'Max L'Explorateur'.
Guy Bara was born in 1923 in Latvia as the son of Belgian diplomats. His real name was Guy Willems, although several sources erroneously mention Guy Herzog (the correct name was confirmed to us by his daughter). He spent his childhood in several countries and returned to Belgium in 1940. He founded the literary and artistic magazine La Faune in 1945, before working in advertising for several years. His first drawings were published in La Dernière Heure in 1948, and a year later, he became editor-in-chief of the current-affairs magazine Vivre. He settled in Paris in 1950, where he made humorous illustrations for magazines like Marius, Le Hérisson and Ici-Paris.
'Lamybidas'. Dutch-language version.
In 1954, Bara created his famous explorer Max ('Max, L'Explorateur'), who made his official debut on 31 March 1955 in the newspaper France-Soir. . Bara's pantomime comic strip became an international success, and was published in a variety of European newspapers, such as Le Soir, Het Laatste Nieuws and Cork Oserver. From 1964 on, 'Max' also starred in longer stories published in the magazine Spirou, sometimes with scripts by Maurice Rosy. For this magazine, Bara also created 'Kéké Le Perroquet' (1963, initially published in Bonux-Boy), 'Lamybidas' (1981-1985) and 'Dugazon' (1982-1983). Between 1971 and 1973, Bara was in charge of the magazine L'Oeuf, a humorous magazine for the medicine branch.
'Cro-Magnon'.
From 1968 on, Bara was also present in Tintin, with series like 'Éphémère et Rabudol' (with Vicq and later Bob de Groot) and even more 'Max' gags. In 1974, he started his stone-age gag series 'Cro-Magnon' (1974-1993) in this magazine, which ran in the Dutch-language version of Tintin, Kuifje', under the title 'In Den Beginne...'. This series was also published in the German magazine Zack, as well as its French and Dutch counterparts Super-As and Wham in 1978-80. Bara's 'Cro-Magnon' should not be confused with a similar Stone Age-themed gag comic running in Tintin magazine, namely Auguste's 'Les Cromagnonneries' ('Van Stenen en Botten' in Dutch translation, 1963-1970).
For Super-As and Wham, Bara also created the historical soldier 'Sigi le Franc'. Bara was additionally present in Fripounet in the mid-1970s with 'Philibert le Perroquet', one of the side characters from 'Kéké'. Guy Bara retired in the mid-1980s, and spent his final years painting in the South of France. He passed away in Marseille on 18 June 2003.
In 1991, Bara was knighted by king Boudewijn/ Baudouin as a Knight in the Order of Leopold. Guy Bara was an influence on Ploeg.
'Max L'Explorateur'.