Marsupilami: The Beast - Part 1

Frank was born in 1956 in Brussels. He studied the art of sculpture for three years at the Saint-Luc Institute in the Belgian capital, and published his first work in "Spirou" magazine in 1973, before starting in on an exotic adventure story called "Comme un animal en cage," with a script by Terence (Thierry Martens). He then created the character of "Broussaille" (Dupuis), who quickly became a comic book hero, starring in poetic and philosophical adventure stories such as "Les Baleines publiques" and "Les Sculpteurs de lumière." The series won a dozen awards, and in 1992 a whole set of school books was created for secondary education pupils in France featuring Broussaille, to liven up the natural sciences, literature, and arts classes. Between 1981 and 1986 Frank developed the character of "L'Elan" in mini-cartoons, and in 1989, teaming up with Franquin, Hausman, and Cabanes, he created and illustrated a book dedicated to cats, "Entre Chats" (Delcourt). In 1993 he began work on the "Matu" series for the Japanese publishing company Kodansha. Hired as a freelance artist by Warner Bros., he also developed characters for the animated film "Excalibur." Passionate about nature and painting, Frank composed the "Zoo" trilogy for the prestigious Aire Libre collection (Dupuis), together with scriptwriter Philippe Bonifay, which began in 1994 and was completed in 2007. His most recent work includes a fresh take on the classic "Marsupilami" series with the two-part graphic novel "The Beast," created alongside scriptwriter Zidrou (Dupuis/Europe Comics).

Zidrou (Benoît Drousie) was born in 1962 in Brussels. Starting out as a teacher, he began writing books and songs for children in the early '90s. In 1991, he met the illustrator Godi with whom he created "L'Elève Ducobu" (Le Lombard; "Ducoboo," Cinebook). And thus his career as a comics writer began! He created numerous series for children and teenagers, from "Crannibales" to "Tamara" and "Sac à Puces," all with Dupuis, as well as "Scott Zombi," published by Casterman. Zidrou also took over the series "La Ribambelle" (Dargaud). With Dargaud as well, he is the author of the more realistic but no less sensitive "La Peau de l'ours" ("Bearskin," Europe Comics), "Le Client" ("The Client," Europe Comics), "Lydie" (Europe Comics in English), "Les Folies Bergère" (Europe Comics in English), "La Mondaine" ("Vice Squad," Europe Comics), and "Les 3 Fruits." In 2015, Zidrou was back in fine form with three new titles published by Dargaud, across multiple genres: "Bouffon," with Francis Porcel; a new family series called "Les Beaux Étés," with Jordi Lafebre ("Glorious Summers," Europe Comics); and, in collaboration with Philippe Berthet, a thriller set in the deepest and darkest regions of Australia, "Le Crime qui est le tien" ("A Hell of an Innocent," Europe Comics). More recently, he has also completed the "African Trilogy" with artist Raphaël Beuchot (Le Lombard/Europe Comics), including "Le Montreur d'histoires" ("Once Upon a Time in Africa"), "Tourne-disque" ("Record Player") and "Un tout petit bout d'elles" ("A Little Piece of Her"), as well as rebooting the classic thriller series "Ric Hochet" alongside artist Simon Van Liemt (Le Lombard; Europe Comics in English). In 2017, he embarked on yet another new series with José Homs, the fantastic adventure saga "Shi" (Dargaud; Europe Comics in English) stretching across two centuries in England, and his bibliography grew further with the publication of the wonderfully surreal "Natures mortes" (Dargaud; "The Muse," Europe Comics). One of the most prolific comics scriptwriters of our time, his work continues to surprise and delight with each new creation.