Daniel Goossens, born May 16, 1954, in

Salon-de-Provence Salon-de-Provence (, ; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, Selon de Provença/Seloun de Provènço, ), commonly known as Salon, is a commune located about northwest of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and l ...

is a French

comics 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 ...

Biography

Goossens began his career in the magazine '' Pionniers''. After a short spell at ''

Pilote Cover of the first ''Pilote'' issue #0 ''Pilote'' () was a French comic magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as '' Astérix'', ' ...

'' magazine, he began contributing to the monthly magazine '' Fluide Glacial'' in 1977, and became one of its authors. Later, his work also appeared in '' Le Petit Psikopat Illustré'' (ancestor of current '' Psikopat'') and '' Rigolo''. Apart from his work with comic strips, Daniel Goossens is a lecturer and researcher in artificial intelligence at the

University of Paris VIII Paris 8 University Vincennes-Saint-Denis (french: Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis) is a public university in Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution. It is one of the th ...

. Goossens was awarded the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême in 1997.

Style

Goossens' comics are built on a clash between semi-realistic art and surreal content. He relishes regurgitating clichéd situations from literature, film and television, and introducing odd twists. (His classic ''Route vers l'enfer'' book is a war film

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

starring

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

.) Particular attention is paid to dialogues, which often drag on past all logic, and include much stuttering, mumbling and other noises rendered phonetically. Most of his comic books are collections of short stories, with a loose common thread. Like his mentor Gotlib, Goossens has also often used a mock-encyclopedic tone. Goossens' inquiry on absurd does not refrain from astonishing scenes that some may find disturbing - such as a gang of children stoning Father Christmas, or an infant Albert Einstein tossing an eye out of a bully at the kindergarten, or a mother requiring consulting the doctor for basic practical wisdom until she finally brings her baby's skeleton.

References

1954 births Living people People from Salon-de-Provence French cartoonists Artificial intelligence researchers Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners {{cartoonist-stub