Martin Jamar was born in Liège, Belgium in 1959. At a very young age he discovered his calling as an illustrator and comic book artist. Even so, when he left high school he chose law for his further studies. As if laughing in the face of his diploma in law, he decided to devote himself to illustration, his eternal passion, taking his chances in the world of comic books. In 1985, with a script by F. Dehousse, he set about doing the artwork for “François Julien, le réfractaire,” a five-part historical series, three volumes with Miroir publishing, and two with Alpen.
In 1990, he produced an adaptation of “Ivanhoe,” the famous novel by Walter Scott, for the magazine “Je Bouquine,” while at the same time he was illustrating for the Belgian academic review “Tremplin.” In 1992, with his high school friend Y. Charlier on the script, he published “La Lettre de Feu” in the weekly “Hello Bédé.” This sinister tale of vengeance is set in 17th century Paraguay. It was then released as an album with Le Lombard. Significantly, 1992 was also the year he met writer Jean Dufaux. The next year, the two of them joined forces and produced “Les Voleurs d’Empires” (Glénat). In 1997, this epic earned Martin Jamar the prize for best illustrator, judged by the Chamber of Franco-Belgian Comic Book Experts.
In 2003, Dufaux and Jamar decided to start out on some new adventures. Their next project came to light in August 2004 with the release of the first volume of “Double masque” (Dargaud 2004, Europe Comics 2017, “Game of Masks”). The series is set in the time of Vidocq, and is inspired by the style of the popular 19th century works by the likes of Dumas, Hugo, and Balzac. The series reached its conclusion in 2013.
In 2016, the Dufaux/Jamar duo was back again with a historical one-shot, “Vincent” (Dargaud 2016, Europe Comics 2017), which plunges us right into the heart of 17th-century Paris, and the daily life of Vincent de Paul, a devoted man of the church in search of truth.
Loyal to his hometown, Martin Jamar lives between picturesque natural reserves in the Liège area. His wife (an architect) and their three children are his most enthusiastic readers!
