One of the great names of the golden age of French-Belgian comics, Jean Graton, who died on January 21, aged 97 in Brussels, was probably the petrolhead's most beloved.
After all, he was the creator of the famous cartoon character Michel Vaillant, perhaps the only comic book hero who made driving skills his “super power”.
According to Jean Graton, the option to portray the world of motor sport in his comic books came about because he “liked to draw cars and knew the world of racing well”, stating that, for that reason, his hero was a driver.
In addition to the comics, his iconic character arrived on the small screen (in the form of cartoons) and in the cinema in 2003. Here we leave you with the generics of the animated series:
It started (very) early
Born in 1923 in Nantes, Jean Graton saw his first drawing published in the Belgian newspaper “Le Soir” when he was just eight years old.Subscribe to our newsletter
At 19 he made his debut in comics and in 1957 he created the famous Michel Vaillant, a driver whose "career" took him to race in Formula 1, rallies, karts and other categories.
His opponents ranged from fictional pilots like the famous Steve Warson, to real ones like Jacky Ickx, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher or the Portuguese Pedro Lamy in the book “A Fever de Bercy”.
Reformed since 2004, in 2007 Jean Graton also participated in the album “24 hours under pressure”. After that he handed over the fate of the series to his son, Philippe Graton, who resumed it in 2012.
Portugal "did not escape"
Three times the stories created by Jean Graton have passed through here. The first was in 1969 in the book “Rali em Portugal” and the other in 1984 with “O Homem de Lisboa”. The last time was in the book “Em Nome do Filho”, whose action takes place in part on the Portimão Circuit (this book is already authored by Philippe Graton).
Very meticulous, it wasn't just the representations of the cars that were exceptionally achieved in Jean Graton's comics. Deeply knowledgeable about the automobile field, the Frenchman often went to races and meetings with drivers to better understand the environment.
Razão Automóvel would like to convey its condolences to family, friends and all Jean Graton fans.