Jacques Tardi

Infobox Comics creator
name = Tardi


imagesize =
caption =
birthname = Jacques Tardi
birthdate = birth date and age|1946|8|30
location = Valence, Drôme, France
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = French
area =
alias =
notable works = "Adieu, Brindavoine" "Adèle Blanc-Sec" "Griffu" "Ici Même" "Tueur de cafards"
awards = full list

Jacques Tardi is a French comic strip artist, born August 30, 1946 in Valence. He is often credited solely as Tardi.

Biography

After graduating from the "École nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon" and the "École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs" in Paris, he started writing comics in 1969, at the age of 23, in the comics magazine "Pilote", initially illustrating short stories written by Jean Giraud and Serge De Beketch, before creating the political fiction story "Rumeur sur le Rouergue" from a scenario by Pierre Christin in 1972.Cite web|last=Lambiek Comiclopedia|title=Jacques Tardi|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/t/tardi.htm]

A highly versatile artist, Tardi successfully adapted novels by controversial writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline or crime novelist Léo Malet. In Malet's case, Tardi adapted his detective hero Nestor Burma into a series of critically acclaimed graphic novels, though he also wrote and drew original stories of his own.

Tardi also created one of French comics' most famous heroines, Adèle Blanc-Sec. This series recreates the Paris of early 20th century where the moody heroine encounters supernatural events, state plots, occult societies and experiments in cryogenics.

Another graphic novel was "Ici Même" which was written by Jean-Claude Forest, best known as the creator of Barbarella. A satire, it describes the adventures of Arthur Même who lives on the walls of his family's former property.

Tardi's obsession with the First World War and the pitfalls of patriotism spawned several albums ("Adieu Brindavoine", "C'était la guerre des tranchées", "Le trou d'obus"...) and was brought on by his inability to come 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 similar to Hergé's early "ligne claire" style (clear line), paired with meticulous research and typically featuring an asexual hero (Adèle Blanc-Sec can be quite a misandrist at times), but Tardi's work also satirises the concept of the flawless hero by using a series of inept, naive or anti-heroic main characters. His audience is mainly the literary, French-speaking adult public.

Bibliography

cenario 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, 1976-2007)
*# "Adèle et la bête" (1976), ISBN 2-203-30501-0
*# "Le démon de la Tour Eiffel" (1976), ISBN 2-203-30502-9
*# "Le savant fou" (1977), ISBN 2-203-30503-7
*# "Momies en folies" (1978), ISBN 2-203-30504-5
*# "Le secret de la salamandre" (1981), ISBN 2-203-30506-1
*# "Le noyé à deux têtes" (1985), ISBN 2-203-30507-X
*# "Tous des monstres!" (1994), ISBN 2-203-30508-8
*# "Le mystère des profondeurs" (1998), ISBN 2-203-30509-6
*# "Le labyrinthe infernal" (2007), ISBN 2-203-00736-9

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)
*# "Brouillard au pont de Tolbiac" (Casterman, 1982), ISBN 2-203-33413-4
*# "120, rue de la Gare" (Casterman, 1988), ISBN 2-203-34302-8
*# "Une gueule de bois en plomb" (Casterman, 1990), ISBN 2-203-34802-X
*# "Casse-pipe à la Nation" (Casterman, 1996), ISBN 2-203-39903-1
*# "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)
*# "Les canons du 18 mars" (2001), ISBN 2-203-39927-9
*# "L'espoir assassiné" (2002), ISBN 2-203-39929-5
*# "Les heures sanglantes" (2003), ISBN 2-203-39930-9
*# "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)

Artwork

* "Rumeur sur le Rouergue" (scenario by Pierre Christin) (Gallimard, 1976)
* "Polonius" (scenario by Picaret) (Futuropolis, 1977)
* "Griffu" (scenario by Jean-Patrick Manchette) (Squaredn, 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

cenario

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

ketchbooks

* "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

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

Novel

* "Rue des Rebuts" (Alain Beaulet, 1990)

Books about Tardi

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

Awards

* 1974: Grand Prix Phénix [http://www.casterman.com/adele/fr/bio.htm Biography at Casterman] ]
* 1975: Award for Best French Artist at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, France:: - Grand Prix for Black Humor
* 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
* 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 Prix de la critique 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, U.S. [ [http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_2004nom.html Harvey Awards official site] ]
* 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
* 2006: Special Prize for outstanding life’s work at the Max & Moritz Prizes, Germany:: - nominated for the Grand Prix Saint-Michel
* 2007: nominated for the Grand Prix Saint-Michel [cite web |url=http://cfbelgium.free.fr/blogfestival/download/Saint_Michel_2007_Sint_Michiels.pdf |title=Les nominés 2007 |accessdate=2007-10-15]

References

* [http://bdoubliees.com/journalpilote/auteurs5/tardi.htm Tardi publications in "Pilote"] , [http://bdoubliees.com/asuivre/auteurs5/tardi.htm "(A SUIVRE)"] and [http://bdoubliees.com/metalhurlant/auteurs5/tardi.htm "Métal Hurlant"] BDoubliées fr_icon
* [http://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-141-BD-Tardi-Jacques.html Tardi albums] Bedetheque fr_icon

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.casterman.com/adele/index.htm Tardi official site] on Casterman fr_icon
* [http://lambiek.net/artists/t/tardi.htm Tardi biography] on Lambiek Comiclopedia
* [http://www.adeleblancsec.org/ Adeleblancsec.org] Fan site in English
* [http://www.adele-blanc-sec.tk Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec] Fan site fr_icon