‘Zep’ is the pen-name of Philippe Chappuis (born 15 December 1967, Switzerland), a comics creator known for his series ‘Titeuf’, about a funny 8-year-old with a huge cowlick.

His career began with the ‘Victor’ series in “Spirou” in 1987, and he also appeared in magazines such as “Fluide Glacial” and “L’Hebdo”.

Zep introduced Titeuf in a fanzine in 1990. The feature was collected by Glénat in 1992 and soon became one of the best-selling comics in France. Canal J showed an animated “Titeuf” series from 2001, and there was an animated feature film in 2011.

He and Jean-Claude Camano created the magazine “Tchô!” in 1998, featuring humorous strips in the spirit and style of ‘Tituef’. It was published by Glénat and then Éditions Fleurus until 2013.

Zep has received many awards since 1993, including the Grand Prix at Angoulême in 2004.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/z/zep.htm (some explicit images)
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zep
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/y8e8c7uc

(Zep created the cover art on “Titeuf” 3 - To niesprawiedliwe!, Egmont Polska: February 2002, a Polish edition)

James Tynion IV (born 14 December 1987, USA) is a comics writer whose career began in the early 2010s.

He is known for his work on ‘Batman’ stories at DC Comics.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Tynion_IV
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/y7hjkjoh

(Greg Capulla and Jonathan Glapion created this cover art on “Justice League Dark” #1, September 2018)

David Quinn (born 14 December 1959, USA) is a comic book writer. With fellow Rebel Studios artist Tim Vigil he co-created the “Faust” series.

The main graphic novel was adapted by Brian Yuzna as the 2001 movie “Faust: Love of the Damned”. The follow-up graphic novel, “Faust: Book of M”, was nominated for the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative.

Among other work, Quinn has written runs on “Doctor Strange” (Marvel Comics) and “Purgatori” and “Lady Death” (Chaos! Comics).

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Quinn_(writer)
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/y7jn3cxr (some explicit images)
In the IMDB — http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0703817/

(Jeff Moore and Chris Ivy created the cover art on “Codename: Firearm” #1, Malibu: June 1995)

Jack Cole (14 December 1914 – 13 August 1958, USA) was a comic book artist and Playboy magazine cartoonist best known for creating the comedic superhero Plastic Man.

He was posthumously inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1999.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/c/cole.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cole_(artist)
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/y8s8hhkp

(Cole created the cover art on “Silver Streak Comics” #1, Lev Gleason: December 1939)

Alfred Bestall (14 December 1892 – 15 January 1986, UK) was an author and illustrator.

After serving in World War I, he began his career publishing in “Punch”, “The Strand”, and other magazines. He illustrated for The Amalgamated Press (which became Fleetway in 1959).

In 1935, Mary Tourtel, who had created ‘Rupert Bear’ in the “Daily Express” in 1920, retired from the feature and Bestall took it over.

His graphic style and story-telling came to define Rupert, who has become globally popular. He began the “Rupert” annuals in 1935, with expansive, painted wrap-around covers.

He semi-retired in 1965, when he drew his final ‘Rupert Bear’ story. He continued to create covers for the annuals until 1973.

Bestall was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1985.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/bestall.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Bestall
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/y7eho34m

(Bestall created the cover art on “Rupert” #[1948] - The Rupert Book, Daily Express: 1948)

Kyle Baker (born 13 December 1965, USA) is a cartoonist, comic book writer-artist, and animator known for his graphic novels and for a 2000s revival of the series “Plastic Man” (DC Comics).

Baker has so far received nearly 20 Eisner Awards, Harvey Awards, and Glyph Awards for his work in the comics field.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/baker_kyle.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Baker
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/yc9t9x2u
In the IMDb — https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2287036/

(Baker created the cover art on “Doom Patrol” #87, DC/Vertigo: February 1995)

Philippe Francq (born 13 December 1961, Belgium) is an artist whose career began in 1984 after graduating from art school.

One of his early jobs was designing a logo for the Belgian Olympic Committee. He currently works as a comics creator and screen-writer.

