The second book in the Fantômas series by the prolific authors Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre Fantômas broke the mold of the Gentlemen burglars like Raffles and Arsene Lupin. He killed without compunction. His anarchic ruthlessness, especially as portrayed by silent film pioneer Louis Feuillade, made Fantômas the darling of the French avante garde, such as the artist René Magritte and novelist Robert Desnos.