Lucien De Gieter

Lucien De Gieter is a prominent artist for Spirou magazine since the 1960s and is best known for his comic series 'Papyrus'. Born in Etterbeek, he studied at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels and spent several years working as an interior decorator and industrial designer - in this occupation the artist participated in the 1958 World Expo in Brussels. De Gieter was in his late twenties when he turned to comics.

He began his assocation with Spirou magazine in 1961 and published his first comics in the collection of mini-books that were printed in the center of the magazine. He wrote several stories for artists such as Eddy Ryssack,Jem, Francis and Kiko, and he also created his own comic strip about the little cowboy 'Pony' in this section.

De Gieter went to work for Peyo's studio in the Avenue de Boetelaer in Brussels in mid 1965. He assisted on the inking of 'Les Schtroumpfs' until 1968 and made new gags starring 'Poussy' from 1969. In addition to his work for Peyo, De Gieter continued to work on his own projects.

His series 'Tôôôt et Puit', about a young pearl diver and a mermaid was published in Spirou from 1966, and also 'Pony' found its way to the magazine's regular pages in 1968. Although remaining faithful to Spirou for the rest of his career, De Gieter made brief appearances in Tintin and Le Journal de Mickey. He also gave Berck a helping hand on the production of 'Mischa' stories for Kauka in Germany in the early 1970s.

In 1974, De Gieter's other activities were dropped in favor of 'Papyrus', as new series set in ancient Egypt. De Gieter established himself as an allround author, creating stories with fantasy elements based on Egyptian myths, while his artwork drifted away from the initial Peyo-influence and evolved into a more semi-realistic style. Dupuis collected the series in album format from 1978 and the success of the comic led to a series of animated cartoons and an extended merchandise line in the late 1990s. It was announced that the 2015 episode, 'Papyrus pharaon', was the final installment in the series.