Lena

André Juillard developed a passion for comic books as a child, when he'd devour the weekly "Tintin" magazine. Without even realizing it, he became a specialist in the "ligne claire" style through his reading of Hergé, Jacobs, and Bob De Moor at the height of their talent. When he graduated from high school, he began to study the decorative arts in Paris, and soon met Martin Veyron and Jean-Claude Denis. Educated amateurs were, at the time, the great hope of the comics scene, and Juillard soon began to make an impact. In 1982 he paired with Patrick Cothias for "Sept Vies de l'Épervier," an instant classic. Juillard created a whole new movement of historical graphics novels comic books, and in 1995 his achievements were recognized when his "Cahier Bleu" won him the prize for best album at the Angouleme Comics Festival. And the year after, he received the festival's Grand Prix. Then in 2000 he reached another milestone, when he was asked to take the artistic reins of "Blake & Mortimer," alongside scriptwriter Yves Sente. In 2003 and 2004 the pair followed with two more volumes, and they have continued their collaboration in the years since, including the 2016 "The Testament of William S." (Cinebook in English). Aside from his contribution to the "Blake & Mortimer" series, he's also worked with numerous well-known writers such as Pierre Christin on "Léna" (Dargaud/Europe Comics), and Yann on the historical war dramas "Mezek" (Le Lombard/Europe Comics) and "Double 7" (Dargaud/Europe Comics).

Pierre Christin was born in suburban Paris in 1938, and studied at both the Sorbonne and Sciences Po in Paris. Alongside his jazz music and his first jobs in journalism, he set off to America's West Coast in the '60s, where he discovered the joys of life on a ranch and the open highway, as well as sci-fi, crime fiction, and the richness of African-American music. In 1967, he and Jean-Claude Mézières released the first of many "Valerian" adventures. From 1970 to 1980, with "Pilote" magazine, he wrote for various aritists, including Tardi and Boucq—totaling nearly 60 comics—dealing with all kinds of themes, adapting his style to each collaborator. He always kept his optimistic, even utopian, side for his old friend Mézières, whose narrative clarity and humor he always enjoyed working with. Christin tended to save his more serious subjects for Enki Bilal, producing such classics as "Les Phalanges de l'Ordre Noir" and "Partie de chasse." Yet his range was greater still, and he explored other themes with Annie Goetzinger, crafting detailed and intimate portraits of women in "La Demoiselle de la Légion d'Honneur" (1980), "Paquebot" (1999), "La Sultane Blanche" (1996 Dargaud; "The White Sultana," 2016 Europe Comics), and "Hardy Agency" (Dargaud, Europe Comics in English). Christin is also a seasoned traveler, completing a world tour between 1992 and 1999, an experience he writes about in "L'homme qui fait le tour du Monde," with Philippe Aymond. The two would later pair up again for "Est-Ouest" (Dupuis; "East-West," Europe Comics), which chronicles his time in the US and in Cold War-era Europe, behind the Iron Curtain. His travels in Eastern Europe also provided the spark for the three-part series "Lena" (Dargaud, Europe Comics), alongside André Juillard.