Marseilles
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
) is a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
cartoonist
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 ...
.
Early years
His father was inspector for
music royalties
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
organization Sacem who along with his son travelled around the country to collect fees. Vuillemin, between 11 and 15 years old, spent time away from his Marseilles birthplace in
Corsica
Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...
and
Orléans
Orléans (;"Orleans" (US) and Crumb.” At 18 he went to Paris, where he shaved his head and joined a punk rock band, while unloading trucks six hours a day.
Comics
Around 1977, Vuillemin began his work in the field of
comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
with short stories published in '' L'Écho des savanes'', '' Hara-Kiri'', and '' Charlie Mensuel''. From his start, he was drawing in "bold and rough lines", similar to the style of Jean-Marc Reiser or even Jack Davis. This being the opposite of the '' ligne claire'' ("clear line") of cartoonists such as Hergé, critics called it ''ligne crade'' ("filthy line"), a term Vuillemin characterized as ''bêta'' ("stupido").
In the 1980s, he worked for '' L'Hebdo'' of
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, ''Zoulou'' magazine, and other publications.
In 1988, Vuillemin published the comic series ''Hitler = SS'' on a
Jean-Marie Gourio
Jean-Marie Gourio (born 1956) is a French novelist, humorist and screenwriter. He was born in Nérac, Lot-et-Garonne. He won early fame for his column ''Brèves de comptoir'', published in the satirical magazine ''Hara-Kiri''. Compilations of the c ...
scenario. Both artists were subsequently indicted for "complicity in racial injury" and tried at the 17th correctional tribunal of Paris. They were represented by high-profile
criminal lawyer
A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...
Thierry Lévy
Thierry Lévy (13 January 1945 – 30 January 2017) was a high-profile French criminal defence lawyer who spent his career in a state of permanent opposition to the French legal establishment. Admitted to the Paris bar in 1969, he went on to ap ...
who'd previously defended members of terrorist group '' Action directe ''. The two defendants received a symbolic penalty of 1 franc but the work was banned in its serial version, while the integral, album version was prohibited to minors and not allowed to be exhibited anywhere.
In 1995, Vuillemin won the '' Grand Prix of the city of Angoulême'', a decision that angered jury member Belgian cartoonist and '' Lucky Luke'' creator Morris who left the award ceremony in protest.
In 2015, he joined the satirical weekly ''
Charlie Hebdo
''Charlie Hebdo'' (; meaning ''Charlie Weekly'') is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. Stridently non-conformist in tone, the publication has been described as Anti-racism, anti-racist, sceptica ...
''.
Acting
Vuillemin starred in René Féret's 1985 drama '' The Mystery of Alexina''. He also acted in Claude Confortès' ''Paulette, la pauvre petite milliardaire'' (''Paulette, the poor little millionairess''), which featured other cartoonists as well, such as Gébé,
Georges Pichard
Georges Pichard (17 January 1920 – 7 June 2003) was a French comics artist, known for numerous magazine covers, serial publications and albums, stereotypically featuring partially exposed voluptuous women.
Biography
A native of Paris, he was ...
Siné
Maurice Sinet (; 31 December 1928 – 5 May 2016), known professionally as Siné (), was a French political cartoonist. His work is noted for its anti-capitalism, anti-clericalism, anti-colonialism, anti-semitism, and anarchism.
Biography
As a ...