| Mattt Konture | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 September 1965 Lozère, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Artist |
| Notable works | Krokodile Comix |
Mattt Konture (born September 27, 1965) is a French underground comics author[1] and musician. He is one of the founders of the French publishing house L'Association and is a forerunner of the French autobiographical comics movement.
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Konture grew up in Lozère, where his influences included Métal Hurlant artists like Marc Caro, Doury, Rita Mercedes, and Moebius.
Konture published his first comics in 1982 (at the age of 17) in magazines such as Viper ("L’ajeun") and Le Lynx ("Les Exploits de Te" with Jean-Christophe Menu). When Konture went to Paris he published his first comics, Nerf, on an old Xerox machine. L’Association later reprinted this first book. His first comic book was Ruga Zébo Violent, published by Futuropolis.
At this time, Konture's drawings were very dark and full of strokes and looked like the growing American underground style. Konture later discovered 1960s American underground cartoonists such as R. Crumb and Gilbert Shelton, who inspired him to create psychedelic and autobiographical comics. In 1988, Konture started autobiographical comics such as Krokodile Comix 1, or Galopu, that was a forerunner of the French underground movement.
In 1989 Konture returned to Lozère. There he drew a few comics and continued Ivan Morve (a pun on “Mort-vivant,” "living dead"). "Morve Ivan" is a half-autobiographical story published in the pages of Psykopat.
During the same period Konture started "Jambon blindé," an improvised story commissioned by his friend Stéphane Blanquet. This new way of telling stories drove Konture to draw a series of "comix" edited by L’Association in the collection Mimolette. “Autopsie d’un mort vivant” ("Autopsy of a living dead") is a dark retelling of Konture's life. In these books all his characters reappear: Galopu, Mister VrO, and Ivan Morve — each of them represents the author’s mood.
Konture has played in many musical groups, including his original one-man group Courge, which later changed its name to Lucky and the Courges, and which produces CDs and plays concerts in the Montpellier area where Konture lives.