William Vance

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the mayor, see William R. Vance.
William Vance
Vance in 1994
BornWilliam van Cutsem
(1935-09-08)8 September 1935
Anderlecht, Belgium
Died14 May 2018(2018-05-14) (aged 82)
Santander, Spain
NationalityBelgian
Area(s)artist, writer
Notable works
XIII
Bob Morane
Bruce J. Hawker
Bruno Brazil
Awardsfull list

William van Cutsem (8 September 1935 – 14 May 2018), better known by his

Franco-Belgian comics.[1]

Biography

William van Cutsem was born in

Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts in Brussels.[1] Originally from Flanders, he worked most of his life in France, and moved later to Santander, Spain.[3]

William Vance started drawing for the

Greg, as one of the comics that started the revival and repositioning of Tintin as a more adult-oriented magazine.[6]
From 1967 on, he continued the stories of Bob Morane in Femmes d'aujourd'hui, a magazine aimed at adult women. This science fiction series, based on the novels by Henri Vernes, was started by Dino Attanasio and continued by Gerald Forton before Vance took over and made it a success. Between 1969 and 1979, 18 albums with his artwork were published.[4] A few years later, the series moved to Tintin as well, and Vance was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Felicisimo Coria.[5]

Vance meanwhile started two new series, Ramiro, with stories set in medieval Spain, and from 1976 onwards, Bruce J. Hawker, his personal favourite, starring a lieutenant in the Royal Navy.[7]

His final breakthrough and largest commercial success came in 1984, when writer

XIII. First serialised in Spirou magazine, this series of contemporary adventures with action, violence, and complicated intrigues, let Vance draw upon his talent for realistic drawings, action scenes and exotic settings. By 2007, he had drawn 18 albums in the series, which sold more than 14 million copies in more than 20 countries, and was twice adapted into a TV series.[4] The series was coloured by his wife Petra Coria, with whom he lived in Santander, Spain.[1]

In 2010, Vance announced his retirement due to Parkinson's disease. He died of the disease on 14 May 2018.[4]

Style

Vance worked in a highly detailed

realistic style which has been described as "precise and nervous", an "inimitable" style resembling no other author.[1][5] An article in Der Tagesspiegel discussing his series Bruno Brazil called his early work already "meticulous" and "sophisticated", but describes how in the early 1970s it drifted away from the more typical realistic style common in Belgian comics at the time, and became influenced by Dutch comics artist Hans G. Kresse. He also started experimenting with the page layout, with large central panels, and with the colouring, which showed influences of psychedelic art.[6]

Awards

Bibliography

These are the comic albums drawn by William Vance published until 2007. Between 2001 and 2011 most of his older work was republished in Tout Vance by Le Lombard and by Dargaud.[9]

Series Years Volumes Scenarist Publisher
Howard Flynn[1] 1966–1969 3 Yves Duval Le Lombard and Dargaud
Ringo 1967–1978[1] 3 Acar Le Lombard and Dargaud
Bruno Brazil 1969–1995[1] 11[2]
Greg
 Le Lombard and Dargaud
Bob Morane 1967–1980[1] 18 Henri Vernes Le Lombard and Dargaud
C'étaient des hommes 1976 1 William Vance
Deligne
Ramiro 1974–1989[1] 10 Jacques Stoquart Dargaud
Roderic 1979 2 Lucien Meys Bédéscope
XIII 1984–2007 18 Jean Van Hamme Dargaud
Bruce J. Hawker 1985–1996 7 William Vance Le Lombard
Marshall Blueberry 1991–1992[1] 2 Jean Giraud Alpen
XHG-C3 – Le vaisseau rebelle 1995 1 William Vance Gibraltar

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Quoidbach, Serge (15 May 2018). "PORTRAIT: William Vance, le dessinateur de XIII, s'est éteint". L'Echo (in French).
  2. ^ a b c "Stripmonument William Vance overleden". De Morgen (in Dutch). Belga. 15 May 2018.
  3. ^ De Weyer, Geert (2005). "William Vance". In België gestript, pp. 167–169. Tielt: Lannoo.
  4. ^ a b c d "Décès de William Vance, le dessinateur de "XIII"". Tribune de Genève (in French). AFP. 15 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b c Potet, Fréderic (15 May 2018). "Mort de William Vance, coauteur de " XIII ", grand fauve de la BD franco-belge". Le Monde (in French).
  6. ^ a b "Zwischen Kaiman und Kamikaze". Tagesspiegel (in German). 15 May 2018.
  7. ISBN 90-75172-03-6
  8. ^ Belga (2009-10-12). "Geestelijke vader van XIII is ereburger van Brussel" (in Dutch). De Standaard. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  9. ^ "Vance, William". Bédétheèque. Retrieved 15 May 2018.

Sources

External links

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