Born in Lyon in 1960, Philippe Gauckler began his career in the 1980s after studying architecture and applied design. He made a name for himself in Métal Hurlant with the stories Suicide Commando, Duel, and the science fiction saga Blue. Alongside his comic art work, he pursued a successful career as an illustrator for Je Bouquine, Le Journal de Mickey, and several science fiction series. In 1990, he created the Convoi series with writer Thierry Smolderen. After a stint in advertising, he returned to comic art with Prince Lao, his first solo series, inspired by exotic landscapes and nature. He followed this with the thriller Koralovski (2015) and then the science-fiction series KEBEK (2019–2021), published by Daniel Maghen and rendered in direct color.