Jacques TARDI

Jacques Tardi © Casterman

Jacques TARDI is a French author, illustrator and cartoonist.
He drew his first comic La Marque verte (in homage to Edgar P.Jacobs' La marque jaune) at the age of 13. He went through the Fine Arts of Lyon and the Decorative Arts of Paris.
From 1970, he worked for Pilote and drew stories by Jean Giraud and Pierre Christin. He also creates western boards and already tackles what will be a constant of his work : The First World War with The real story of the unknown soldier in 1974. As an illustrator, he collaborates on Libération, L'Echo des savanes and Métal Hurlant.
In 1976, at the request of Casterman, he created Les Aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec, which saw new adventures until 2007, and in 1982, he adapted Léo Mallet and gave substance to his Nestor Burma.
The 90s will be more personal and very diverse. He adapts Louis Ferdinand Céline, with notably Voyage au bout de la nuit.
He is the author of Moi, Réné Tardi, prisonnier de guerre du Stalag II-B narrating the memories of a prisoner of World War II of his father, an officer in the Infantry.
He also created C'était la guerre des tranchées (1993) and Le Der des Ders after Didier Daeninckx, or Où-tu va-tu petit soldat - A l'abattoir! or Putain de guerre ! , all dedicated to World War I.
Not content to make war an event in the background of history, but really seeking to transmit the naked reality of the fights through comics, Tardi conquers a territory almost unexplored by the 9th Art. This earned him the title of Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur in 2013, a tribute he refused to accept, preferring to remain independent of any political power.
His work on The Commune of Paris The Cry of the People after Jean Vautrin also illustrates his political commitments. Finally, it should be noted that Jacques Tardi drew Paris as few comic book authors did. From the Paris of the 1910s (Adèle Blanc-Sec) to the Paris of the 1950s (Nestor Burma), he was able to give back to each district, each district its character, its particularity.