O Cruzeiro do Caranguejo
Carlos Santos Roque was one of the few Portuguese artists whose work was published in the Franco-Belgian market, being lay-out man and artist for Spirou magazine during the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Lisbon, Roque took courses in drawing, engraving and lithography from the Antonio Arrio School. He debuted in 1950 as as advertising artist for several agencies. He was the artist and lay-out man for magazines like O Secolo, O Secolo Illustrado, Modas & Bordados and Vida Mundial. He began contributing drawings to O Mosquito and O Mundo de Aventuras in 1951, and a little later on, he also worked for Joaninha.
He made his actual comics debut in the second series of Camarada magazine. For this paper, he created the character 'Malaquias', various short stories, painting-books and a long story: 'O Cruzeiro do Caranguejo', which has also been published in book format.
Wladimyr
Roque and his wife Monique fled the Salazar dictatorship and settled in Belgium in 1964. There, he started out working for the advertising department of Tintin magazine. He also did art on some stories scripted by Yves Duval. He additionally worked for the Lombard departments Publiart and Publiart-Jeunesse, designing advertisements for Chocosweet and Viking beer. In November 1965, he was employed by the publishing house Dupuis, working as artist and lay-out man alongside Serge Gennaux.
From 1968-69 until the early 1980s, he also made the irregular appearing gag strips 'Angélique' and 'Wladimyr', often in cooperation with his wife Monique or Raoul Cauvin. 'Wladimyr' won him the Prix Saint Michel in 1976. He also illustrated for editorial sections like 'L'Apache qui Rit' and 'Qui veut jouer au blabladoigt'. In 1979, Roque's 'O Cruzeiro do Caranguejo' was reprinted in Spirou.
In Portugal, he contributed to Selecçoes BD from 1968. The magazines Pim-Pam-Pum and O Seculo also published 'Angélique', and Roque also participated in the Almanaque O Mosquito. He eventually returned to Portugal when his job with Spirou ended in the early 1980s. He was responsible for the supplement TV Guia Junior in 1996 and 1997. Carlos Roque passed away on 27 July 2006.
Angelique