Michael Jensen

Michael Jensen blev født i 1960. 1977-78 tilbragte han i USA, bl.a. med at studere Remington og Russells westernmalerier. Derefter studerede han videre i Danmark, aftjente sin værnepligt som garderhusar 1980-81 og arbejdede så i 3 år på Krogerup Højskole.
Samtidig var han begyndt at tegne tegneserier, og i 1984 udkom - med Bo Bjørnvig som manuskriptkonsulent - første del af albumserien Lykkeridderne. Den fortæller i bedste Dumas-stil og på grundlag af grundig historisk research om tre danske bønderkarle, der bliver lejesoldater i Tyskland under 30-årskrigen først i 1600-tallet.
Efter de 3 album, I fjendens sold, I Wallensteins lejr og Møde ved Breitenfeld, bragte udgiveren, forlaget Carlsen, serien til en forhåbentlig midlertidig afslutning i 1987 - midt i et episk forløb med masser af løse tråde.
Michael Jensens streg virker i denne serie ikke umiddelbart tillokkende, men ved nærmere bekendtskab viser den sig at formidle både menneskeskæbner og historiske tableauer flot, så man som læser ikke undgår at blive engageret.
I 1986 blev Michael Jensen medlem af tegnestuefællesskabet Gimle i København. Her tegnede han samme år bl.a. Mordet i Finnerup Lade til Viborg Stiftsmuseum. I 1987 medvirkede han ved forlaget Bogfabrikkens tegneserie-antologi København med en historie om den danske konge, Chr.IV.
Da Lykkeridderne stoppede begyndte han at farvelægge for kollegerne på tegnestuen. Bl.a. har han farvelagt Niels Rolands serie Gunnar og Frank Madsens Kurt Dunder i Afrika og Kurt Dunder i Tyrol.
I 1991 udkom Michael Jensens indtil videre bedst tegnede, mest stilsikre solo-album, Bruderov i Böhmen - en herlig, uforpligtende og underholdende røverhistorie og forvekslingskomedie. Den foregår ligesom Lykkeridderne i starten af 1600-tallet og henlægger sin handling til egnen omkring Prag.
Efter afslutningen af Danmark besat udkom i 1995 tillægsbindet Danmark befriet med titlen Svanesang. Også den var skrevet af Morten Hesseldahl og tegnet af Niels Roland. Derimod var Henrik Rehr som farvelægger erstattet af Michael Jensen, som udførte arbejdet på fremragende vis.
Samarbejdet med Roland og Hesseldahl fortsatte på albumserien Kold krig.
I 1998 udgav Bogfabrikken Michael Jensens Dovenlars, en fri tegneseriegendigtning af det danske folkeeventyr.

Michael Jensen was born in 1960. He spent 1977-78 in the USA, where he studied the western paintings of Remington and Russell. After that he continued his studies in Denmark, performed his military service as a Royal Cavalryman in 1980-81, and then worked for three years at Krogerup College.
He had also begun to draw comics, and in 1984 the first part of the album series Lykkeridderne (The Soldiers of Fortune) appeared, with Bo Bjørnvig as the manuscript consultant. In the style of Dumas and based on extensive historical research, it tells the story of three Danish peasants who become mercenaries in Germany during the Thirty-Year War in the 1600’s.
After the three albums I fjendens sold In the Pay of the Enemy), I Wallensteins lejr (In Wallenstein’s Camp) and Møde ved Breitenfeld (Meeting at Breitenfeld), the publishers of the series, Carlsen, brought it to a close in 1987. Hopefully, that closing is only temporary, as the series ended in the middle of an epic sequence of events, with lots of loose ends.
Michael Jensen’s style seems unattractive at first, but on closer aquaintance it proves to make a fine presentation of human destinies and historical tableaux, so that the reader does not fail to become engaged.
In 1986 Michael Jensen became a member of the Gimle studio collective in Copenhagen. Working there, he drew Mordet i Finnerup Lade (The Murder in Finnerup Barn) for Viborg Diocese Museum that same year. In 1987 he contributed to the Bogfabrikken publishers’ comics anthology København (Copenhagen) with a story about the Danish King Christian the Fourth.
When Lykkeridderne stopped, he began to do coloring for his colleagues at Gimle. He did the coloring for Niels Roland’s series Gunnar and Frank Madsen’s Kurt Dunder i Afrika (Kurt Dunder in Africa).
In 1991 Michael Jensen’s until now best-drawn and most polished solo album appeared, Bruderov i Böhmen (The Kidnapped Bride of Bohemia). It is a delightful and entertaining story of robbers and mistaken identity. Like Lykkeridderne, it takes place in the beginning of the 1600’s, but the action is set in the vicinity of Prague.
After the finish of Danmark besat (Denmark Occupied), the extra volumeDanmark befriet (Denmark Liberated) appeared in 1995, with the title Svanesang (Swan Song). They were both written by Morten Hesseldahl and drawn by Niels Roland. But the colorist of Danmark besat, Henrik Rehr, was replaced by Michael Jensen, who did an outstanding job.
After that the co-work with Roland and Hesseldahl contunied with the albumtitle Kold krig (Cold War). In 1998 Michael Jensen's comicsversion of the old Danish folk tale Dovenlars was published.