Enki Bilal

Infobox Comics creator
name = Enki Bilal

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imagesize =
caption = Enki Bilal, September 2008
birthname = Enes Bilalović
birthdate = birth date and age|1951|10|7
location = Belgrade, Yugoslavia
deathdate =
deathplace =
nationality = French
area = artist, writer, director
alias =
notable works = "Nikopol Trilogy" "Légendes d'Aujourd'hui" "Partie de chasse"
awards = full list

Enki Bilal (born Enes Bilalović on October 7, 1951) is a French comic book creator, comics artist and film director.

Biography

Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, he moved to Paris at the age of 9.Cite web|last=Lambiek Comiclopedia|title=Enki Bilal|url=http://lambiek.net/artists/b/bilal.htm] There, at 14, he met René Goscinny and with his encouragement applied his talent to comics. He produced work for Goscinny's comics magazine "Pilote" in the 1970s, publishing his first story, "Le Bol Maudit", in 1972.

He began working with script writer Pierre Christin in 1975 on a series of dark and surreal tales, resulting in the body of work entitled "Légendes d'Aujourd'hui".

On of his most renowned works is the "Nikopol" trilogy ("La Foire aux Immortels", "La Femme Piège" and "Froid Équateur"), which took more than a decade to appear. Bilal wrote the script and did all the artwork. The final chapter, "Froid Équateur", was even awarded the book of the year award by the very serious magazine "Lire" and is acknowledged by the inventor of chess boxing, Iepe Rubingh, as being the inspiration for this new sport.

His most recent publication is "Quatre?" (2007), the last book in the "Hatzfeld" tetralogy, dealing with the breakup of former Yugoslavia but from the future. The first installment came in 1998 in the shape of "Le Sommeil du Monstre" opening with the main character, Nike, remembering the war in a series of traumatic flashbacks. The third chapter of the tetralogy is titled "Rendez-vous à Paris" (2006). It gives a good indication of Bilal's popularity, being the fifth best selling new French comic of 2006 with 280,000 copies.cite web|last=Beatty|first=Bart|url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/briefings/eurocomics/8313/ |title=ACBD Status Report for 2006 |publisher=The Comics Reporter|date=2007-01-03]

His cinematic career has recently been revived with the expensive "Immortel (Ad Vitam)" which is his first attempt to adapt his books to the screen. The film received split critics, some panning the use of CGI characters but others have seen it as a faithful reinterpretation of the books.

On May 13, 2008 a video game based on the "Nikopol" trilogy was announced entitled "Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals". To be published in North America by Got Game Entertainment in August 2008, the game will be a "point and click" adventure for the PC. He will also be the art designer, along with Yoshitaka Amano for the upcoming video game Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Bibliography

"Légendes d'Aujourd'hui"

written by Pierre Christin
* "La Croisière des oubliés" ("The Cruise of Lost Souls", 1975)
* "Le Vaisseau de pierre" ("Ship of Stone", 1976)
* "La ville qui n'existait pas" ("The Town That Didn't Exist", 1977)
* "Townscapes" (reprint of "La Croisière des oubliés, Le Vaisseau de pierre", and "La ville qui n'existait pas", 2004)

"Nikopol Trilogy"

* "La Foire aux immortels" ("The Carnival of Immortals", 1980)
* "La Femme piège" ("The Woman Trap", 1986)
* "Froid Équateur" ("Equator Cold", 1992)

"Hatzfeld Tetralogy"

* "Le sommeil du monstre" ("The Dormant Beast", 1998)
* "32 Décembre" ("December 32", 2003)
* "Rendez-vous à Paris" (2006)
* "Quatre?" ("Four?", 2007)

Other

* "Mémoires d'outre-espace, Histoires courtes 1974-1977" ("Memories From Outer Space", 1978)
* "Exterminateur 17" ("Exterminator 17", 1979; written by Jean-Pierre Dionnet)
* "Les Phalanges de l'ordre noir" ("The Black Order Brigade", 1979; written by Pierre Christin)
* "Partie de chasse" ("The Hunting Party", 1983; written by Pierre Christin)
* "Los Angeles - L'Étoile oubliée de Laurie Bloom" ("Los Angeles - The Forgotten Star of Laurie Bloom", 1984)
* "Hors Jeu" ("Off Play", 1987; with Patrick Cauvin)
* "Coeurs sanglants et autres faits divers" ("Bleeding Hearts and Other Stories", 1988; written by Pierre Christin)
* "Bleu Sang" ("Blue Blood", 1994)
* "Mémoires d'autre temps, Histoires courtes 1971-1981" ("Memories From Other Times", 1996)
* "EnkiBilalAnDeuxMilleUn" ("EnkiBilalInTwoThousandOne", 1996)
* "Tykho Moon - livre d'un film" ("Tykho Moon - Book of a film", 1996)
* "Un siècle d'Amour" ("A century of Love ", 1999)
* "Le Sarcophage" ("The Sarcophagus", 2000)
* "Magma" (2000)
* "The Chaos Effect" (reprint of "Les Phalanges de l'ordre noir" and "Partie de chasse", 2005)

English translations

Comics in "Heavy Metal "Magazine

In the Eighties Bilal was a frequent guest in American "Heavy Metal" Magazine. Many famous Bilal comics made their English debut in this period of the magazine, although shorter stories appeared later also.

