Franz

'Lester Cockney'.

Franz Drappier, better known under only his first name, studied Plastic Arts at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels and Fine Arts in Mons. He worked as an illustrator from 1966 until he began making comics in 1969. After drawing several historical comics for both Spirou and Tintin, Franz made the humorous series 'Korrigan' with writer Vicq in Tintin. In 1972, he briefly appeared in Pilote, and he created 'Les Aventures de Christopher' with writer Yves Duval in Le Soir Jeunesse. The same year, Franz joined the art studios of Henri Desclez, where he made the drawings for seven episodes of 'Commissaire San-Antonio'.

'Jugurtha'. Dutch-language version. 

Starting in 1975, his name appeared more frequently in Tintin. He took over the series 'Jugurtha' from Hermann and he started his own series 'Hypérion' with scripts by André-Paul Duchâteau and 'Lester Cockney', for which he wrote the scripts himself. Besides his several series, Franz also drew independent comics, such as 'Bruxelles, Mille Ans d'Épopée', '1830, La Révolution Belge', 'Captain Tom' and 'Pur-Sang'.  In 1980, he was one of many Belgian comic artists to make a graphic contribution to the book 'Il Était une Fois... les Belges'/'Er Waren Eens... Belgen' (1980), a collection of columns and one-page comics, published at the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Belgium. He began an association with the magazine Charlie Mensuel in 1982, where he started the series 'Thomas Noland' with scriptwriter Daniel Pecqueur. Two years later, he did several short stories scripted by José-Luis Bocquet and Jean-Luc Fromental in Métal Aventure.

'Thomas Noland'.

While continuing 'Jugurtha' and 'Lester Cockney', Franz began 'Poupée d'Ivoire' in Vécu in 1987 and he drew a new episode of the late Jijé's western comic 'Jerry Spring' in 1990. Under the pen name Gabor (derived from the name of his Hungarian wife and colorist Gabrielle Horvath), he drew the funny western strip 'Joe Cork' in Tintin's final renditions from 1988 to 1991.

In 1991, Franz began to work on the comic adaptation of Paul-Loup Sulitzer's novel 'Hannah' with scripts by Jean Annestay for Dupuis. In addition to his artwork, Franz wrote scripts for Jean-Louis Pesch ('Les Primeurs' in Tintin), Christian Denayer ('Gord' in Tintin and Hello Bédé), Éric ('Les Perdus de l'Empire'), Jarbinet ('Sandy Eastern' for Éditions Blanco), François Plisson ('Akarad') and Odrade ('Ishrum'). In 1994 and 1996, he created 'Irish Melody' and 'Shamrock Song', two comics about the youth of his character 'Lester Cockney'. In 2001, he started his final series, 'Compagnons de Fortune' at Delcourt. Franz Drappier passed away on 8 January 2003.

Franz was one of the artists making a graphic contribution for 'Pepperland' (1980), a collective comic book celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Pepperland comic book store. During the parlementary elections of 1978, he drew a propaganda comic in support of PSC politician Charles-Emmanuel Van De Put. 

Franz Drappier should not be confused with Franky Drappier. 

'Poupée d'Ivoire'.