François Dermaut

François Dermaut, born 9 November 1949 in France, was a comic book artist best known for the historical series *Les Chemins de Malefosse*. He passed away on 19 March 2020. Dermaut entered comics through a passion for drawing and historical storytelling, eventually collaborating with writer Daniel Bardet on *Malefosse*, a gritty saga set during the French Wars of Religion. His detailed, atmospheric linework and somber palette brought the brutal 16th-century world to life, earning him a dedicated readership. Over his career, he worked as artist, colorist, inker, and writer on 28 issues, with *Malefosse* and its various translations—including *Malefosse der Söldner* and *De Wegen van Malefosse*—forming the core of his legacy. His style, rooted in clear ligne claire but shaded with a darker realism, influenced later historical comics. Dermaut’s contributions to the Franco-Belgian bande dessinée tradition remain respected, though he never sought widespread fame. He received no major awards widely recorded, but his consistent work on a single, acclaimed series secured his place among dedicated genre craftsmen.