Bernadette Després, designer of “Tom-Tom and Nana”, is dead

His line, imbued with a fragile naivety evoking the way children draw, was immediately identifiable. Bernadette Després, designer and co-creator of Tom-Tom and Nanais dead, confirmed to Monde Bayard editions, Wednesday November 20. She was 83 years old.

A fairly unique editorial phenomenon in French-speaking children's literature with its 15 million albums sold, Tom-Tom and Nana was created in 1977, in the pages of the first issue of I like to read. The comic strip features the adventures and mischief of Tom-Tom, 9 years old, and his sister Nana, 6 years old.

The adventure ended in 2009 when one of the screenwriters, Jacqueline Cohen, stopped writing stories. To the great dismay of Bernadette Després: “I would have liked to continue. Draw Tom-Tom and Nana was such a joy. I never got tired of it”confided in 2019 that the Bayard Presse group, owner of I like to readhad ended up getting paid, making her probably a unique case in the world of comics.