Emmanuel Lepage

Born in Saint-Brieuc in 1966, Emmanuel Lepage developed a passion for comic art at a very early age, began his apprenticeship as a teenager and started publishing at a relatively young age. After a series of five albums written by Dieter, Névé (Glénat, 1991–1998), his big breakthrough came in 1999 with La Terre sans mal (The Land Without Evil, Dupuis), a story by Anne Sibran, in which Lepage experimented with direct color for the first time. The album won several awards and was shortlisted for the Alph’Art Award for Best Album at Angoulême, ultimately winning the Booksellers’ Choice Award. In 2004, Lepage embarked on a project as a complete author, which was a resounding success. Muchacho (2004–2006, Dupuis), the story of the young seminarian painter Gabriel in the midst of the Nicaraguan revolution, won an award in 2007 in Monaco (Prize for the Best Comic Book Adaptable for Film and Television), among others. In 2005, with Sophie Michel, he published Les Voyages d’Anna (Anna's Journeys) with Daniel Maghen. Two more books followed: Les Voyages d’Ulysse (The Travels of Ulysses, 2016), winner of the 2017 ACBD Grand Prix, and Les Voyages de Jules (Jules' Travels, 2019) with René Follet from the same publisher, as well as the story Oh! les filles (Oh! Girls, 2008–2009) with Futuropolis. A pioneer of a new comic art genre — blending documentary and autobiographical introspection—he is the author of Voyage aux îles de la Désolation (Voyage to the Desolation Islands, 2011), in which he sets sail aboard the Marion Dufresne for a journey to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, followed by La Lune est blanche (The Moon is White, 2014), published by Futuropolis, the account of a scientific mission to Antarctica. With the same publisher, he released Un printemps à Tchernobyl (Springtime in Chernobyl, 2012), in which he recounts his journey near the nuclear power plant, using drawings to document the greatest nuclear disaster of the 20th century. Still with Futuropolis, Lepage continues his graphic and autobiographical exploration. He is the author of magnificent artworks such as Ar-Men, L’enfer des enfers (The Hell of Hells, 2017), Cache-cache Bâton (Hide-and-Seek a Stick, 2022), Au pied des étoiles with Edmond Baudoin (At the Foot of the Stars, 2024), and most recently Danser avec le vent (Dancing With the Wind, 2025).

Emmanuel Lepage is a leading figure in contemporary comic art. In 2012, he won the Grand Prix for Poster Design at the Quai des Bulles festival in Saint-Malo, and in 2018, he received the Grand Prix at the bd BOUM comics festival in Blois for his entire body of work. His artwork is regularly exhibited at festivals and at the Daniel Maghen Gallery, which represents him. An illustrated book on the navy is in preparation with Editions Daniel Maghen. Emmanuel Lepage’s career is chronicled by Serge Bluch in a monograph published by Mosquito. On September 30, 2021, Emmanuel Lepage became the first comic artist to be named Official Painter of the Navy by the Minister of the Armed Forces.

For 20 years, the Daniel Maghen Gallery has showcased Emmanuel Lepage’s artwork in major exhibitions in 2008, 2016, and 2019.