Born in Strasbourg in 1921, Jacques MARTIN discovered comic strips at a very early age through the albums of Buster Brown. It was on the back of these pages that he made his first drawings, most of which depicted aeroplanes (his father was an aviator). This passion for drawing gave rise to an immoderate taste for history. After the war and until 1948, he alternated series with Lamar, l'homme invisible, Œil de Perdrix, Le secret du Calumet, Le Hibou gris, La Cité fantastique... While continuing his contributions to Bravo and Story, Jacques Martin introduced the character of Alix, Alix l'intrépide, in the Journal de Tintin, to appear in the 7 to 77 year-olds' magazine from September 16, 1948.

In 1952, he abandoned Alix in favour of a contemporary story featuring a reporter, Lefranc, in La Grande menace. In 1953, Hergé asked him to work in his studios. Jacques Martin's involvement lasted nineteen years, during which he worked on several Tintin stories, without abandoning Alix and Lefranc. Over the following decades, he created new series: Jhen, Arno, Orion, Kéos and Loïs.

Having built up a team of young illustrators around him, Jacques Martin was keen to get them to continue the series he had created. So there were plenty of projects to come until 21 January 2010, the day on which the author died in Switzerland.