'Corian'.
Jacques Debruyne is a Belgian comic artist and illustrator, known for assisting François Craenhals on 'Les 4 As' and creating the historical comic series 'Corian' (1985-1989).
Early career
Debruyne was born in 1945, but otherwise not much background information is known about the artist. At the start of his career, he worked for Belvision, the animation studio owned by the publishing house Lombard. There, he participated in the production of the 1967 film 'Asterix the Gaul' (based on the comic book creation of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo). For the newspaper supplement La Libre Junior, he made the comic feature 'Placide et Céleste'.
Studio Craenhals
Debruyne's association with François Craenhals presumably began in the early 1970s, when he particpated in the artwork and coloring of the episode 'La Dame des Sables' (1972) in the medieval adventure series 'Le Chevalier Ardent'. Later that decade, he also assisted Craenhals on his illustration work for Tintin magazine and the children's magazines of the Abbey of Averbode, such as Zonneland and its French edition Tremplin.
Les 4 As #42 - 'Mission Mars'.
Les 4 As
From 1983 on, Debruyne assisted Craenhals on the backgrounds and the inking of the humorous adventure comic 'Les 4 As'. Appearing directly in book format, the series was based on the youth book series of the same name by novelist Georges Chaulet. The four main characters of 'Les As' were the archetypes of the typical pop cultural kids gang: Lastic was the heroic handyman, Dina the curious and playful girl, Doct the nerdy scientist and Puffy the chubby comic relief, always longing for his next meal. They are accompanied on their adventures by their loyal dog Oscar. After participating in the production of about twenty albums, Debruyne took over all the art duties, drawing the episodes 'Les 4 As et le Grand Suprême' (2004) and 'Mission Mars' (2005).
Solo work
Between 1985 and 1988, Jacques Debruyne returned in the pages of Tintin magazine, making comic stories about Ancient Egypt, often in collaboration with scriptwriter Jean Dufaux. A recurring character in several of these stories was Akhtar the scribe. Ancient Egypt was also the setting for Debruyne's best-known solo work, 'Corian' (1985-1989). A slave, warrior and rebel during the reign of pharaoh Amenhotep IV, the young and fiery Cretan sailor Corian discovers the mysteries of Egypt in three long adventures. After a first book published by Blue Circle, publisher Glénat released installments 2 and 3 in its Vécu collection.
Written and graphic contributions
In 1990 Debruyne and François Craenhals paid graphic tribute to François Walthéry in the collective homage book 'Natacha. Special 20 Ans' (Marsu Productions, 1990), which celebrated the 20th anniversary of Walthéry's series 'Natacha'.
'La Femme Pharaon', short story in Tintin/Kuifje #12, 1988.