Born in 1964 in Fontainebleau, Lewis Trondheim had a dull childhood and an uneventful adolescence. When he was 15, he copied his cousin, and went to a technical college. He tried for his first diploma - science and mechanics - but he was so bad at it that they repatriated him to philosophy and literature.
With his philosophy Baccalaureate in the bag, he started out in comics because he fancied telling stories and wanted to try out drawing.
He was curious and wanted to do something a bit unconventional. Around the age of 25, armed with a photocopier, he single-handedly published a fanzine, which lasted for 12 issues. On discovering that minimalist art has its limits, he decided to learn how to draw. And he came up with "Lapinot et les carottes de Patagonie" (L'Association et le lézard, 1992, 2nd ed. L'Association, 1995).
It was in 1990, with five other artists, that he founded the editorial structure "L'Association, " realizing that you can actually make a living in this field.
He left Paris for the South, became a dad and then joined up with publisher Dargaud in 1995 with the fourth volume of the "Formidables aventures de Lapinot" ("The Marvelous Adventures of McConey, " Europe Comics 2018).
He received a prize at Angouleme in 1994 for the album "Slaloms" (L'Association, 1993), and in 1996 he received the Comic Book Totem at the Montreuil Book Fair.
In collaboration with Joann Sfar and other authors, he worked on the heroic-fantasy project "Donjon" (Delcourt) in the late '90s.
From 2000 on, with Dargaud, he also worked on the series "Les Cosmonautes du futur" ("Cosmonauts of the Future, " Europe Comics 2018), in tandem with Manu Larcenet.
Over the years, several TV adaptations have been made of Lewis Trondheim's albums, such as "La Mouche" (Le Seuil, 1995, broadcast on France 3).
In 2004, he became the director of the "Shampooing" series at Delcourt, for which he also ended up producing several albums.
But that didn't stop him from releasing other new series with different publishers. In 2011, he started "Ralph Azham" (Dupuis), quickly followed by "Maggy Garrisson" (Dupuis; Europe Comics 2017), illustrated by Stéphane Oiry. And in 2016, he illustrated and collaborated on the script for "Coquelicots d'Irak" (L'Association; "Poppies of Iraq, " Drawn & Quarterly), part biography and part historical account, acclaimed by readers and critics alike.
He then continued down the path of history in 2018 as co-director of the children's collection "Au fil de l'histoire" (Dupuis; "On the History Trail, " Europe Comics).
Trondheim was made a knight of the order of Arts and Literature in 2005, and the following year received the grand prix at the Angouleme International Comics Festival.
Manu Larcenet was born in 1969. At the age of 10, he launched himself into the world of comic books: he began drawing them every day, and would never look back.
He joined 'Fluide glacial' in 1994, and then everyone was after him - Spirou, Dupuis, Glénat... In 2000, he moved on to Poisson Pilote (Dargaud), first with Trondheim, collaborating on "Les Cosmonautes du futur" ("Cosmonauts of the Future, " Europe Comics, 2016), then with his brother Patrice Larcenet, and "Les Entremondes" (2003-2008). In 2002 came his first a solo work, "Le Temps de Chien." He then went on to create "Nic Oumou" (2005-2007), and the magnificent "Combat Ordinaire" ("Ordinary Victories, " 2003-2008), for which he was awarded the prize for the best series at the Angoulême festival.
Meanwhile, in 2001, he moved to the Lyonnais region. This significant existential turn would yield "Le retour à la terre" ("Back to Basics, " 2002-2008, Dargaud), which was elegantly scripted by his friend Jean-Yves Ferri. From 2008-2014, he dedicated himself to "Blast" (2009-2014, Dargaud; Europe Comics in English): four volumes of complex, somber, tragic action, full to the brim with lavish humanity and fascinating savagery.
In 2010 and 2012, he published twin books, the marvelous "Peu de gens savent" and "Nombreux sont ceux qui ignorent, " with Les Rêveurs, a publishing house which he co-founded in 1997 with his friend Nicolas Lebedel. In 2012, he illustrated the Daniel Pennac novel "Journal d'un corps, " published by Futuropolis-Gallimard. In 2015, he took on his first adaptation: Philippe Claudel's masterpiece "Le Rapport de Brodeck, " with Dargaud.
