I often cite Bob Morane as a major inspiration behind Yann Vatel and the Ascalon Circle series. You may remember I did a short post about it a while ago, and I also talked about it in my guest post for Susan Shiney’s blog. Indeed, I’d go as far as to say that my Ascalon series would not exist without Bob Morane.

Today we heard the sad news that Charles-Henri Dewisme, a.k.a. Henri Vernes passed away at the not too shabby age of 102.

He leaves us literally hundreds of wonderful (if slightly dated) adventures starring Commander Robert Morane, Bill Ballantine and Professor Clairembart, going against the maleficent Mister Ming and countless other enemies, from Borneo to Kenya to the jungles of South America… Flights and chases all over the world, a James Bond with a French touch, and a great deal of affection and gratefulness for this world he gifted us.

Au revoir, Monsieur Henri, et merci.