André Franquin

André Franquin (1924-1997) was a Belgian comic-book artist, one of the most influential figures of the Franco-Belgian comics tradition. He took over Spirou et Fantasio in 1946 and during a long run created the Marsupilami and the gloriously incompetent office boy Gaston Lagaffe -- two of the most popular characters in European comics. His later work includes the dark satirical series Idées noires (Wikipedia)