Jacques Tardi

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Jacques Tardi is a French comic strip artist born in 1946 in Valence. He is often credited solely as Tardi.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Bibliography 2.1 Scenario and artwork 2.2 Adaptations 2.3 Artwork 2.4 Scenario 2.5 Sketchbooks 2.6 Illustrated novels 2.7 Novel 2.8 Books about Tardi 3 Awards 4 External links

[edit] Biography

After graduating in the École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon and in the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris, he started writing comics in 1969, at the age of 23, in the Pilote magazine. His very first album is Rumeur sur le Rouergue, published in 1971 in Pilote, on a scenario by Pierre Christin.

A highly versatile artist, Tardi successfully adapted novels by controversial writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline or crime novelist Léo Malet. He also created one of French comic-strips' most famous heroines, Adèle Blanc-Sec. This series recreates with great style the Paris of the early 20th century where the moody heroine encounters supernatural events, state plots, cults and cryogenics.

His obsession with the First World War and the pitfalls of patriotism have spawned many albums (Adieu Brindavoine, C'était la guerre des tranchées, Le trou d'obus...) and was brought on by his inability to get to terms with his grandfather's involvement in the day-to-day horrors of trench warfare. He also completed a four-volume series on the Paris Commune, Le cri du peuple.

His style can at times seem to be similar to Hergé's ligne claire style (clear line), paired with meticulous research and an asexual hero (Adèle Blanc-Sec is quite a misandrist at times), but Tardi's work endlessly satirises the concept of the flawless hero by using a series of inept, naive or anti-heroic main characters and his readership seems to mainly be a literary, French-speaking adult public.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Scenario and artwork

• Adieu Brindavoine followed by La fleur au fusil (Casterman, 1974)
• Le démon des glaces (with characters by Léo Malet) (Casterman, 1974), ISBN 2-205-00857-9
• La véritable histoire du soldat inconnu (Futuropolis, 1974)
• Mouh Mouh (Pepperland, 1979)
• Déprime (Futuropolis, 1981)
• Le trou d'obus (Imagerie Pellerin, 1984), ISBN 2-86207-073-4
• C'était la guerre des tranchées (Casterman, 1993), ISBN 2-203-35905-6
• Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec (Casterman, 1976-1998)
  1. Adèle et la bête (1976), ISBN 2-203-30501-0
  2. Le démon de la Tour Eiffel (1976), ISBN 2-203-30502-9
  3. Le savant fou (1977), ISBN 2-203-30503-7
  4. Momies en folies (1978), ISBN 2-203-30504-5
  5. Le secret de la salamandre (1981), ISBN 2-203-30506-1
  6. Le noyé à deux têtes (1985), ISBN 2-203-30507-X
  7. Tous des monstres! (1994), ISBN 2-203-30508-8
  8. Le mystère des profondeurs (1998), ISBN 2-203-30509-6

[edit] Adaptations

• Jeux pour mourir (based on a novel by Géo-Charles Véran) (Casterman, 1992), ISBN 2-203-35902-1
• Nestor Burma, based on novels by Léo Malet (Casterman, 1982-2000)
  1. Brouillard au pont de Tolbiac (Casterman, 1982), ISBN 2-203-33413-4
  2. 120, rue de la Gare (Casterman, 1988), ISBN 2-203-34302-8
  3. Une gueule de bois en plomb (Casterman, 1990), ISBN 2-203-34802-X
  4. Casse-pipe à la Nation (Casterman, 1996), ISBN 2-203-39903-1
  5. M'as-tu vu en cadavre? (Casterman, 2000), ISBN 2-203-39925-2
• Le cri du peuple, based on a novel by Jean Vautrin (Casterman, 2001-2004)
  1. Les canons du 18 mars (2001), ISBN 2-203-39927-9
  2. L'espoir assassiné (2002), ISBN 2-203-39929-5
  3. Les heures sanglantes (2003), ISBN 2-203-39930-9
  4. Le testament des ruines (2004), ISBN 2-203-39931-7
• Le petit bleu de la côte ouest, based on a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette (Les Humanoïdes associés, 2005)

