Jidéhem

Jean de Mesmaeker, better known under the pseudonym Jidéhem, is best known for the lovely 'Sophie' series and his contributions to the 'Gaston Lagaffe' series. He made his debut in Héroïc Albums with the detective series 'Ginger', that appeared from 1954 to 1956. One year later, Jidéhem made his first appearance in Spirou, the magazine he would work for the rest of his career. He started out assisting André Franquin on the 'Spirou et Fantasio' series, where he showcased his talent for drawing detailed backgrounds. He also joined Franquin in the creation of the hilarious 'Gaston Lagaffe' character. Jidéhem's father was the inspiration for one of the most legendary characters of the 'Gaston' series: M. De Mesmaeker. Jidéhem did most of the inking of the initial "half page" gags, until Franquin took over all of the artwork in 1968.

Jidéhem's talent for detailed technical drawings came out especially through his illustrations for Spirou's automobile section 'Starter'. He used the 'Starter' character as the title hero of a comics series in 1959, when Starter made his appearance in the centrefolded mini-book 'La Révolte des Autos'. More stories followed, but the secondary 'Sophie' character soon replaced Starter as the hero of the comic.

From then on, Jidéhem drew numerous long and short adventures of 'Sophie' for Spirou until the early 1990s. In the early 1980s, he additionally restarted the semi-realistic 'Ginger' comic. He also did the backgrounds for two episodes of the 'Natacha' series by François Walthéry in the 1980s. Between 1990 and 1993, he drew some 'Chansons Cochonnes' for Éditions Top Game, and illustrated some chronicals in Auto Journal. Jidéhem retired in the early 1990s.