André LeBlanc (artist)

André LeBlanc (January 16, 1921 - December 21, 1998) was an American artist who worked on comic strips and comic books of the 1940s and 1950s. He was an instructor at New York's School of Visual Arts.

Born in Haiti, to Joseph Le Blanc and his wife Jeanne Ferrari, LeBlanc came to the United States during the 1920s, following the death of his father in Cuba. His artwork was strongly influenced by Winsor McCay.

A natural talent, Andre was self taught. He would often say that he honed much of his considerable artistic skill by copying the volumes in the "fine arts" room of the NYC public library at 35th and 5th avenue. To support his widowed mother, Andre dropped out of high school after 8th grade. One of his first jobs was with Bender and Bender as well as Eisner and Eiger, where he cleaned pages and paid his dues. By the age of 19 Andre already had his own strip: "Intellectual Amos". "Amos" follows the adventure of an orphan abandoned in a library, and his green goblin sidekick Wilbur. The concept for Amos was inspired by Andre's own experiences being dropped off at the public library every day by a mother who had no access to day care or other support..

Andre spent his career between New York City, in later years residing in Huntington NY as well as Rio De Janeiro where he created the first Brazilian comic strip "Morena Fflor" and illustrated a series of children's books by Brazils then most famous author Monteiro Lobato. His images for the characters created by Lobato became iconic. For years Andre worked for Adolpho Aizen and his son Naumin, the book publishers "Editoras Brasil America" or EBAL, illustrating dozens of works, including the comic versions of nearly all of Brazil's classic works of literature.

Andre's Brazilian wife, Elvira Telles, was one of the first women to pass the test for the Instituto Rio Branco (Brazil's school of foreign service) , to become a female diplomat in Brasil. One of Elvira's good friends was Niomar Moniz Sodré, whose husband, Paulo Bittencourt was the owner and director of the popular newspaper "Correio da Manhã." Working closely with Niomar, Andre and Elvira were amongst the small band who helped start the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, at the end of the Aterro in Flamengo.

Andre was one of the first art teachers at the Rio Museum of Modern Art, and he helped influence and inspire a generation of Brazilian artists, animators and filmmakers including Mauricio de Sousa, Maboim and even many film makers. One of Elvira's first cousins was Alex Viani, considered one of the fathers of Brazilian cinema.

In addition to working for Correio da Manha as an illustrating reporter, Andre also worked for Globo, the popular newspaper, quickly becoming a favorite of the owner and editor in chief Roberto Marinho. In addition to starting the first Brazilian comic strip, Andre was an accompllished writer and reporter. Working for Globo he covered the reconstruction of Europe, the handover of Goa to the newly independent India, the last showing of the body of St Francis of Assisi in the former portuguese colony of Goa as well as the partition with Pakistan.

Returning to the United States in the late 1950s, Andre worked for Hanna Barbera when they had an office on the East Coast. Here he worked closely with legendary animator Alex Toth to help create the characters for the animated series "Space Ghost" as well as Tranformers in the 1970s and 80s.

Moving fluidly between the comic, animation and illustration worlds, Andre Le Blanc is also known as the illustrator of the epic "Picture Bible" published by David C Cooke. He is considered one of the foremost Bible and Christian Art illustrators, and he worked with his close friend Lee Ames to create the book "Draw 50 Famous People of the Bible", as well as a few biblically inspired projects for Hanna Barbara. In the 1960s Andre made several trips to the Holy Land to research, photograph and sketch details for the work he did for David C Cooke. His attention to detail, advanced illustration skills and meticulous pen and ink work were greatly admired by fans and colleagues alike.

Childhood friends, from the depression era and WWII cartoon studios included Joe Simon who created Captain America, Lee Ames, the illustrator and cartoonist, Sy and Dan Barry. Admirers included Jerry De Fuccio of Mad Magazine and Digger T Mesch, founder of Art Asylum and one of Andre's students at SVA.

Andre was very active with the Long Island NY based Berndt Toast gang, an informal industry group of cartoonists in the NY/CT/NJ region..

Andre died in Columbia South Carolina in December 1998 after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife Elvira and two daughters Frances Andree and Vivienne

Comic strips

LeBlanc worked as an assistant with Will Eisner on The Spirit and with Sy Barry on The Phantom. He also contributed to the Flash Gordon, Apartment 3-G and Rex Morgan, M.D. newspaper strips.

Comic books

In addition to illustrating The Picture Bible (1979), he drew for King Comics' Mandrake the Magician comic book. His various features for comic books included Dr. E.Z. Duzit, Intellectual Amos and Morena Flor. He was a leading illustrator on Edicao Maravilhosa, the Brazilian version of Classics Illustrated.

Awards

His illustrations brought him the Southern Cross Award, the highest honor that can be given to a Brazilian citizen.

He died in Columbia, South Carolina on December 21, 1998 where his eldest daughter Frances Andree was an episcopal priest.

External links

• The Picture Bible