Born in Verviers, on November 17th, 1933.
Roger Leloup received his training under Jacques Martin (who draws Alix). After serving as long-time assistant he then ended up with Hergé, for whom he executed scenery and technical drawings for 15 years: for example, the modernisation of vehicles in "The Black Island" is his work, along with Nyon train station in "The Calculus Affair", and Carreidas's private jet in "Flight 714". Through hard work and precision he learned the profession. "I have taken over Hergé's biggest fault - the maniacal - but also that you have to believe in your character. I believe in Yoko as he believed in Tintin. And that's why the reader can believe in her too."


There, Roger Leloup also learned the rules a classic comic has to fulfill. It's a tradition he believes in: accuracy of details and credibility of the script, even for the most fantastic stories, are necessary components for a good comic.
"I have a saying that expresses my vision on the profession really well: I am no engineer, but I try to be ingenious.."


On Christmas Night of 1968, Roger Leloup sketched for the first time the delicate face of a beautiful Japanese girl. In 1969, he knocked at the door of the publishing house of Robbedoes. This on the advice of Peyo, with whom he had also worked. Under his arm, he carried his first draft for "Trio of the Unknown", the first Yoko Tsuno adventure. One year later she made her début in a weekly magazine. "Thanks to Yoko I can now forever live the dreams I had when I was a child. She has the courage, the cool-headedness and the faith I never had."


You don't need 26 albums to prove that Roger Leloup can be called one of the greatest contemporary authors of comics - an author that is capable of taking us along to a faraway past, or a planet that exists milions of light-years away. This talented, methodical and precise storyteller has created a world that rings logically from beginning to end, and that is created around a modern heroine. A heroine in the noble sense of the word: human, tolerant, respectful - even to those who have wandered from the straight path.

Below: Roger Leloup together with Caroline Arssenault. Several years ago, this girl won a Yoko Tsuno look-alike competition in Canada.



It's no coincidence that hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide are fascinated by this young Japanese woman who is yet so distant. That is because she speaks the only language that everyone understands: the language of the heart. This is how Roger Leloup achieved a place amongst the rare humanists in the world of the comic books. "My secret", he admits, "is that I keep looking at the world with the astonishment of a child."


"The luck that I have to live with Yoko is worth so much more to me than the fun I could be having somewhere else," Roger Leloup continues. "I am happy when I see that she's happy. I'm not in love with my character as some people might think. It goes beyond that. Even for me she stays a character on paper. She will never talk to me. But I know that through Yoko I can convey the emotion and poetry that lives inside me. She is that friend I've always wanted to have when I was young but never met. Through time she has become my spiritual daughter."



Before Roger Leloup starts a story, he carefully studies the environment where his heroine will be stationed. For days he scouts the houses and streets where she will roam, collecting images, impressions and memories. He puts himself in her shoes; he traces every corner of the city and imagines how Yoko would behave.