André LeBlanc (artist)
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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.
Early life
André LeBlanc was 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.[1] His artwork was strongly influenced by Winsor McCay.[citation needed]
LeBlanc was self taught, having stated that that he copied the volumes in the fine arts room of the New York City Public Library at 35th Street and 5th Avenue. To support his widowed mother, LeBlanc dropped out of high school after eighth grade.[citation needed]
Career
One of LeBlanc's 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 LeBlanc 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 LeBlanc'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.[citation needed]
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.[1]
LeBlanc spent his career between New York City, in later years residing in Huntington, New York, 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 author Monteiro Lobato. For years LeBlanc 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.[citation needed]
LeBlanc'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 Brazil. One of Elvira's good friends was Niomar Moniz Sodré, whose husband, Paulo Bittencourt, was the owner and director of the newspaper Correio da Manhã. Working closely with Niomar, LeBlanc and Elvira were amongs the small band who helped start the Museum of Modern Art of Rio de Janeiro, at the end of the Aterro in Flamengo.[citation needed]
LeBlanc was one of the first art teachers at the Rio Museum of Modern Art, where he taught Mauricio de Sousa and Maboim.
In addition to working for Correio da Manha as an illustrating reporter, LeBlanc also worked for the newspaper Globo, under editor in chief Roberto Marinho. In addition to starting the first Brazilian comic strip, LeBlanc worked as a 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 Saint Francis of Assisi in the former Portuguese colony of Goa, and the partition with Pakistan.[citation needed]
Returning to the United States in the late 1950s, LeBlanc worked for Hanna Barbera when they had an office on the East Coast. He worked closely with animator Alex Toth to help create the characters for the animated series Space Ghost as well as The Transformers in the 1970s and 80s.
Le Blanc is also known as the illustrator of the 1979 epic Picture Bible published by David C Cooke. 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.[1]
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 LeBlanc made several trips to the Holy Land to research, photograph and sketch details for the work he did for David C Cooke.[citation needed]
LeBlanc was very active with the Long Island-based Berndt Toast gang, an informal industry group of cartoonists in the New York Metropolitan Area.[citation needed]
Death
LeBlanc died in Columbia, South Carolina in December 21, 1998 after a brief illness. He was survived by his wife Elvira and two daughters Frances Andree and Vivienne.[citation needed]
Awards
His illustrations brought him the Southern Cross Award, the highest honor that can be given to a Brazilian citizen.[1]
References
External links
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