Blutch, pen name of Christian Hincker (born 27 December 1967 in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

) is a French comic book author. He is considered one of the main authors of French comics since the early 1990s.

Biography

After studying at the École supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg, Blutch was discovered through a competition organized by the monthly magazine ''

Fluide Glacial ''Fluide Glacial'' () is a monthly Franco-Belgian comics magazine and a publishing house founded on 1 April 1975 by Gotlib, Alexis (comics), Alexis and . It's one of the most successful comics magazine in France, along with Métal Hurlant. Since ...

''. He got his nickname from a classmate for his physical resemblance to Corporal Blutch, one of the characters of the comic series ''

Les Tuniques Bleues ''Les Tuniques Bleues'' (Dutch: De Blauwbloezen) is a Belgian series of ''bandes dessinées'' (comic books in the Franco-Belgian tradition), first published in '' Spirou'' magazine and later collected in albums by Dupuis."Best of Belgium's Cart ...

''. His first strips appeared in Fluide Glacial between 1988 and 1993 (Pecos Jim, Waldo's Bar, Mademoiselle Sunnymoon). From 1993 he was part of the circle of cartoonists working for the independent comic book publisher

L’Association L'Association is a French publishing house located in Paris which publishes comic books. It was founded in May 1990 by Jean-Christophe Menu, Lewis Trondheim, David B., Mattt Konture, Patrice Killoffer, Stanislas, and Mokeït. L'Association ...

. In 1996 he joined

A Suivre A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

magazine, where he designed the historical ''Péplum'' series. ''Rancho Bravo'' (with Jean-Louis Capron) and ''Blotch'' (two issues), a satirical portrait of Fluide Glacial magazine and its illustrators, appeared in the late 1990s. He underlined his versatility with the two-volume autobiography about his childhood in ''Le petit Christian'' (1998/2008) or with the comic novels ''Vitesse Moderne'' (2002) and ''La Volupté'' (2006). In 2002, Blutch received the Prix international de la Ville de Genève pour la bande dessinée for Vitesse Moderne, and in 2009 the Grand Prix de la Ville d’Angoulême: that made Blutch president of the Angoulême comic festival in 2010.

Awards

* 2000 : Alph-Art humour at the festival d'Angoulême for ''Blotch''. * 2000 : Prix Jacques-Lob . * 2002 : Prix Töpffer international for ''Vitesse Moderne''.. * 2009 :

grand prix de la ville d'Angoulême The Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême is a lifetime achievement award given annually during the Angoulême International Comics Festival to a comics author. Although not a monetary award, it is considered the most prestigious award in Franco-Be ...

. * 2009 : « Essentiel » d'Angoulême forn ''Le Petit Christian'' tome 2. * 2017 : prix Wolinksi de la BD du Point for ''Variations''.. * 2019 : Keys to the City of

Selected publications

*1996-1999- ''Mitchum'' *1997 - ''Peplum'' (first serialized in ''A Suivre'' magazine) *2000 - ''Blotch'' (first serialized in Fluide Glacial) *2002 - ''Vitesse Moderne'' (Modern Speed) *2004 - ''Total Jazz'' *2006 - ''La Volupté''

References

External links

Blutch profile on Lambiek ComiclopediaBlutch profile
on

Europe Comics Europe Comics is a pan-European comics and graphic novel digital venture run by 13 European comics publishers from eight European countries. The project received funding in 2015 from the European Commission's Creative Europe Programme, and launche ...

Blutch interviewed
by

Paul Gravett Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer, and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing since 1981. He is the founder of ''Escape Magazine'', and for many years wrote a monthly article on comics appearing in the UK magaz ...

, April 2016
Blutch interviewed
by

Craig Thompson Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books '' Good-bye, Chunky Rice'' (1999), '' Blankets'' (2003), '' Carnet de Voyage'' (2004), '' Habibi'' (2011), and '' Space Dumplins'' (2015). T ...

interviews Blutch. ''

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twice won ...

'', 19 April 2013 {{Authority control (arts) Living people 1967 births Writers from Strasbourg 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Charlie Hebdo people French comics writers French cartoonists