GREG (COMICS)

'Michel Regnier' (May 5, 1931–October 29, 1999) was a Belgian comics writer and artist, best-known by his pseudonym, 'Greg'.

Contents

Biography

Bibliography

Awards

References

External links

Biography

Regnier was born in Ixelles, Belgium. His first series, ''Les Aventures de Nestor et Boniface'', appeared in the Belgian magazine ''Vers l'Avenir'' when he was sixteen. He moved to the comic magazine ''Héroic Albums'', going on to work for the comics magazine ''Spirou'' in 1954. In 1955 he launched his own magazine, ''Paddy'', but eventually discontinued it.
The series for which Greg is best known, ''Achille Talon'', began in 1963 in ''Pilote'', the magazine also the source of comics such as ''Asterix''.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Greg". In België gestript, pp. 117-119. Tielt: Lannoo. This series, which he both wrote and illustrated, presents the comic misadventures of the eponymous anti-heroic bourgeois, a prototype of Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin. In all 42 albums appeared, the first years with short gags, later with full-length (i.e. 44 pages) stories. The series was continued by Widenlocher after the death of Greg. An English translation titled ''Walter Melon'' was unsuccessful. In 1996, an animated series of 52 episodes of 26 minutes each was produced. This series was also shown in English as ''Walter Melon''. Other series Greg provided artwork for in the early 60s were the boxing series ''Rock Derby'' and the revival of Alain Saint-Ogan's classic series ''Zig et Puce''.
Regnier became editor-in-chief of ''Tintin'' magazine in 1966 and remained so until 1974. In this period, he moved the magazine away from the classic ''Ligne claire'' of Hergé and Edgar Pierre Jacobs, because the main authors published new stories less frequently, and because the magazine suffered from the success of new French magazines like ''Pilote''. Greg introduced a more adult genre, with less perfect heroes and more violence. He created some of his most famous series like ''Bruno Brazil'' and ''Bernard Prince'' in this period, and introduced artists like Hermann to the magazine.
In 1975 he became literary director for the French publisher Dargaud and launched ''Achille Talon'' magazine. In the late 1970s he moved to the U.S. as a representative for Dargaud, working on several television projects and promoting European comics. He returned to France in the mid-1980s where he continued scripting comics and also wrote novels for the ''Hardy et Lesage'' collection of ''Fleuve Noir''.
As "Greg", Regnier was one of the most prolific creators of Franco-Belgian comics, working in all genres and collaborating with many other European artists and scriptwriters. Well known for working with artist Hermann, Greg also worked with André Franquin, Eddy Paape, Dany, Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny, and many others. It is estimated that he contributed as a writer and an artist to some 250 comic albums.
Hergé asked him to remake two of ''The Adventures of Tintin'' — ''The Seven Crystal Balls'' and ''Prisoners of the Sun'' — into a script for one long animated movie, ''Tintin and the Temple of the Sun''. He also wrote the script for ''Tintin and the Lake of Sharks''. Greg was asked to write two stories for the Tintin comics as well, including ''Le Thermozéro'', but in the end Hergé, wanting to keep all creative control, did not use them.
Michel Regnier died in 1999 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

Bibliography

Only those series for which albums have appeared are mentioned here. Furthermore, Greg has made many series in the 1950s, especially in ''La Libre Belgique'', of which no albums have appeared. Titles are ordered by the first year in which an album appeared, not the first year the comic appeared in a magazine or newspaper.

