François Craenhals

(b. 1926, Belgium)

After a few technical studies, François Craenhals attended a course on drawing. Soon he sold his first illustrations. His first comic appeared in 1948, in Le Soir Illustré. He met Fernand Cheneval, who was responsible for the "Comic Hero" period in Belgium, and encouraged Craenhals to create 'Karan', inspired by Tarzan. In the early fifties, he created nine stories about this character. He was employed by Tintin magazine, where he created the series 'Rémy et Ghislaine', soon followed by 'Pom et Teddy'.

Craenhals also worked for a period for the abbey of Averbode, where Nonkel Fons was the editor-in-chief of a number of educational magazines such as Zonneland. Craenhals provided the story of 'The Miracle of Lourdes' in 1958.

Between 1955 and 1964, Craenhals made several short religious stories for Petits Belges, as well as a gag strip, 'Roc et Rol'. In 1966, he created his most famous comic: 'Chevalier Ardent', published in Tintin. His comic 'Fantúymette', named after the romantic heroine by Georges Chaulet, appeared in 1982. In 1990, Dutch publisher Arboris devoted a special study to him, published under the title 'Dossier Craenhals'.