FRENCH COMICS FRAMED FESTIVAL

NEW YORK CITY SEPT. 27 – NOV. 5, 2016 Illustration © Christophe Blain 2016 FRENCH COMICS FRAMED

In 1889, Richard Felton Outcault, creator of the legendary Yellow Kid, moved to Paris to study art. He came back to the US with a brand new outfit: a beret and a cape. In Manhattan 1952, Morris met René Goscinny: thus Lucky Luke found his new writer, who would also go on to create Asterix and many more iconic heroes. Comics and bande dessinée have always been entwined, keeping up a constant communication across the ocean. Although comics artists may share their work and keep track of each other’s production, these exchanges might not be quite so accessible to the general public. Well, we’d like to make them available to everyone. After all, stars such as The Smurfs, Tintin, Blacksad and Persepolis were born and raised in Europe before conquering the US.

FRENCH COMICS FRAMED festival displays in English the wonderful diversity of the Francophone bande dessinée. From much-loved icons to sophisticated graphic novels; from masters of sci-fi to sociopolitical documentaries. With a stunning exhibition, engaging talks, and encounters with some of the best Francophone artists at the New York Comic Con, get ready for an amazing journey through French creation and discover the art of comics à la Française.

Philippe Ostermann President of the French Comics Association FRENCH COMICS FRAMED EXHIBITION

SEPT. 27 – NOV. 5, 2016

THE COOPER UNION, FOUNDATION BUILDING 7 EAST 7 TH ST., NY 10003

This exhibit presents a wide selection of Franco-Belgian works. Staged under the beautiful arcades of the iconic Foundation Building of The Cooper Union, renowned for its programs in arts and architecture, it offers a journey through the formal and thematic evolutions of comics published from Paris to Brussels over the past 70 years. Most of these works have attracted U.S. publishers’ attention and have been translated into English. Entitled French Comics Framed and divided into three sections, the exhibition aims to expose the varied architectures that structure the design and narrative of the comics form. The exhibit includes works for all audiences, from science fiction and fantasy to works of intimate realism.

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1 | WINDOWS ON THE WORLD The Fourth Avenue Colonnade windows allow the viewers to gaze in from the outside, on images that range from the infinite grandeur of the universe to the intimacy of the mind of a single character. Meet famous characters from classics such as Asterix to bestselling series including Blacksad and Lastman, and dive into stunning pictures of iconic cities and imaginary worlds (such as The Obscure Cities by Schuiten & Peeters or Alex Alice’s works).

2 | FROM THE COMIC STRIP TO THE GRAPHIC NOVEL FRAME The comic is above all characterized by the physical architecture of its form, from the frame to the strip and the page. This section of the exhibit presents a selection of works by innovative artists known for their willingness to reject these codes of conventional comics, including Lewis Trondheim, Benjamin Renner, Victor Hussenot, Brüno... Whether extending panels into panorama, bursting through frames or re-imagining the use of color to enhance characters (for Enki Bilal and Julie Maroh), artists’ structural innovations have significantly expanded the possibilities of storytelling. It also demonstrates the influence of other styles of visual narrative (American comics, manga, film) that Franco-Belgian comics have integrated.

3 | FRAME TO THE WORLD French artists have often been inspired by the wider world, and American culture in particular has long fed their fascination. These artists challenge and delight the reader with references to contemporary issues and pop culture. Comics adaptation of famous stories or literary classics such as H.P. Lovecraft adapted by Mathieu Sapin, diversion of famous characters such as Mickey Mouse by Loisel and The Simpsons, contribute to these cultural exchanges. Francophone artists are also stimulated by international collaborators and travels that inspire them to draw from personal experiences abroad. Emmanuel Guibert’s The photographer or Guy Delisle’s books are examples of works that result from these exchanges, reflecting the dynamism of the world of comics art today. NEW YORK COMIC CON BOOTH #1558

OCT. 6 – 9, 2016

JAVITS CONVENTION CENTER, 655 WEST 34TH ST., NY 10001

For the first time, the French Comics Association exhibits at NYCC. Don’t miss our blue, white and red booth featuring a wide selection of Franco-Belgian comics in English translations from your favorite U.S. publishers. Our acclaimed artists will present their innovative works and bestselling books and will welcome you to signings. Enter our giveaway to win comics, tickets for a VIP event and more! Aspiring artists will also have the opportunity to ask French editors’ advice on their own work.