He began working at Hergé Studios, where he collaborated with Bob de Groot and with Francis Delvaux in the late 1980s using the pen name ‘Franco’.

In 1988, writer Jean Van Hamme offered to collaborate on adaptations of a series of novels that he had written. The first “Largo Winch” album was released in 1990 from Dupuis.

The graphic series continues. Its success led to the novels being reprinted, to an English-language live-action television series (2001–2002), and to two feature films (2008, 2011) with a third planned.

Francq has been nominated for numerous awards in Asturias and Angoulême. He has won Haxtur Awards in Asturias for Best Drawing (1994) and Best Long Comic Strip (1996).

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/f/francq_phillipe.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Francq
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/ychgvoqt
In the IMDb — http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0290717/

(Francq created the cover art on “Largo Winch” #14 - Red-Hot Wrath, Cinebook: May 2014, an English edition)

Dan DeCarlo (12 December 1919 – 18 December 2001, USA) was a comics creator best known as the artist who developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and establishing the publisher's house style.

He is the generally recognized creator of the characters ‘Sabrina, the Teenage Witch’, ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ (with the lead character named for his wife), and ‘Cheryl Blossom’.

Comics creators Dan DeCarlo Jr. (27 January 1948 – October 1990) and Jim DeCarlo (27 January 1948 – August 1991) were his sons and also worked as artists at Archie.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/de-carlo_dan.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_DeCarlo
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/yd3hey29

(DeCarlo and Rudy Lapick created the cover art on “She’s Josie” #1, Archie: February 1963, the first appearance of the character)

Dick Moores (12 December 1909 – 22 April 1986, USA) was a comics creator who worked in syndicated strips and in comic books.

He assisted Chester Gould on ‘Dick Tracy’ in the early 1930s and created his own western feature ‘Jim Hardy’ (1936–1942). He then drew comics for Disney for 14 years, followed by a brief time at Western.

He is best known for his decades of work on ‘Gasoline Alley’, the feature whose characters have famously aged in real time since it began in 1918.

He had shared a studio with the strip’s creator, Frank King, in the 1930s and in 1956 became his assistant on the daily strips. His byline first appeared in 1964 and on King’s death in 1969 he took over completely.

When the artist of the Sunday strip, Bill Perry, retired in 1975, Moores took that on as well. He continued with ‘Gasoline Alley’ until his death, when he was succeeded by his own assistant, Jim Scancarelli.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/moores_d.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Moores
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/y733lqm9

(Moores created the cover art on “Four Color” #208 - Walt Disney's Brer Rabbit Does It Again, Dell: January 1949)

Ned Pines (12 December 1905 – 14 May 1990, USA) was a lifelong publisher — of pulp fiction, of slick newsstand magazines, of comic books, and of mass-market paperback books.

He founded Pines Publications in 1928 and stayed with the company until 1961. In the 1930s, his output included the science-fiction pulp “Thrilling Wonder Stories” and the magazine “College Humor”.

At the end of the decade, he founded Standard Comics (1939–1956), which marketed comics under its own name and as both Better Publications and Nedor Publishing.

The GCD groups all of these comics under the master publisher Pines. Many commentators refer to them as the Standard/Better/Nedor comics.

He founded Paperback Library in 1942 and remained there until 1968. (He was succeeded by James E. Galton, who would later be president of Marvel, 1975–1991.)

Pines had other business interests — he was a director and then Chairman of Eastern Life Insurance for two decades — and was involved in civic and philanthropic work as well.

Since the 1980s, many of the Standard/Better/Nedor characters have been revived at AC Comics.

In the 2000s, some of them appeared in Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics imprint (whose name itself is an homage to a title Pines published).

In 2008, some appeared in a limited series at Dynamite along with characters from Fox and Crestwood.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Pines
In the GCD — https://tinyurl.com/ycmgmqwp

(An unknown artist created the cover art on “Best Comics” #1, Pines: November 1939 — the interior story of the cover character was created by George West and ‘Red Mask’ was the first African-American masked hero)