You could say that Philippe Vandevelde, alias “Tome,” born and raised in Brussels, loved comic books before he ever even read one! When he was just over five years old and temporarily blinded following eye surgery, “Le Sceptre d’Ottokar” and “Les Extraordinaires Aventures de Corentin” were read aloud to him.
His first comic strip work was published in the fanzine “BUCK,” illustrated by Thierry Groensteen, the future high priest of graphics critics. Deciding to revisit his childhood dreams, Tome dropped out of his course in film animation, graphic communication and journalism to devote himself to his hobby.
He worked for a while as an assistant to Dupa, then to Turk and De Groot, an excellent apprenticeship during which he teamed up with another colleague, Janry, to produce games pages for the magazine “Spirou” (called “Jeuréka”).
After a few ups and downs, they were entrusted with the “Spirou & Fantasio” series in 1981, launching “Le Petit Spirou” six years later. Tome gradually moved away from drawing to specialize entirely in scriptwriting.
He brought to life “Soda,” the New York police priest, first with Warnant and later with Gazzotti. With Darasse he began exploring the bizarre world of comic book illustrators, taking over the scripts for the “Gang Mazda.”
The first deviation from his usual, playful style is “Sur la route de Selma,” illustrated by Philippe Berthet in 1991 for the prestigious “Aire Libre” collection. This was the forerunner of the dramatic trilogy he wrote a few years later for Ralph Meyer, “Berceuse assassine” (1997 Dargaud, 2016 Europe Comics, “Lethal Lullaby”).
Given the great success of everything he’s produced, he can indulge his passion for traveling, taking off several times a year, and often coming back with ideas for new creations!