Graphic Novels

Short Stories

Albums

Since the late seventies publishers like NBM, [ [Hervé St.Louis: Interview with Terry Nantier - Publisher of NBM Publishing on Comic Book Bin] ] Catalan Communications, Humanoids publishing have released several albums by Bilal.

NBM

* The Call of the Stars (March, 1979. Flying Buttress Publications ISBN 0918348021, ISBN-13 9780918348029)A collection of short stories.

Catalan Communications

"paperback books"
*Exterminator 17 (June 1986. 60 pages ISBN 0874160243, ISBN-13 978-0874160246)
*Gods in Chaos: A Graphic Novel (February 1988. ISBN 0874160499, ISBN-13 978-0874160499) - First installment of the Nikopol Trilogy
*The Woman Trap (May 1988. ISBN-10: 0874160502, ISBN-13 978-0874160505) - Second installment of the Nikopol Trilogy
*The Town That Didn't Exist (February 1989. 56 pages. ISBN 0874160510, ISBN-13 978-0874160512)
*The Ranks of the Black Order (June 1989. 80 pages. ISBN 0874160529 ISBN-13 978-0874160529)
*The Hunting Party (March, 1990. ISBN 0874160537)
*Outer States (July 1990. ISBN 0874160855, ISBN-13 978-0874160857)

Humanoids Publishing

"hardcover, large format books"
*The Nikopol Trilogy (February 2000. 176 pages. ISBN 0-9672401-2-3)
*The Black Order Brigade (May 2000. 88 pages, hardcover. ISBN 0967240182, ISBN-13 978-0967240183)
*Ship of stone (2001. ISBN 1930652399, ISBN-13 978-1930652392)
*The Cruise of Lost Souls (2001. 56 pages ISBN 1930652380, ISBN-13 978-1930652385)
*The Hunting Party (March 2002. 100 pages. ISBN 0-9672401-7-4)
*Memories From Outer Space (April 2002. 52 pages. ISBN 1-930652-26-7)
*Exterminator 17 (June 2002. 66 pages. ISBN 1-930652-50-X)
*The Dormant Beast (October 5, 2002. 72 pages. ISBN 1930652836, ISBN-13 978-1930652835)
*The Town That Didn't Exist (March 2003. 56 pages, Hardcover. ISBN 1930652372, ISBN-13 978-1930652378)

"The Bilal Library:""(small format - 190 × 260 cm - paperbacks)"
*Townscapes (July 1, 2004. 176 pages. ISBN 1-4012-0361-2)
*The Beast Trilogy: Chapters 1& 2 (September 29, 2004. 128 pages. ISBN 1-4012-0398-1)
*The Nikopol Trilogy (November 10, 2004. 176 pages ISBN 1-4012-0384-1)
*The Chaos Effect (January 19, 2005. 168 pages) Containing The Black Order Brigade and The Hunting Party
*Memories (April 20, 2005. 144 pages. ISBN 1-4012-0380-9) Contains "Memories of Outer Space" and "Memories of Outer Times"

"Trade Paperback:"
*The Dormant Beast (March 2000. 72 pages. ISBN 0-9672401-5-8)

Filmography

* "Bunker Palace Hôtel" (1989)
* "Tykho Moon" (1996)
* "Immortel (Ad Vitam)" (2004)
* "CineMonster" (2007)

Awards

*1980: Prix RTL for best adult comic [http://bilal.enki.free.fr/biographie.php3 Enki Bilal biography] bilal.enki.free.fr]
*1987: Angoulême Festival, France, Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulêmecite web|last=ToutEnBD|title =Le Palmarès 1987 |url =http://www.toutenbd.com/article.php3?id_article=839|language = French ]
*1993: Best book of the year Award from "Lire" magazine
*1997:Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, Special Mention [Cite web|last=La Médiathèque|title=1997|url=http://www.lamediatheque.be/dec/cinema/film_fantastique/1997.php]
*1999: Adamson Award, Sweden, for Best International Comic Book Cartoonist
*1999: Angoulême Festival, Nominated for Best comic book
*2004: Angoulême Festival, Nominated for Audience award
*2004: Fantasia Ubisoft Festival, Gold medal for Best Groundbreaking Film, Bronze Medal for Best International Film (public prizes) [ [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/pressrelease.php?id=479 Press release] Fantasia Ubisoft 2004 Festival]
*2006: International Horror Guild Awards, Best Illustrated Narrative, for "Memories" [ [http://www.horroraward.org/prevrec.html IHG Award Recipients] ]

ources

* [http://bdoubliees.com/journalpilote/auteurs1/bilal.htm Bilal publications in "Pilote"] , [http://bdoubliees.com/metalhurlant/auteurs1/bilal.htm "Metal Hurlant"] , [http://bdoubliees.com/asuivre/auteurs1/bilal.htm "(A SUIVRE)"] BDoubliées fr_icon;Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.enkibilal.com/ Bilal official site] fr_icon
* [http://lambiek.net/artists/b/bilal.htm Bilal biography] on Lambiek Comiclopedia
* [http://bilal.enki.free.fr/ Bilal fansite] fr_icon
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