It is a pure product of the Belgian School of Comics. Born June 27, 1931 in Flanders in Herentals in the province of Antwerp, Luc Maezelle alias Mazel studied architecture at Saint-Luc in Brussels before turning to comics in 1960. At Dupuis, he cut his teeth on the series of Uncle Paul.
Its classic round design, in line with that of Franquin and his remarkable talent as an inker opened the doors of the two main Belgian weeklies for young people. We owe him in Tintin some early picturesque characters like the caveman Cavemanthe lawyer Perin (1961), the little moujik Yvan (sc. by Yves Duval, 1962), the two tramps Bôjolet and Riesling (1963), but it is with Fleurdelyson a scenario of Vicq (excellent screenwriter that we will see later on lucky Luke) that in 1966 he created his first series of musketeers. We also see his drawings for Pilot Belgium, with the secret agent “OK 27.43”, under the pseudonym Zem (1964). Greg recruits him into his studio to draw Aces intended for the magazine Pifwhere he then produced under the pseudonym of Mavericq with Alpha to the script of the series Jackal Bill (1976).
Calijne and Calabash
Luc Mazel and François Walthéry in 2008 Photo: Nicolas Anspach.
With the arrival of Thierry Martens to the writing of the Spirou’s diary after 1968, he saw in Mazel a reliable and regular collaborator and would promote his long-term collaboration with the star screenwriter of the house Raoul Cauvin. This will give a new series of musketeers Hug and Calabash (1969), but also, always in the humorous field Boulouloum and Guiliguili (1975). In 1981, with the cartoon director Gerald Frydmanhe always draws for Spirou the western heroine Jessie Jane. Finally, in 1993, again with Cauvin, he hosted The Paparazzigag photographer-reporters as Cauvin could imagine them.
André-Paul Duchâteau and Luc Mazel, in 2010. The two men worked together for Pilote. Duchâteau signed under the pseudonym Michel Vasseur, and Mazel under that of Zem. Photo: Nicolas Anspach
After a last album with P&T productions in 1997, Mazel retired and devoted himself mainly to painting. In 2019, his dealer, the Daniel Maghen gallery, devoted a retrospective to his work.
In 2019, Mazel with Gos in the Maghen gallery Photo: @thierry_sauvage
Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.
Goodbye Mazel… Extract from the second integral of Boulouloum & Guiliguili (Dupuis)
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