Series	Years	Volumes	Artwork	Editor	Remarks
''Chick Bill''	1957 - 1968	19	Tibet	Le Lombard and Dargaud	Most of his work on this series is uncredited
''Modeste et Pompon''	1958 - 1973	3	André Franquin	Le Lombard and Dargaud	Other scenario's written by René Goscinny and Franquin
''Spirou et Fantasio''	1960 - 1974	6	André Franquin	Dupuis	Additional stories by Jidéhem and Jean Roba
''Corentin''	1963	1	Paul Cuvelier	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Flamme d'argent''	1965 - 1968	2	Paul Cuvelier	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Zig et Puce''	1965 - 1995	6	Greg	Le Lombard, Dargaud, and Glénat	Reprise of the classic series by Alain Saint-Ogan
''Line''	1966 - 1979	4	Paul Cuvelier	Le Lombard, Dargaud, and Bédéscope
''Achille Talon''	1966 - 1996	42	Greg	Dargaud
''Bernard Prince''	1969 - 1992	17	Hermann, Dany, and Edouard Aidans	Le Lombard, Dargaud, and Blanco
''Luc Orient''	1969 - 1994	18	Eddy Paape	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Bruno Brazil''	1969 - 1995	11	William Vance	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Clifton''	1969 - 1971	3	Jo-El Azara and Turk	Le Lombard and Dargaud	Additional storywriting by Bob de Groot
''Olivier Rameau''	1970 - 1987	11	Dany	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Comanche''	1972 - 1998	15	Hermann and Rouge	Le Lombard, Dargaud, and Strip Art
''Alice au pays des merveilles''	1973	1	Dupa, Dany, Turk and De Groot	Le Lombard and Dargaud	Adaptation of ''Alice in Wonderland''
''Tintin''	1973	1	Hergé	Casterman	An adaptation of a script for an animated movie, written by Greg
''Chlorophylle''	1973 - 1974	2	Dupa	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Constant Souci et le mystère de l'homme aux trèfles''	1974	1	Greg	Glénat
''Tommy Banco''	1974	1	Eddy Paape	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Les Panthères''	1974 - 1975	3	Edouard Aidans	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Rock Derby''	1974 - 1980	7	Greg	Le Lombard, Dargaud and Magic-Strip
''Les naufragés d'Arroyoka''	1975	1	Claude Auclair	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''La tribu terrible''	1975	1	Gordon Bess	Le Lombard and Dargaud	Award for the Best Foreign Comic at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
''Jo Nuage et Kay McCloud''	1976	1	Dany	Dargaud
''Cobalt''	1976 - 1981	2	Fahrer	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Frère Boudin''	1977 - 1978	2	Claude Marin	Dargaud
''Les As''	1978 - 1986	16	Studio Greg	Dargaud	The only series officially credited to Studio Greg
''Go West''	1979	1	Derib	Dargaud
''Domino''	1979	1	Chéret	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Les Bolides d'argent''	1981	1	Mitteï	Bédésup
''Spaghetti''	1982	1	Dino Attanasio	Dargaud
''Mouminet et Alphonse''	1984	1	Tibet	Magic-Strip
''Babiole et Zou''	1985	1	Greg	Le Lombard	Created in 1962
''Le club des Peur-de-Rien''	1985 - 1986	2	Tibet	Le Lombard and Dargaud
''Papa Talon''	1988	1	Hachel	MC Productions	A spin-off from Achille Talon
''Colby''	1991 - 1997	3	Michel Blanc-Dumont	Dargaud
''Johnny Congo''	1992 - 1993	2	Eddy Paape	Claude Lefrancq

Awards

★ 1974: Angoulême International Comics Festival, Best Foreign Comical Work, for ''Le tribu terrible'', artist: Gordon Bess

★ 1985: Haxtur Award, Spain, Best Long Comic Strip for ''Spirou et Fantasio'': ''QRN sur Bretzelburg'', artist: André Franquin

References

★ Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; and Mellot, Philippe (1998): "Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 1999-2000". Paris, Les éditions de l'amateur. ISBN 2-85917-258-0

★ Greg publications in ''Spirou'', Belgian ''Tintin'', French ''Tintin'', ''Vaillant'' and ''Pif'' and ''Pilote'' BDoubliées
'Footnotes'

External links

★ Greg biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia

★ Greg biography on Dupuis