Though Jean-Claude Fournier was born in Paris on 21 May 1943, his roots are in Brittany. Attracted both by drawing and theatre, he filled pieces of paper instead of studying at the Lycée Claude Bernard in Paris, where he was a pupil, and devoted his evenings to the theatre education provided by Charles Dullin at the French National Theatre.
In 1965 he encountered Franquin at a signing session who suggested that he should show his drawings to Spirou’s editorial team. He started working there in 1967 with “Korrigan de la forêt de Brocéliande” and “Bizu” and the freshness of the graphics in this series appealed to the editor, Charles Dupuis, who asked him to succeed Franquin to work on “Spirou and Fantasio”. From 1968 to 1980, Fournier produced nine adventures with these heroes. His beloved Bizu suffered and was reduced to episodic stories, however, the artist returned to his hero after deciding to entrust “Spirou et Fantasio” to others.
At the same time, since 1975, Fournier has regularly illustrated the competitions organised by the daily newspaper Ouest-France and made a large contribution to the development of a “Breton School” by providing advice in his Rennes studio to many gifted young artists such as Albert Blesteau, Jean-Luc Hiettre, Malo Louarn, and Michel Plessix amongst others.
After various attempts to re-launch “Bizu”, firstly at Éditions Fleurus in 1986, then at Dupuis from 1990 to 1994, Jean-Claude Fournier resolutely turned towards gastronomic humour in the company of the writer Zidrou: their “Crannibales” has already made quite a stir and seems ensured of an enduring success.
A poet, one of the first ecologists, attracted by the secrets hidden within the small people living in the depths of the forests, Fournier lives on the coast of the Brittany that he loves more than anything.
