Christophe Blain

Blain (2008)

Christophe Blain (born August 10, 1970 in Gennevilliers ) is a French comic book author .

Career

Blain studied fine arts in Cherbourg and began drawing comics during his military service, which Albin Michel publishers first published in 1994. He then worked as an illustrator for various magazines before he started drawing comics again , inspired by David B. , Lewis Trondheim and Joann Sfar . He created several stories with David B. that appeared in Lapin magazine. A collaboration with Trondheim and Sfar began in 1999 for the Donjon series Donjon: Dawn . His most successful series to date, Isaak the Pirate, began in 2001. In the 18th century story, Isaak Sofer, a penniless painter, becomes a pirate when he accepts an assignment that involves a rather involuntary ship crossing to America. The next series Gus is a western comic that tells episodes from the life of the mail robber Gus in a humorous way. With its overdrawing, the comic forms a link between the classics Lucky Luke and Lieutenant Blueberry . His award-winning comic Quai d'Orsay about supposed everyday life in the French Foreign Ministry was filmed by Bertrand Tavernier in 2013 .

Drawing style

Blain draws people and the surroundings in a very minimalist way, surfaces are evenly filled with a few colors, contour lines appear fleeting and unplanned. He exaggerates characteristic features such as noses or crooked legs.

Awards

In 2000 his book Les Ogres (scenario by David B.) was awarded the Prix ​​international de la Ville de Genève pour la bande dessinée . In 2002 he received the Prix ​​du meilleur album for Isaac the Pirate at the Angoulême International Comics Festival and again in 2013 together with Abel Lanzac for the second volume of Quai d'Orsay: Chroniques diplomatiques .

Works (selection)

• The Hop Frog Riot . Tilsner , Bad Tölz 1997, ISBN 978-3-933773-44-9 .
• The two trees . with Elisabeth Brami. Elatus , Kaltenkirchen 1998, ISBN 3-931985-61-X .
• Donjon . 41 albums so far, reprodukt , Berlin 1999.
• Isaac the pirate . 5 albums so far. Reprodukt, Berlin 2001.
• Gus , so far 3 albums, reprodukt, Berlin 2007
• The transmission . Reprodukt, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938511-84-8 .
• Socrates the half-dog . so far 3 volumes. Reprodukt, Berlin 2011
• Quai d'Orsay - Behind the scenes of power . Reprodukt, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-943143-34-8 .
• In the kitchen with Alain Passard . Reprodukt, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-943143-74-4

Web links

Commons : Christophe Blain  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Christophe Blain in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} "Comic creator: Christophe Blain (biography)" ( English ) lambiek.net. November 23, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
2. ↑ reviews to Gus at splash comic.
3. ↑ [1]
4. ↑ List of winners