Georges Blondeau, also known as Gébé, was born in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges and debuted as an illustrator in magazines like La Vie du Rail and L'Almanach du Cheminot' in the mid-1950s. He became one of the most loyal collaborators of the publishing house Le Square in the early 1960s. He was a frequent contributor to Le Square's magazines Hara-Kiri, Hara-Kiri Hebdo and Charlie Hebdo and was chief editor of Hara-Kiri from 1969 to 1985. He was the author of various photo-novels and short stories, and creator of the character 'Berck' (1964). Much of this work has been collected in albums by Editions du Square and later Dargaud: 'Il est Fou', 'Il est trop Intellectuel' and 'Qu'est-ce que je Fous là'.
From 1966 to 1971, Gébé was additionally present in Pilote. He illustrated pages based on current affairs and produced independent stories, including 'Une Plume pour Clovis'. Afterwards, he started 'L'An 01' in Politique Hebdo. This comic was later continued in Charlie Mensuel, and has been adapted into a motion picture by Jacques Doillon in 1973. In 1986, he was editor-in-chief of Zéro.
During the 1980s, he was also present in alternative magazines like Psikopat and Charlie Mensuel, while also publishing graphic novels like 'Lettre aux survivants' (Albin Michel, 1982). In 1992, he became publishing director for the second version of Charlie Hebdo.
Text (c) Lambiek
