Paul Ordner

• Born 1900-12-29 · Died 1969-10-15

Ordner entered the French military service in 1916 and after World War I worked at the Paris Stock Exchange as a foreign exchange clerk thanks to his brother Raymond’s connections. His first drawings were advertising for Spidolein Engine Oil which appeared in the “L'Illustration” magazine 1923. After bad deals in the stock market, he decided to try a cartoonist’s career. Again with the help of his brother’s connections, he had cartoons published in various newspapers such as l'Intransigeant, Le Matin, Le Rire, and Le Petit Parisien. In 1931, Ordner began producing posters and programs for the "Vel d'Hiv', a velodrome. He also created cartoons in newspapers satirizing the Nazis up to the beginning of World War II and because of this activity, he fled Paris in November, 1942 when the Germans entered Paris. For the duration of the war he hid in a small village in the Alps, assisting the local resistance. After the war, Ordner tried out a comic strip for Editions de l'Essor and Lajeunesse de petits BD. But it was not successful. After 1947, sporting events begin again across Europe and he returned to the genre, landing a collaboration with the magazine Le Chasseur Frçais, where he remained for fifteen years. While working there, he also had an almost weekly presence in the sports newspaper The Mirror of Sports, creating more than 250 portraits of athletes. Beginning in 1957, he also produced covers for comics including The Intrepid, [Aventures BOUM](app://series/156194), [Old Bridger](app://series/156402), [Joé Texas](app://series/156356), [Hurrah !](app://series/102785), and [Tom Nickson](app://series/156476), all published by Editions Mondiales in France. This period coincides with the loss of work in the sports field, as photography takes over for illustrations after 1960.