Midam
Encyclopedia
Midam is the pseudonym of Michel Ledent, the Belgian comics author best known for Kid Paddle
Kid Paddle
Kid Paddle is a Belgian, French and Canadian co-produced animated series. It aired on Teletoon, Sundays at 4:00 am, EST, but is currently on an indefinite hiatus...

.

Biography

Michel Ledent was born in Etterbeek
Etterbeek
Etterbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It neighbours the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek....

 near Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 in 1963. He studied illustration and interior decoration at the Institut Saint-Luc
Institut Saint-Luc
The Institut Saint-Luc is an arts school in Brussels. It consists of six departments, with a total of 2200 students and some 430 employees, divided over five locations in Ixelles and Saint-Gilles.-History:...

 in Brussels, and started creating comics in 1989 for the computer magazine Micro-Systèmes. Under the pseudonym Midam, he joined the comics magazine Spirou
Spirou (magazine)
Spirou magazine is a weekly Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company...

in 1992 as an illustrator for the videogames section.

The character he created there, Kid Paddle
Kid Paddle
Kid Paddle is a Belgian, French and Canadian co-produced animated series. It aired on Teletoon, Sundays at 4:00 am, EST, but is currently on an indefinite hiatus...

, soon got its own series, which became very popular, with over 4 million copies sold in French. New albums sell some 400,000 copies in French alone, making it one of the top ten best-selling French language comics series. In 2002, a separate Kid Paddle
Kid Paddle
Kid Paddle is a Belgian, French and Canadian co-produced animated series. It aired on Teletoon, Sundays at 4:00 am, EST, but is currently on an indefinite hiatus...

magazine was launched, and an animated TV series was created as well, with so far 104 episodes. The spin-off series Game Over was created in 2004, presenting the misadventures of the main character of the video games Kid Paddle is fond of playing in his own albums. The comic is wordless and is according to Midam inspired by the everfailing quests of Wile E. Coyote. The first album sold 60,000 copies.

Other series by Midam were Le Gowap, which was continued by Curd Ridel, and Durant les Travaux, l'Exposition Continue with Clarke.

Midam is married to Chilean Araceli Cancino, who translates his works into Spanish.

Awards

  • 2002: Nominated for the Youth Prize
    Angoulême International Comics Festival Prix Jeunesse 9-12 ans
    The Prix Jeunesse 9-12 ans is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. It rewards the best album for a 9 to 12 years old targeted public.The award started in 1981 as the "Alfred enfant", without the distinction in age groups....

     at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
    Angoulême International Comics Festival
    The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...

     for Kid Paddle
  • 2005: Youth Prize at the Prix Saint-Michel
    Prix Saint-Michel
    The Prix Saint-Michel is a series of comic awards presented by the city of Brussels, with a focus on Franco-Belgian comics. They were first awarded in 1971, and are the second oldest comics award in Europe still presented, behind the Adamson Awards...

     for Game Over
  • 2006: Prix Canal J for the best youth comic for Kid Paddle
Nominated for the Youth Prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival for Kid Paddle
Nominated for the Youth Prize at the Prix Saint-Michel for Kid Paddle
  • 2009: Nominated for the Prix Canal J for Kid Paddle

External links

  • Midam homepage
  • Biography at Lambiek
    Lambiek
    Lambiek is a comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded in 1968 by Kees Kousemaker .It has held exhibitions of art by comic creators, including Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Erik Kriek, André Franquin, Tanino Liberatore and Chris Ware...

     Comiclopedia
  • Biography at publisher Dupuis
    Dupuis
    Éditions Dupuis S.A. is a Belgian publisher of comic books and magazines.Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French language publisher, but publishes many editions both in French...

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