'Mélusine'. Artwork by Clarke
François Gilson is one of the most productive comic writers of Spirou magazine. Along with fellow scriptwriters, like Zidrou, Janssens and Corcal, he renewed this old Belgian magazine in the 1990s with several new series. While Raoul Cauvin was the main writer for Spirou in the 1970s and 1980s, Gilson succeeded him in the 1990s. He met Frédéric Seron (better known as Clarke) at school. Together, they started the fanzine Cafard. Afterwards, the studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he discovered that art wasn't his thing. So, Gilson focused on scriptwriting.
'Garage Isidore'. Artwork by Olis.
Together with Clarke, Gilson made his first comic book in 1987, 'Rebecca'. Two years later, he joined the Spirou team. There he worked with most artists of the "new Spirou generation," like Serge Carrère, Olis, Guilhem and E411. Gilson has also cooperated with Gos and Walt on gag pages with 'Les Galaxiens', side characters from the 'Scrameustache' series. His most famous creations for Spirou, are the series 'Garage Isidore' (with Olis and later Stédo), 'Mélusine' (with Clarke) and 'Cactus Club' (with Bercovici).
'Cactus Club'. Artwork by Philippe Bercovici.