THU-SUN, OCTOBER 6-9 BOOTH AND BOOK SIGNING: NEW YORK COMIC CON Discover our wide selection of Francophone comics in English translation, presented by numerous American publishers, at booth #1558. FRENCH COMICS FRAMED artists will present their innovative works and best-selling books at New York Comic Con and in Artist Alley, where a book signing will be held.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1:30-2:30pm (ROOM 1B03) DRAWING FROM THE WORLD: FRANCO-BELGIAN COMICS IN GLOBAL CONTEXT Featuring Arthur de Pins, François Boucq, Barbara Canepa, Stéphane Créty, Asaf Hanuka, Matz, Nicolas Otero Moderated by Matt Madden (author of Drawing Words and Writing Pictures: Making Comics)

In both style and subject matter, Franco-Belgian comics are unprecedentedly diverse, thanks to creators’ thriving exchanges with the world. The panel will discuss how U.S. pop culture shapes setting and story, or how collaborators like Walter Hill and Jerome Charyn add fresh spirit to the work of French artists. Publishers will also share singular experiences working with international artists such as Barbara Canepa and Asaf Hanuka, which led them to worldwide success.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 5:30-6:30pm (ROOM 1A05) COMICSBEAT PRESENTS: THE EUROPEAN COMICS INVASION Featuring Heidi MacDonald, Jean-Marc Rochette, Arthur de Pins, Simon Fraser, Leeann Hamilton

It’s our annual look at the European comics scene, with the cartoonists from around the world talking about their work and the comics tradition of their countries. This time we’ll talk to Jean-Marc Rochette (Snowpiercer, France), Arthur de Pins (March of the Crabs, France), Simon Fraser (Judge Dredd, Scotland), Leeann Hamilton (Cash Cow, Ireland) and more about their careers, their influences and how comics are becoming an international language without borders. DO IT THE FRENCH WAY

RENDEZ-VOUS BOOTH #1558

ARTIST ALLEY ARTISTS APPEARANCES

Pénélope Bagieu Olivier Balez François Boucq Barbara Canepa Stéphane Créty Étienne Davodeau Arthur de Pins Asaf Hanuka Matz Jean-Claude Mézières Nicolas Otero Jean Marc Rochette Anne Simon

Illustration © Pénélope Bagieu 2016 OTHER EVENTS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 7pm ($15; STUDENT PRICE $10) CONVERSATION WITH ASAF HANUKA Asaf Hanuka just won an Eisner Award for The Realist at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. He will discuss with Tomer Hanuka their opposing approaches to storytelling, presenting The Divine and their recent works. The Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63 r d St., NY 10065

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 7pm FRENCH COMICS ON SCREEN: FILM ADAPTATIONS OF FRANCO-BELGIAN GRAPHIC NARRATIVES Featuring Etienne Davodeau, Matz, Jean-Claude Mézières, Arthur de Pins and Jean-Marc Rochette Moderated by Alex Dueben (comics critic)

J.-C. Mézières, creator of the classic series Valerian and Laureline, will discuss his role in Luc Besson’s 2017 film adaptation, and J.-M. Rochette will detail his involvement in the Snowpiercer movie (with Chris Evans). Matz will explain how The Warriors director Walter Hill’s unproduced screenplays became comics, and Arthur de Pins and Etienne Davodeau will speak about indie adaptations. The School of Visual Arts, 209 East 23 rd St., NY 10010, 3rd floor

