Michel VAILLANT

Jean Graton. A French illustrator (1923-2021)

As founded by Jean Graton in 1957, Michel Vaillant has inspired a number of generations of readers and also introduced motor sport to a wide audience. 

The centenary of the 24 Hours coincided with another centenary: that of the birth of Jean Graton. Born in Nantes in 1923, the designer always had a special affection for the Le Mans 24 Hours, since the event is the source of his love for motorsport. Hs father took him to attend the 1937 race when he was just 13, the year of a French victory with Bugatti!

“I have always been a dreamer. That is what saved me” (Jean Graton)

Jean Graton decided to leave France when at war without any artistic training and became an illustrator for sports newspapers in Brussels. He returned to Le Mans in 1954 as an understudy to the boss of the "Les Sports” newspaper. The designer was in charge of the panelling on the Mulsanne bend, standing as close to the cars as possible.

He started working on comics by chance. A few four-page stories were devoted to a fictional driver named Michel Vaillant from 1957 onwards, which were enthusiastically received by readers of "Tintin" magazine. The first long story Le Grand Défi appeared in 1959:

“Jean Graton’s passion for motor sport makes you live in this album with a remarkable concern for accuracy and the truth, along with the most moving moments in the life of a motor racer, his anxieties, his triumphs.

Who among us would not want to be this Michel Vaillant, this drive who always ends up triumphing in adversity? (Paul Frère - as a preface to the album Le Grand Défi)

The Le Mans 24 Hours is the race most often represented in the albums. Described as one of the best drivers in the world, Michel Vaillant has won the event on several occasions.

Jean Graton vanished in January 2021. A few months earlier following the death of Uderzo, the creator of Asterix. was the final survivor of the golden era of Franco-Belgian comics.

The Michel Vaillant series now has over 80 albums. It is Philippe Graton, the son of Jean, who perpetuates the myth.

It was in 1906 that the “Hôtel de Paris” was built, which quickly became the reference establishment in the city.

This building is one of the two major works by the municipal architect Louis Guerrier, along with the Chamber of Trades building, located on Place Lionel-Lecouteux. Combining brick and stone, the hotel develops according to an open V shaped plan on the avenue.

Guerrier was a pioneer in proposing a building whose ornamentation resulted only from the alternation of red, yellow or blue varnished materials while this style developed significantly from the 1920s onwards. The rigour of the whole set-up is attenuated only by the large arched bay windows on the first floor and the slight projection of the balconies.