“The prince of nonsense”: the designer Edika, figure of the magazine “Fluide Glacial”, is dead

The comic strip artist Edika, real name Édouard Karali, master of absurd humor and pillar of “Fluide Glacial”, died Tuesday at the age of 84, the magazine told AFP. “Fluide Glacial mourns the disappearance of one of its flagship authors and a major figure in the world of comics, but the editorial staff is above all devastated by the loss of a friend,” wrote the newspaper in a press release, after the announcement of the death in Libération.

Born on December 17, 1940 in Egypt, Edouard Karali left the country with his family for Lebanon at the age of 19. First a model maker, he then became an advertising illustrator before joining his brother Paul Karali, alias Carali, in France, also a comic book artist, in 1976. He then collaborated with Pilote, Charlie Mensuel and Psikopat, the newspaper founded by his brother, then joined Fluide Glacial in 1979, requested by its founders, Gotlib and Jacques Diament.

“Very reserved, almost shy, except in front of his sheet of paper”, Edika mainly features an improbable family: Bronsky Proko, the father, his wife Olga, Paganini, the son, George, the daughter, and of course the cat Clark Gaybeul, his emblematic character.

“For the editorial staff and for all its readers, he was, and will remain, the Prince of nonsense and absurd humor,” underlines Fluide Glacial, who celebrated his 50th birthday in 2025: “The champion of emblematic covers, the master of narrative acrobatics, the king of non-fall.”