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 6:30pm DRAWING LIFE: WHO IS THE PARISIAN ROZ CHAST? Featuring Olivier Balez, Etienne Davodeau, Asaf Hanuka, Nicolas Otero and Anne Simon Moderated by Heidi Macdonald (The Comics Beat)

Accompanying the current exhibition Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs, this discussion will focus on the ever-lively and inventive world of French cartooning. Who is the Parisian Roz Chast (if there is one)? What are the major themes and latest projects coming out of France? Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, NY 10029

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 7pm RECONSTRUCTING COMIX: THE “ARCHITECTURE” OF FRANCO-BELGIAN GRAPHIC NARRATIVES, FROM TINTIN TO TODAY Featuring Matz, Philippe Ostermann, Nicolas Otero, Anne Simon

In this panel, leading comic artists from France discuss the ways in which disruptive formal and thematic conventions have influenced their work and pushed the genre forward into its groundbreaking present form. The Great Hall of The Cooper Union, The Foundation Building, 7 East 7 th St., NY 10003

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1—7pm DRAWING THE UNSPEAKABLE

Kerascoët, Pénélope Bagieu and Catherine Meurisse discuss how drawing express feelings. Columbia University, Butler Library, (room 523), 535 West 114 th St., NY 10027 THE ARTISTS

New York-based PÉNÉLOPE BAGIEU’s hit graphic novels include Exquisite Corpse (First Second Books, 2015). Her illustrations appear in numerous French and foreign publications. First Second Books will release her graphic biography of Cass Elliot, California Dreamin’ in the U.S. in 2017.

OLIVIER BALEZ has worked with Pierre Christin on the acclaimed graphic novel about New York’s master builder Robert Moses (Nobrow, 2014). He also wrote and illustrated La Cordée du Mont Rose (XXI, Les Arènes, 2011) and has illustrated for Le Monde for over a decade.

FRANÇOIS BOUCQ is known for his Jérôme Moucherot comics, Westerns and literary adaptations. He received the Angoulême Comics Festival Grand Prix for his extensive body of work. With novelist Jerome Charyn, he has recently released Little Tulip (Dover Graphic Novels, 2016).

BARBARA CANEPA is the co-creator, with Alessandro Barbucci, of the internationally acclaimed sci-fi sagaSky Doll, and the W.I.T.C.H. series for young readers. Canepa has designed characters for Disney and edits for French publisher Soleil. Titan released Sky Doll: Decade in the U.S. in March.

In addition to three successful French comics series, STÉPHANE CRÉTY has illustrated for Marvel’s Star Wars series and released the first volume of his and Serge Lehman’s superhero-noir Masked in the U.S. (Titan, 2015). Titan will publish the series’ next volumes in 2017.

ETIENNE DAVODEAU’s graphic novel The Initiates (NBM) received praise from Publishers Weekly and was nominated for a Slate/Center for Cartoon Studies prize. Lulu Anew (NBM), recipient of the Angoulême Festival “Essential” prize, was adapted into a film in 2013. NBM will releaseLe Chien qui louche in the U.S. in 2017. ARTHUR DE PINS’ series include Péchés Mignons and Zombillenium (NBM, 2014-16), which he is adapting into a feature film. His animal fableThe March of the Crabs (BOOM! Studios, 2016) was shortlisted for a 2016 Eisner Award and his animated short filmThe Crab Revolution received international praise.

JACQUES FERRANDEZ debuted the acclaimed Carnets d’Orient, a graphic epic on the French occupation of Algeria, in 1987. He has adapted Camus’s The Host and The Stranger (Pegasus Books, August 2016) and exhibited his work at Paris’s Hôtel des Invalides for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Algerian War.

ASAF HANUKA is the creator of the autobiographical comics The Realist (Archaia, 2015), which won a 2016 Eisner Award. He was previously nominated for Ignatz and Eisner awards for co-creating the Bipolar series with his brother Tomer and contributed to the Oscar-nominated Waltz with Bashir. With Tomer and Boaz Lavie, he released The Divine (First Second Books, 2015).

