Olivier Ledroit studied for two years at the Paris 1 Duperré College of Applied Arts. After a few illustrations for card game magazines, he started doing the rounds of mastermind game fairs in search of work. That’s where he met Froideval, who invited him to take part in a comic book project with the publisher Zenda. In 1989, the pair released the first volume of the “Chroniques de la Lune Noire” (Europe Comics 2017, “The Black Moon Chronicles”). Ledroit illustrated the first five volumes of the series (and also did the coloring for the fifth). He also created the covers for the whole series, which was later continued with Dargaud.
By 1990 this fantasy-medieval comic book series had defined a new style: gothic comics. The artists took their inspiration from the medieval fantasy of the ‘80s and also from the fantasy-fiction of the 19th century. The series has in turn influenced many authors of this genre from the 1990s onwards. Olivier Ledroit is today recognized as a precursor and leader of the genre.
In 1994, Vents d’Ouest published the first volume of “Xoco,” a series for which Ledroit illustrated the first diptych with a script by Thomas Mosdi. This series, greatly inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, recreates the gothic and macabre ambiance of “Chroniques de la Lune Noire.” During and after “Xoco,” Ledroit worked with Pat Mills on “Sha,” published by Soleil. This new three-part series, published between 1996 and 1998, was a slight change in tone for Olivier Ledroit, but the artist’s penchant for disturbing, violent settings remains present.
1998 brought about a short pause in Ledroit’s collaboration with Mills, because he was working on his first solo project (script and illustrations): “La Porte écarlate,” published by Soleil.
In 2000, Olivier Ledroit and Pat Mills founded Nickel publishing with Jacques Collin, the founder of Zenda. Pat Mills wrote the script for Ledroit’s second flagship series, “Requiem, Chevalier Vampire.”
Alongside the Requiem series, he illustrated the first volume of “Arcanes de la Lune Noire,” the prequel to “Chroniques de la Lune Noire,” recounting the respective stories of each of the various characters from the series. Just like for the original series, the script was written by Froideval, with Yves Lencot as colorist.
In 2005 he published his “Univers féerique d’Olivier Ledroit” (Daniel Maghen), a collection of previously unpublished illustrations of fantastical creatures.
In 2006 he collaborated with video game studio Ubisoft for “Heroes of Might and Magic V.” In 2014 he transposed his magical universe into a brand new comic book series: “Wika,” published by Glénat, with Thomas Day on script.
