Pierre Christin (; 27 July 1938 – 3 October 2024) was a French comics creator and writer.

Biography

Christin was born at

Saint-Mandé Saint-Mandé (; named for Saint Maudez) is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France, in the high-end eastern inner suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, cent ...

on 27 July 1938. After graduating from the Sorbonne, Christin pursued graduate studies in political science at

SciencesPo Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

and became a professor of French literature at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. His first comics story, ''Le Rhum du Punch'', illustrated by his childhood friend

Jean-Claude Mézières Jean-Claude Mézières (; 23 September 1938 – 23 January 2022) was a French Bande dessinée, ''bandes dessinées'' artist and illustrator. Born in Paris and raised in nearby Saint-Mandé, he was introduced to drawing by his elder brother and ...

, was published in 1966 in ''

Pilote ''Pilote'' (), for a while subtitled ''the magazine of Asterix and Obelix'' (French: ''Le Journal D’Astérix et D’Obélix'' ) was a French comics magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major Franco-Belgian comics, French ...

'' magazine. Christin returned to France the following year to join the faculty of the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (, ) is a public research university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Talence. There are al ...

. That year he again collaborated with Mézières to create the science-fiction series ''

Valérian and Laureline ''Valérian and Laureline'' (), originally titled ''Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent'' () and also commonly known as ''Valérian'', is a French science fiction comics series, created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières. I ...

'' for ''Pilote''. The first episode was ''Les Mauvais Rêves'' (''Bad Dreams''). In addition to the ongoing ''Valérian'', Christin meanwhile wrote several other comics one-shots, including ''The City That Didn't Exist'' (''La Ville qui n'existe pas''), '' The Black Order Brigade'' (''Les Phalanges de l'ordre noir'') and '' The Hunting Party'' (''Partie de chasse'') (all illustrated by

Enki Bilal Enki Bilal (born Enes Bilal; born 7 October 1951) is a French comic book creator and film director. Biography Early life Bilal was born in Belgrade, PR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia, to a Czech mother, Ana, who came to Belgrade as child from Karlovy ...

). Among the many European comics artist he collaborated with were Enki Bilal, Jacques Tardi,

Alexis Alexis may refer to: People Mononym * Alexis (poet) ( – ), a Greek comic poet * Alexis (sculptor), an ancient Greek artist who lived around the 3rd or 4th century BC * Alexis (singer) (born 1968), German pop singer * Alexis (comics) (1946– ...

, Raymond Poïvet,

Jijé Joseph Gillain (), better known by his pen name Jijé (; 13 January 1914 – 19 June 1980), was a Belgian comics artist, best known for being a seminal artist on the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' strip (and for having introduced the Fantasio character) ...

, Annie Goetzinger, Daniel Ceppi, and François Boucq. He also wrote screenplays and science-fiction novels. Christin died on 3 October 2024, at the age of 86.

Awards

* 1976:

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; ) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occur ...

, Best French Author * 1986: Angoulême International Comics Festival, Library Readers Award, for ''La voyageuse de la petite ceinture'' * 1995: Haxtur Awards,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, nominated for Best Short Comic Strip, for ''El Círculo del poder'' ('' The Circles of Power'') * 1997: Angoulême International Comics Festival, Tournesol Award, for ''Les otages de l'Ultralum'' ('' Hostages of the Ultralum'') * 1996:

Max & Moritz Prizes The Max und Moritz Award ( German:Max und Moritz-Preis), also known as the Max & Moritz Prize , is a prize for comic books, comic strips, and other similar materials. It has been awarded at each of the biennial International Comics Shows of Erla ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, Best International Writer * 2019: Angoulême International Comics Festival René Goscinny award

References

;Other sources
Pierre Christin publications in ''Pilote''
BDoubliées

Bedetheque

External links

on Lambiek Comiclopedia * 1938 births 2024 deaths People from Saint-Mandé French comics writers Valérian and Laureline French male writers French graphic novelists French science fiction writers University of Utah faculty Pilote {{France-artist-stub