'Superjhemp'.
Roger Leiner was a comic artist and cartoonist from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. He is most famous for his satirical superhero parody 'Superjhemp' (1988-2016).
Early life and career
Roger Leiner was born in 1955 in Wiltz and later studied Plastic Arts at the University of Social Science in Strasbourg, France. He initially worked as a state official at the Ministry of Economics from 1979 until 1986, while making a weekly cartoon for Lëtzebuerger Land from 1982 on. He eventually turned to full time cartooning and from 1987 on collaborated with comic writer and fellow countryman Lucien Czuga.
Superjhemp
Czuga and Leiner's best-known creation is 'Superjhemp' (1988), who is probably the only Luxembourgian superhero. He was inspired by 'Superdupont' by Marcel Gotlib and Jacques Lob, a caricature of the stereotypical chauvinistic Frenchman. Likewise, Superjhemp embodies all stereotypes about Luxembourgers. Most of his adventures take place within the borders of the authors' tiny country and make reference to many local jokes and couleur locale. Naturally this also prevented any possible export, but it instantly became Luxembourg's best-selling comic book series. 'Superjhemp' debuted in the weekly magazine Revue in 1988 and by 2006 it had already sold over 185.000 copies.
'Hot Cuisine'.
Other comics
Other collaborations between Leiner and Czuga are 'De stolen A ' (Ed. Arbed 1991), 'Jimmy' (Ed. Lions, 1992), two books with the misadventures of 'De Pechert' (Éditions Weekend, 1989, 1993) and its follow-up 'Pechert-Melba' (Ed. Revue, 2002), the gastronomic humour series 'Hot Cuisine' (De Verlaach, 2013-2014) and a comic book about the history of Luxembourg, called 'Vum Siggy bis bei d'City' (De Verlaach, 2015). Leiner has furthermore made book illustrations, and worked as an animator for several short films and ads through AFO-Film.
Death and legacy
Roger Leiner passed away on 29 December 2016 at the age of 61. He was praised by President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker as a "talented artist, who has shaped several generations of Luxembourgers".
'Vum Siggy bis bei d'City'.