Thierry "Ted" Benoit (25 July 1947 – 30 September 2016) was a French comic artist, graphic novelist and prominent figure in the stylish Franco-Belgian ligne claire comics scene in the 1980s. His influences included Edgar P. Jacobs, Moebius, Robert Crumb and to a lesser extend Jacques Tardi.Among his works from the 1980s are Bingo Bongo et son Combo Congolais, a series about aspiring novelist Bingo B. Bongo and his travails; and Ray Banana, a film noir pastiche. Some of these were published in English in Heavy Metal. Benoit illustrated two books in the Blake and Mortimer series, both written by Jean Van Hamme: The Francis Blake Affair, 1996; and The Strange Encounter, 2001. Benoit died on 30 September 2016 at the age of 69. Source: Wikipedia (en)