Early life Marcel Denis was born in
Monceau-sur-Sambre in 1923. He studied drawing and painting in a private school in Monceau-sur-Sambre after he finished his secondary studies. Afterwards, during the
Second World War, he started working in an office while creating comics in his free time.
Debut Marcel Denis made his comics debut aged 17 in 1940 in
Le Petit Vingtième with the scout story
Pip. His work was mainly the reletterring of comics for
Robbedoes, the Dutch translated version of the weekly comics magazine
Spirou. Starting in 1954, he also contributed to the different publications of Dupuis as a layouter and illustrator in the artistic studio created by the artistic director
Maurice Rosy, where he worked alongside
Degotte,
Deliège,
Lambil,
Jamic and
Salvérius. Together with colorist Jean Verbruggen, the four of them formed the atelier. Marcel Denis left one year later and was replaced by
Jean Roba. In 1957 he wrote two short stories of
Spirou et Fantasio, drawn by Franquin and Jidéhem: ''Le Marsupilami passe l'éponge
(renamed Fantasio et le siphon
in the album La voix sans maître et 5 autres aventures) appeared in the first issue of Spirou poche
, and Les Patins téléguidés
(renamed Fantasio et les patins téléguidés
in Fantasio et le fantôme et 4 autres aventures), which was made for the second issue of Spirou poche'', which never appeared. In 1957, young comics artist
Jo-El Azara came to Franquin looking for some advice on getting a break into the industry. Franquin gave him the idea of a group of kids called
La Ribambelle, with the character of a young black trumpet player called Dizzy, named after
Dizzy Gillespie. Marcel Denis wrote the four-page story
Opération ciseaux, published in
Spirou in 1958. The series was abandoned until 1962 when
Jean Roba restarted it. created for a special Easter issue of
Spirou magazine. The basic idea of a bird with explosive eggs was Franquin's, and the story is written by Denis and Franquin together, with art by Jidéhem and Roba.
Les Frères Clips and the micro-stories In 1958, when Denis had left the Franquin atelier, he created
Les Frères Clips, a series of gag pages and short stories, his first comics for
Spirou magazine. Seven later stories are published as micro-stories, a series of miniature booklets published in the middle of the magazine. He continued the series until 1969.. It told the story of two inventors, Jules and Jonas, whose well-intended ideas often result in catastrophes when presented to their boss, minister Beaussillon. Marcel Denis created nine other micro-stories between 1960 and 1964, including two stories about Professor Bouton (
Les Ennuis du Professeur Bouton and
Échec à la bombe), and one micro-story created together with
Marcel Remacle :
Les Blaireaux sont fatigués.
Tif et Tondu In 1958,
Will, the artist of the long-running strip
Tif et Tondu, left
Spirou to work for the rival
Tintin magazine. In 1960,
Maurice Rosy, writer of
Tif et Tondu and artistic director of
Spirou, suggested that Denis should take over the illustrating of the strip. Denis made two episodes of the series,
Tif et Tondu à Hollywood in 1960 and
Ne tirez pas sur Hippocampe! in 1961. Plans to publish these stories as albums were eventually dropped, despite Denis creating a cover drawing for the first one already. Denis even started a third episode,
Les Saucisses du Docteur Snoss, but this was finally rejected by Dupuis. Marcel Denis wrote the first three long stories published in ‘’Spirou’’:
Fais moi peur Viking! in 1964,
Hultrasson chez les Scots in 1965 and
Hultrasson perd le nord in 1966. When finishing the
inking of this story, the two auteurs temporarily halted their collaboration after an argument. in 1967. The series was continued in 1973 by
Vittorio Leonardo (art) and
Maurice Tillieux (story). In 1966, Denis and Remacle created a spin-off from ‘’Hultrasson’’, centered on the character Sépadeffasson, with two six page stories:
Le Bâton des métamorphoses and
Samson le Rouge. In 1968, Remacle asked the assistance of Denis for the scenario of his main series ‘’
Le Vieux Nick’’. Together, they created the long story
Les Commandos du Roy and in 1969 the six page story
Sus à la baleine !. Another long story,
Barbe-Noire aubergiste, followed in 1970, before their final collaboration, the 1971 six-page story
Un Coup dans le buffet. This was the final comic authored by Denis.
Declining years After a second and final row with Marcel Remacle and serious health problems, Denis left the comics field in 1971 to get a more steady job with a printer. He returned to drawing and painting at the end of his life, entering the Academy when he was over 70. He died aged 79 in
Lobbes. ==Published works==