[edit] Artwork

• Rumeur sur le Rouergue (scenario by Pierre Christin) (Gallimard, 1976)
• Polonius (scenario by Picaret) (Futuropolis, 1977)
• Griffu (scenario by Jean-Patrick Manchette) (Le Square then Dargaud then Casterman, 1978)
• Ici Même (scenario by Jean-Claude Forest) (Casterman, 1979), ISBN 2-203-33401-0
• Tueur de cafards (scenario by Benjamin Legrand) (Casterman, 1984), ISBN 2-203-33803-2
• Grange bleue (scenario by Dominique Grange) (Futuropolis, 1985)
• Le sens de la houppelande (scenario by Daniel Pennac) (Futuropolis, 1991), ISBN 2-7376-2739-7
• Un strapontin pour deux (scenario by Michel Boujut) (Casterman, 1995)
• L'évasion du cheval gris (scenario by Verrien) (Sapristi, 1996)
• Sodome et Virginie (scenario by Daniel Prevost) (Casterman, 1996), ISBN 2-207-24487-3
• Le der des ders (scenario by Didier Daeninckx) (Casterman, 1997), ISBN 2-203-39906-6
• Varlot soldat (scenario by Didier Daeninckx) (L'Association, 1999), ISBN 2-84414-010-6
• La débauche (scenario by Daniel Pennac) (Futuropolis, 2000), ISBN 2-07-078800-8

[edit] Scenario

• Le voyage d'Alphonse (artwork by Antoine Leconte) (Duculot, 2003)

[edit] Sketchbooks

• Mine de plomb (Futuropolis, 1985)
• Chiures de gommes (Futuropolis, 1985)
• Tardi en banlieue (Casterman, 1990), ISBN 2-203-38018-7
• Carnet (JC Menu, 2001), ISBN 2-84414-099-8

[edit] Illustrated novels

Céline adaptations:

• Voyage au bout de la nuit (Futuropolis, 1988), ISBN 2-7376-2615-3
• Casse-pipe (Futuropolis, 1989), ISBN 2-7376-2658-7
• Mort à crédit (Futuropolis, 1991), ISBN 2-7376-2703-6

Jules Verne adaptations:

• Un prêtre en 1839 (Cherche Midi, 1992), ISBN 2-86274-247-3
• San Carlos (Cherche Midi, 1993), ISBN 2-86274-267-8

[edit] Novel

• Rue des Rebuts (Alain Beaulet, 1990)

[edit] Books about Tardi

• Olivier Maltret, Presque tout Tardi (Sapristi, 1996), ISBN 2-911429-01-X
• Michel Boujut, Tardi par la fenêtre (Christian Desbois, 1996)

[edit] Awards

• 1974: Grand Prix Phénix^[1]
• 1975: Award for Best French Artist at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, France

- Grand Prix for Black Humor^[1]

• 1977: Best Foreign Artist at the Prix Saint-Michel, Belgium
• 1982: Award for best comic by "l'Association 813" at the Festival du Polar in Reims^[2]
• 1985: Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, France

- Knighted in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France

• 1986: Adamson Award, Sweden
• 1990: Best German-language Comic/Comic-related Publication at the Max & Moritz Prizes, Germany
• 1991: Special mention at the Best Promotional Comic Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
• 1994: Audience Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival

- Best German-language Comic/Comic-related Publication at the Max & Moritz Prizes, Germany

• 1998: nominated for the Award for Best Comic Book at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
• 2002: Audience Award and Award for Artwork at the Angoulême International Comics Festival

- nominated for the Critics Award and the Canal BD Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival

• 2003: nominated for the Audience Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
• 2004: nominated for Best American Edition of Foreign Material at the Harvey Awards, USA^[3]
• 2005: nominated for Award for a Series at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
• 2006: nominated for the Award for Best Comic Book and the Audience Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival

- nominated for the Grand Prix Saint-Michel

[edit] External links

• Official site (in French)
• A fan site, mainly in english
• Tardi - Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec