange'. In 2004, Bernard Capo was proposed as the new artist, but these plans fell through. Since 2008, Pleyers has continued to draw an occasional new album of 'Jhen', although Jacques Martin's role became less prominent. Since Martin's death in 2010, new scriptwriters for the series have been Hugues Payen, the duo of Jerry Frisen and Jean-Luc Cornette, of Néjib, while artists like Thierry Cayman and Paul Teng have also been drawing installments in alternation with Pleyers. In addition, Jean Pleyers has assisted Jacques Martin on 'Le Cheval de Troie' (1988), the final 'Alix' album drawn by the master himself.
'Les Êtres de Lumière'.
Solo work
In addition to his work for Jacques Martin, Pleyers wrote and drew the science fiction series 'Les Êtres de Lumière' (1981-1983) in Métal Hurlant magazine, which was later collected in two books by Les Humanoïdes Associés.
For Casterman, Pleyers created the historical comic series 'Giovani' (1996-2002), for which he did both script and artwork. Giovani d'Orfani is a Florentine painter, who goes to the court of Duke of Burgundy Philip the Good to find work as a portrait painter. His encounter with the beautiful courtesan/prophetess Sara Villequier results in a succession of thrilling adventures with bloodthirsty highwaymen, deceitful flagellants, black Knights Templar, wolves, diabolical nuns and hellcats, and that in the first story alone! In 2002, the series ended after three albums.
In 2002, Jean Pleyers and writer Paul Couturiau had been working on the adventure story 'Salt - Les Crânes de Cristal', for publisher Casterman, which remained shelved. In 2012, the story was released in book format by the indie publishing imprint Images Innées. Jean Pleyers lives in Martigny, Switzerland, with his wife Corinne, who is also his colorist.
Recognition
In 1984, Jean Pleyers won the prize for "Best Artwork", awarded by the Belgian Chamber of Comic Strip Experts for the fourth 'Jhen' album 'Barbe-Bleue'.
'Giovani'.