Miss October: Playmates, 1961

Stephen Desberg was born in Brussels in 1954 and started out as a comic book author in 1976, writing short stories for Tintin magazine (Le Lombard). A follower of Maurice Tillieux, the creator of "Gil Jourdan," in 1980 Desberg began working for the weekly Spirou magazine (Dupuis), taking over the "Tif and Tondu" adventure series, illustrated by Will. He then successively created the characters 421, Billy the Cat, Mic Mac Adam and Jimmy Tousseul, before gradually moving to a more adult readership, publishing two albums in the Aire Libre collection by Dupuis, alongside Will: "Le Jardin des désirs" (1989) and "La Vingt-Septième Lettre" (1990). An original and versatile writer, Desberg goes from one genre to another with ease and inventiveness. In 1996 he tackled the topic of racism with illustrator Bernard Vrancken in "Le sang noir," a romantic saga in four albums published by Le Lombard. As an American citizen, Desberg has also explored many themes linked with his other home country, as evidenced by the long-running financial thriller "IR$" with Le Lombard, also illustrated by Vrancken. America serves as a backdrop in his other albums as well, such as "L'étoile du désert" (1996, Dargaud, 2016 Europe Comics, "Desert Star"), a twilight western created with Enrico Marini. Desberg is also passionate about religious themes, having collaborated with Enrico Marini on riddles of Christian origins in "The Scorpion" (2000-2014, Dargaud, Cinebook in English), a saga bursting with flamboyant heroes with capes and swords in eighteenth-century Rome. A writer as prolific as any out there, Desberg has authored many other series over the years, including "Cassio" (2007; Europe Comics in English 2018), "Miss October" (2012; Europe Comics in English 2018), "Sherman" (2011; Europe Comics in English), and "Golden Dogs" (2014; Europe Comics in English 2016), all with Le Lombard. Along the way, he also continued work on the saga "Black Op" (2005 Dargaud, 2015 Europe Comics), a series illustrated by his friend Hugues Labiano. His recent work includes the espionage series "Jack Wolfgang" (2017, Le Lombard, Europe Comics in English), together with Henri Reculé, centered on a whip-smart wolf who is both world-famous food critic, and secret agent for the CIA.

Alain Queireix has been a devoted reader of comic books since the very beginning, a fan of such authors as William Vance and Gérald Forton, and he decided as early as his teenage years that he wanted to become a comics artist. When he lost his father at a young age, however, his life took a turn, and he went to work for a few years as a salesperson. He never forgot his dream, however, and completed in parallel several books that went unpublished. With every page, his style evolved and his technique improved, until he finally reached the high bar he had set for himself, with clear, fluid drawings, classical but full of feeling and emotion, ready to bring to vivid life the heroes — and especially heroines — of his pages. This talent soon led to a successful collaboration with writer Erik Arnoux, resulting in the publication of "Ava Dream" with Le Lombard in 2008. Queireix then went on to illustrate two volumes of the "I.R.$. All Watcher" series (Le Lombard) before joining up with writer Stephen Desberg to create the thriller series "Miss October" (Le Lombard, Europe Comics in English), yet another sign of his ever-growing mastery of his chosen field.