KERASCOËT are Marie Pommepuy and Sébastien Cosset, recipients of Ignatz and Eisner nominations for the graphic novels Beauty (NBM, 2014) and Beautiful Darkness (Drawn & Quarterly, 2014), respectively. Enchanted Lions Books releases their children’s book Paul & Antoinette in the U.S. in September.

Comic book writer MATZ’s (Alexis Nolent) work includes The Killer, which was optioned by Netflix. He adaptedThe Black Dahlia into graphic form with director David Fincher and Miles Hyman and created Bullet To The Head with Colin Wilson. He based Triggerman (Titan, October 2016) on a script by director Walter Hill (The Warriors).

CATHERINE MEURISSE is a graphic novelist whose poignant memoir La Légèreté (Dargaud, 2016) chronicles her return to life and art after the Charlie Hebdo attack. Meurisse illustrates children’s books and has contributed to many French publications.

JEAN-CLAUDE MÉZIÈRES created the sci-fi duo Valérian and Laureline with Pierre Christin in the 1960s. The series counts 20 titles and won Mézières the Angoulême Festival Grand Prix and the San Diego Comic Con Inkpot Award. Europe Comics released The Circles of Power, the series’ final installment, in the U.S. this year. MEZZO is known for graphic crime novels including the cult classic King of the Flies, which was published in the U.S. by Fantagraphics. Faber will release Love in Vain, Mezzo and Jean-Michel Dupont’s acclaimed graphic biography of bluesman Robert Johnson, in November.

NICOLAS OTERO’s graphic novel series include the ambitious debut Amerikkka and the dark Western Bonecreek. His acclaimed graphic biography Le Roman de Boddah took a fresh perspective on the life and death of Kurt Cobain, and will be published in English as Who Killed Kurt Cobain? by IDW this October.

CLÉMENT OUBRERIE illustrated the acclaimed Aya of Yop City (Drawn & Quarterly, 2007) by Marguerite Abouet. His literary adaptations include Pullman’s Golden Compass trilogy (Knopf, 2015-2016) with Stéphane Melchior and Queneau’s Zazie dans le Métro (Gallimard BD). With Sfar, he cofounded the animation studio Autochenille. SelfMadeHero just published Pablo, his and Julie Birmant’s graphic biography of Picasso, in the U.S..

JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE is best known for his thriller Snowpiercer, created with Jacques Lob (Titan, 2014-2016), which was adapted into a 2013 film. Rochette has illustrated for science-fiction comics, children’s cartoons and literary adaptations. His many honors include two major Angoulême Festival prizes.

A recipient of the Angoulême New Talent prize, ANNE SIMON illustrated the graphic novel Persephone in the Underworld and has collaborated with psychoanalyst Corinne Maier on popular graphic biographies of 20th-century figuresMarx , Freud and Einstein (Nobrow, 2015-16). She has exhibited work at Paris’s Salon du Livre.

EXCLUSIVE READINGS

Want to be ahead of the trends? Visit our website to discover original comics just released in France. Vote for your favorite excerpt and rate new comics art to help spotlight the stars of tomorrow’s comics industry. From humor, fantasy and kids’ comics to crime and science fiction, our site offers great strips for every reader! www.frenchcomicsassociation.com Follow us on comicsframed PRESENTS

PÉNÉLOPE BAGIEU OLIVIER BALEZ FRANÇOIS BOUCQ BARBARA CANEPA STÉPHANE CRÉTY ÉTIENNE DAVODEAU ARTHUR DE PINS JACQUES FERRANDEZ ASAF HANUKA KERASCOËT MATZ CATHERINE MEURISSE JEAN-CLAUDE MÉZIÈRES NICOLAS OTERO CLÉMENT OUBRERIE JEAN-MARC ROCHETTE ANNE SIMON

Cover illustration © Kerascoët 2016 Design : Nicolas Kerembellec