SOPHIE ET BILLY THE KID

Jean De Mesmaeker, known as Jidéhem, born in Brussels, is a Belgian scriptwriter, cartoonist and comic book designer, representative of the Marcinelle school. He was Franquin's assistant on the series Spirou et Fantasio and Gaston Lagaffe, and later created Sophie, his best-known series. A contributor to Spirou magazine from the 1950s through the 1990s, he is best known as the creator of 'Sophie' (1965-1994), a series about a lovely young girl and her inventor father. The comic is historically important for being the first comic series in Spirou to have a female character as its protagonist, soon followed by Roger Leloup's 'Yoko Tsuno' (1970) and François Walthéry's 'Natacha' (1970). Jidéhem was furthermore an assistant to André Franquin, with whom he worked together on 'Spirou et Fantasio' and the early 'Gaston Lagaffe' gags. Jidéhem was particularly renowned for his expertise in making technical drawings, especially automobiles. Text (c) Jidéhem