RIP Rodolphe

 

Rodolphe, screenwriter of Kenya and Trent, has died at the age of 7 

Glénat informs us of the death of Rodolphe, a major figure in the comic book script, who died on September 22, 2026 at the age of 78. In a half-century of career and more than 200 albums, he has multiplied universes and collaborations, from Trent to Kenya, via Cliff Burton, Commissaire Raffini or Robert Sax.

Actua Litte

By Hocine Bouhadjera

9/23/2026

 

Born in 1948, Rodolphe had first been a literature teacher, then a bookseller and journalist before turning to screenwriting. His meeting with Jacques Lob in 1975 was decisive: he entered the world of comics and began a career that would span more than fifty years.

Nourished by Anglo-Saxon literature, fantasy, Celtic legends and rock'n'roll, the screenwriter develops a universe where adventure, mystery, science fiction and emotion intersect. Over the decades, he collaborated with many great names in the ninth art, including Leo, Griffo, André Juillard, Jacques Ferrandez, Annie Goetzinger and Michel Faure.

An important part of his work was built at Dargaud. With Leo, he signed Trent, then Kenya, whose universe was extended by Namibia, Amazonia and Scotland. It was also with Dargaud that he published the detective series Cliff Burton, created with Frederik Garcia and then continued with drawings by Michel Durand.

In 1980, with Jacques Ferrandez, he launched Les Enquêtes du commissaire Raffini, the first albums of which were published by Humanoïdes Associés. Several decades later, with Louis Alloing, he created Robert Sax, published by Delcourt, another police series set in Belgium in the 1950s.

At Glénat, his career also spans several decades. He is notably responsible for The Locks of Heaven, with Michel Rouge and François Allot, The Taï-Dor Cycle, Dock 21 - The Abyss of Time, The Mad Baron, alongside Michel Faure, and the adaptation of The Oracle Della Luna, with Frédéric Lenoir and Griffo.

His published work in the Glénat catalogue also includes Mojo, The One Who No Longer Existed, Dickens & Dickens and Memphis, starring Bertrand Marchal. More recently, Rodolphe had signed Chagrin, with Griffo on the drawing, published in March 2026.

Glénat salutes "an erudite, generous and passionate author", whose "infectious enthusiasm has profoundly marked the world of comics". The house sends its "most sincere condolences to his family, loved ones, friends and the entire community of the ninth art".

Rodolphe (Rodolphe Daniel Jacquette)

Born: 5/18/1948, Bois-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Died: 9/22/2026. Colombes, Paris, Île-de-France, France

 

Rodolphe’s westerns – comic book writer:

Trent – 1991-2000

Comanche – 2003