Michel Plessix

A Breton comic artist and writer originally from Saint-Malo, Michel Plessix (1959–2017) learned the trade alongside Jean-Claude Fournier, who taught him the conventions of comic art. He then joined a collective of authors in Rennes, including Fournier, Gégé, Malo Louarn and Jean-Luc Hiettre, among others, and helped launch the magazine Frilouz. In 1984, he published Mark Jones, Pas de bananes pour Miss Blanquette with Jean-Luc Hiettre (Éditions Souny), followed by the graphic novel La Déesse aux yeux de jade (The Goddess with the Jade Eyes) with Milan in 1988 (reissued in 1993 by Éditions Delcourt), with Dieter as the writer. Working again with Hiettre, he began illustrating the four-part adventures of Julien Boisvert (Delcourt) in 1989. Michel Plessix also wrote the script for the series Les Forell (Dargaud), illustrated by Bazile. In 1996, he began adapting Kenneth Grahame’s novel The Wind in the Willows (four volumes, Delcourt). The series was a huge hit with the public and won numerous awards. In 2005, he created a sequel, The Wind in the Sands (five volumes, Delcourt), the complete collection of which was published in November 2017. In 2014, he took over the writing of the series La Famille Passiflore, illustrated by Loïc Jouannigot, for two volumes (Dargaud). His final graphic novel, Là où vont les fourmis (Where the Ants Go, Casterman), written by Frank Le Gall, was published in September 2016. 

Michel Plessix passed away on August 21, 2017, in Saint-Malo, the city where he was born and which had just awarded him the Grand Prix at the Quai des Bulles festival. He was working on his next book, À L’Ombre des Saules (In the Shade of the Willows), a new installment in his iconic series, Le Vent dans les Saules (The Wind in the Willows).