Jess Long . KO pour l’éternité

Born near Liège, Arthur Piroton wanted to become an artist since his early childhood. His parents insisted that he pursued a more "serious" career, so he became a furniture designer. On the side, he drew his first comic, 'Le Crime de Tolumont' for Le Cité in 1950. He got lessons in comics art from Hergé, and joined the Dupuis art studios in 1956. He started out doing illustration work for Risque-Tout, Bonnes Soirées and Télé-Moustique, as well as some stories in the series 'Belles Histoires de l'Oncle Paul', and mini-books for Spirou. The year 1962 marked the launch of Piroton's first series, 'Michel et Thierry', created in cooperation with writer Charles Jadoul. This series, about model aviation, consists of 11 long stories. Piroton teamed up with Paul Deliège in 1968, to create the sadistic little creatures 'Les Krostons' that came to life from the drawings of comic artist Max Ariane (Deliège and Piroton's joint signature for the series. Piroton then associated himself with Maurice Tillieux, with whom he created his most famous series, the detective 'Jess Long' in 1969. In 1979, Piroton created 'Les Casseurs de Bois' in cooperation with fellow artist Francis Carin and writer Mittéï. He was on the verge of starting a comical series about courtrooms with Raoul Cauvin ('Les Maîtres du Barreau'), when he passed away in 1996. Text (c) Lambiek