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Paul Cuvelier, creator of “Corentin”, biography on its way from Les Impressions Nouvelles

By John Freeman on June 30, 2023

Le Mystère Paul Cuvelier, published in French, by Philippe Goddin

Les Impressions Nouvelles are to publish a significant biography about the acclaimed yet troubled Belgian illustrator, Paul Cuvelier, creator of “Corentin”, the adventure strip which ran in the French Tintin magazine for almost 30 years, partly reprinted in Britain’s weekly SUN comic.

Le Mystère Paul Cuvelier, published in French, is the work of Philippe Goddin, author of the 1981 biography Paul Cuvelier: L’Aventure artistique, published by Magic Strip.

“Corentin”, initially a desert island adventure, featured in Tintin magazine from 1946 until 1974 and, as Bambos Georgiou previously noted here on downthetubes, was partially translated and serialised as “Boy Colin” in the British weekly comic SUN, issues 296-351, between 1954 and 1955. Between 1955 and 1956, Vallardi Edizioni Periodiche also published an Italian version of the strip.

Paul Cuvelier In Brussels in 1978. Photo: Lafloche - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Cuvelier_dédicace_Bruxelles.jpg — *Paul Cuvelier In Brussels in 1978. Photo: Lafloche*

Paul Cuvelier (22nd November 1923 – 5th August 1978) is renowned as one of the pioneers of the western genre in Franco-Belgian comic strip, born into a bourgeois and cultured family in Lens, near Mons, in Belgium. The fourth son of a family of seven children, he demonstrated a graphic talent as precocious as it was dazzling, his first published work appearing in Le Petit Vingtième in 1930 when he was not yet seven years old. In 1945, aged just 22, this led to him being included in the team which, under the aegis of Hergé, was to create the journal Tintin.

His beginnings as an illustrator and author of comic strips announced an “exceptional destiny.”

Art for "Le Canyon Mystérieux" by Paul Cuvelier, a western strip abandoned in favour of “Corentin”

"Le Canyon Mystérieux" by Paul Cuvelier, a western strip abandoned in favour of “Corentin”

*Art from Les extraordinaires aventures de Corentin, Tome 1, published in 1946, by Paul Cuvelier*

Original art from the album T2 "Les nouvelles aventures de Corentin". The strip was first published in Tintin in December 1948 — *Original art from the album T2 “Les nouvelles aventures de Corentin”. The strip was first published in Tintin in December 1948*

A page from "The Adventures of Boy Colin", which began appearing in The Sun comic cover dated 9th September 1954 — *A page from “The Adventures of Boy Colin”, which began appearing in The Sun comic cover dated 9th September 1954 | Read “When British Comics were… European!” by Bambos Georgiou*

*The gorilla, Belzébuth, from Corentin, art by Paul Cuvelier*

Cover art for a 1958 issue of Tintin magazine promoting the story, “Corentin - The Magic Dagger”. With thanks to Simon Doyle — *Cover art for a 1958 issue of Tintin magazine promoting the story, “Corentin – The Magic Dagger”. With thanks to Simon Doyle*

However, despite the boundless admiration of his peers and the immediate success of the “Corentin”, his trajectory as a man as much as an artist was marked by doubt and wandering. Far from leading him towards an erotic art which could have flourished had he himself recognised in it a legitimate part of his creative genius, his “obsession with the female body” (in his own words) led him to multiply mostly unsuccessful attempts, both in drawing and in painting or sculpture.

*Art by Paul Cuvelier, reflecting his incredible ability to draw horses*

His correspondence sheds valuable and unprecedented light on this “mystery”. By reading the magnificent letters he addressed to the great love of his life, Ta Huynh-Yen, a brilliant and audacious woman, we discover an unknown and fascinating side of the personality of Paul Cuvelier, a man desperate for love, desperately seeking to put together the pieces of an imaginary puzzle.

Thanks to notes and commentaries by Philippe Goddin, and numerous unpublished illustrations, Le Mystère Paul Cuvelier offers an entirely new look at the author of “Corentin”.

There’s more information about Le Mystère Paul Cuvelier here on the Les Impressions Nouvelles website.

In related news, an exhibition of art from “Adventures of Corentin” runs from 25th November 2023 until 2nd February 2024, in the Salle Saint-Georges in Mons, Belgium.

In 1993, Media-Films TV and Saban International Paris produced an animated adaptation of the comic called Les Voyages de Corentin, the brainchild of Raymond Leblanc. Consisting of 26 episodes of 25 minutes length each, and was broadcast on Canal+, France 3 and the RTBF, and broadcast in English as Journey to the Heart of the World.

The series’ English-language music composer Steve Barden has shared an episode – and the theme song is here.

• More information Le Mystère Paul Cuvelier, published in French, by Philippe Goddin

• Adventures of Corentin Exhibition | Web: polemuseal.mons.be

Web Links

• Lambiek: Paul Cuvelier (22nd November 1923 – 5th August 1978)

• More about “Adventures of Corentin” here on Wikipedia

• There’s a partial archive of a French website dedicated to Paul Cuvelier here on Wayback

With thanks to Paul Gravett

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.