Kéké le Perroquet, planche 2, circa 1961.

Guy Bara was born in Latvia as the son of Belgian diplomats. His real name was Guy Willems, although several sources erroneously mention Guy Herzog (the correct name was confirmed to us by his daughter). He spent his childhood in several countries and returned to Belgium in 1940. He founded the literary and artistic magazine La Faune in 1945, before working in advertising for several years. His first drawings were published in La Dernière Heure in 1948, and a year later, he became editor-in-chief of the current-affairs magazine Vivre. He settled in Paris in 1950, where he made humorous illustrations for magazines like Marius, Le Hérisson and Ici-Paris. In 1954, he created the character his famous explorer Max ('Max, L'Explorateur'). Bara's pantomime comic strip became an international success, and was published in a variety of European newspapers, such as France-Soir, Le Soir, Het Laatste Nieuws and Cork Oserver. From 1964, 'Max' also starred in longer stories published in the magazine Spirou, sometimes with scripts by Maurice Rosy. For this magazine, Bara also created 'Kéké Le Perroquet' (1963, initially published in Bonux-Boy), 'Lamybidas' (1981-1985) and 'Dugazon' (1982-1983). Between 1971 and 1973, Bara was in charge of the magazine L'Oeuf, a humorous magazine for the medicine branch. Text (c) Lambiek