François Boucq (; born 28 November 1955 in

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

), is a French

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. He is most famous for his

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

comics revolving around the main character .

Career

Boucq published cartoons in magazines like ''

Le Point ''Le Point'' () is a French weekly political and news magazine published in Paris. History and profile ''Le Point'' was founded in September 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of '' L'Express'', w ...

'' or ''

L'Expansion ''L'Expansion'' was a French former monthly business magazine based in Paris, France, which existed between 1967 and 2017. History and profile ''L'Expansion'' was founded by Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber and Jean Boissonnat in 1967. In 1994 the m ...

'' at an early age. Soon, he also created comic albums, becoming famous with '' Les pionniers de l'aventure humaine''. Many more have been published in the meantime, including ' (1986) ' (1990) and ' (2014) with American novelist

Jerome Charyn Jerome Charyn (born May 13, 1937) is an American writer. With nearly 50 published works over a 50-year span, Charyn has a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life, writing in multiple ge ...

. Boucq created the successful series '' Face de Lune'' in cooperation with the artist

Alexandro Jodorowsky Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker. Best known for his 1970s films '' El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his wor ...

. 1994 saw the publication of '' Les dents du recoin'', the first album of a series of surreal comics that feature Jérôme Moucherot, a door-to-door insurance salesman with a fountain pen through his nose, who is dressed in a

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

fur suit; his bizarre adventures take place in a world where

Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and int ...

are jungle-dwelling headhunters and sharks swim around in the blue wallpapers of

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

living rooms. Boucq later teamed up with Jodorowsky again, creating the graphic novel series ''

Bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or m ...

'', set in a bleak

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

scenario. In 1998, Boucq was awarded the

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 ...

. In keeping with the festival's tradition, he was the president of the jury in the following year.

Personal life

Apart from his comic book career he is an enthusiast of kendo (Japanese fencing), in which he achieved a 5 Dan master grade.

Selected bibliography

* '' Les pionniers de l'aventure humaine (Pioneers Of The Human Adventure)'' * ' (''The Magician's Wife'') with writer

* '' La pédagogie du trottoir'' * ' (''Billy Budd, KGB'') with writer Jerome Charyn * '' Face de Lune'' with

Alejandro Jodorowsky Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker. Best known for his 1970s films '' El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his wor ...

* ''

Un point c'est tout The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizin ...

'' * '' Les dents du recoin'' * ' with writer Jerome Charyn * ''

'', with

Awards

* 1985:

Prix de la critique The Prix de la critique is a prize awarded by the Association des Critiques et des journalistes de Bande Dessinée to the best comic album released for a year in France. Previously, from 1984 to 2003, it was called ''Prix Bloody Mary'' and awarded ...

at the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (french: Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lu ...

, France * 1986: Best French Comic at the Angoulême International Comics Festival * 1992: nominated for Best German-language Comic/Comic-related Publication at the

Max & Moritz Prizes The Max & Moritz Prize is a prize for comic books, comic strips, and other similar materials which has been awarded at each of the biennial International Comics Shows of Erlangen since 1984. It is open to all material published in Germany. 1984 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

* 1996: nominated for Best Drawing at the

Haxtur Award The Haxtur Award (''Premios Haxtur'') is a Spanish award for comics published in Spain. It is awarded annually at the Salón Internacional del Cómic del Principado de Asturias (International Comics Convention of the Principality of Asturias). It ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

* 1998:

, France * 1999: nominated for Best Short Comic Strip at the Haxtur Awards * 2001: nominated for the Humour Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival * 2002: nominated for the Canal BD Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival * 2003: **nominated for the

Audience Award An audience award is typically an award at a film festival (or some other type of cultural festival or similar competition) which is selected by the audience attending the festival, rather than by the festival jury or a group of critics. Examples ...

at the Angoulême International Comics Festival ** La Plumilla de Plata (The silver inkpen) in Mexico. * 2004: **nominated for the Audience Award and the Series Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival **nominated for Best international series at the

Prix Saint-Michel The Prix Saint-Michel is a series of comic awards presented by the city of Brussels, with a focus on Franco-Belgian comics. They were first awarded in 1971, and although often said to be the oldest European comics awards, they are actually the sec ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

* 2006: **Award for Best Drawing at the Albert Uderzo Awards **nominated for the Audience Award and the Series Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival * 2008: nominated for Best Artwork at the Prix Saint-Michel * 2010: nominated for Best French Language Comic at the Prix Saint-Michel * 2012: Award for Best Artwork at the Prix Saint Michel

Notes

External links

Website of Éditions Casterman, Boucq's publisher

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boucq, Francois 1955 births Living people Artists from Lille French comics artists Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners