During his long career as a teacher, Henri Gillain follows the developments of comic strips with enthusiasm, just like the development of the talent of his brother Joseph, nicknamed Jijé, the second pioneer and master of this art in Belgium.
He admires the little group of novices surrounding his brother in Waterloo. In his enthusiasm he submits to André Franquin a thick notebook in which he has carefully written in decorative hand a sort of saga in which everything revolves around the fantastic products based on various species of mushrooms, developed by a scatter-brained inventor. The idea had occurred to him while watching a didactic poster on cryptogams in his classroom.
The artist finds his imaginative zeal appealing, and buys the idea, sculpting and modelling the mass of information to present, in 1950, the world and inventions of the count of Champignac in “Il y a un sorcier à Champignac”. (In order to avoid damage to the serious reputation required for a teacher appreciated by his superiors, the pseudonym of Jean Darc will be used initially to designate the crazy author of such an irrational story.)
In 1952, this time under the pseudonym of Luc Bermar, Henri Gillain writes for Will, another of his brother’s protégés, the script of an adventure of Tif and Tondu (“Le Trésor d’Alaric”). He also contributes (anonymously) to the script of “Nègre Blanc”, a Blondin et Cirage realised by Jijé.
A few years later he assists Willy Lambil in the birth of his first character, the young Australian Sandy, and edits the script of Sandy’s first story (“Une Aventure en Australie”, 1959).
Henri Gillain occasionally writes novels for BONNES SOIREES and FEMMES D’AUJOURD’HUI, as well as articles for various Belgian newspapers, generally under his pseudonym of Jean Darc.
He dies on the 10th of August, 1999, 86 years old.
