Although Coria (1948) developed a passion for comics as a young boy, his start of a professional career in this field was sheer coincidence. When his sister married William Vance, a Belgian comics illustrator, Coria was introduced into the world of comics, while also following a correspondence course in comics. At first, he assisted his brother-in-law on backgrounds, until the two of them created ‘Mongwy’ for Femmes d’Aujourd’hui with scriptwriter Lucien Meys. In 1976, Coria had his work published in Tintin. Three years later, he took over ‘Bob Morane’ from William Vance, who wanted to pursue animation, and started a long and productive collaboration with the series’ scriptwriter Henri Vernes.

Félicísimo Coria: “Les Vikings/ The Vikings” #16, 1973