Hermann 1938-2026

Goodbye, old Master

Mar 28, 2026

Hello from Castrum Lusitania, my fortress in northern Portugal. Welcome to another edition of our weekly newsletter.

This was a sad week: the great Hermann Huppen has left us. Even at 88, it seemed like he couldn’t be stopped, producing books regularly until the very end. In fact, he still managed to wrap on final album before the end - a true testament to his energy and love for stories.

More on the great master below. A bit of news first:

Exhibition in Bordeaux

My work from The Sacrificers is going to be exhibited at Ludovic Monnier’s gallery in Bordeaux, France, from April 2nd to April 30th. It will feature my works on issues 10, 11 and 13 (my first run on the book) and it will be for sale: the first time any of my sequential art will be officially offered like that.

A subsequent exhibition, featuring issues 18-20 (from my second run) will happen later in the year, to coincide with the launch of the third volume in France.

You can check Ludovic’s Achetez de l’Art website for more information. I’ll return to the topic in the following weeks as well.

Hermann

I met Hermann in 2017, at the Portuguese Comic Con. I had not been officially invited to that year’s edition, but upon hearing that he was going to be there, I made use of my contacts to get on the list.

Not only did they say yes, but they asked me if I wanted to moderate a conversation with Hermann himself. Pretending to not be mind-blown with the chance of a one on one with one of my favorite artists to ever walk this earth, I immediately said yes.

For a shy guy like me, it was the perfect excuse to talk to him. They say you should never meet your heroes, but I’ve met a few and they all surpassed my expectations. Hermann was no exception. He was kind, accommodating and extremely funny both in private conversation and on stage.

In the end, he gave me a piece of advice I still quote to this day: “Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself very seriously.”

Rick Remender and I share references of his work all the time, particularly in regards to Project Red. Hermann was a superior storyteller, with complete mastery of narrative, composition, perspective, anatomy and tone. He was particularly good at illustrating weather elements, creating atmospheric scenes that will grab you and remain imprinted in your brain forever.

The body of work he leaves is unmatched and I’ll recommend it to anyone. My personal favorite is Le Tours de Bois Maury, his most well known is Jeremiah. You won’t be disappointed by either or anything else he ever touched. You can go as far as his old series Comanche or go for one of his last books, Brigantus. You’ll always find impeccable storytelling and characters.

Kids: meet your heroes.

Long live Hermann.