Joann Sfar, born in Nice on 28 August 1971, is already recognised in comic strip circles as a talented and prolific author who is equally happy with illustrations and scripts.
Having gained a Master’s degree in philosophy and taken a few painting courses, he enrols in a morphology course at the Institut des Beaux-Arts of Paris. He starts out at Cornélius (“Ossour Hyrsidoux”) in 1994 and becomes a collaborator of L’Association, regularly featuring in the magazine LAPIN.
In addition, his first album in colour, based on a script by Pierre Dubois “Pétrus Barbygère”, is published by Delcourt in 1996: For the same publisher he works in parallel as a scriptwriter for José-Luis Munuera (the “Potamoks” series) and O. G. Boiscommun (the “Trolls” series, with Jean-David Morvan as co-writer).
He starts on “Les Dossiers du professeur Bell”, the “Petit vampire” series as both writer and illustrator, and works with Trondheim, equitably dividing up the script and illustration of the “Donjon” saga, an unusual yet perfectly orchestrated mix of different drawing styles.
An enlightened Sherlock Holmes and Albert Cohen enthusiast, he illustrates several series, never ceasing to manoeuvre between the absurd and the philosophical. When he moves into the Atelier des Vosges (Place des Vosges, Paris), he gets to rub shoulders with a wide range of artists, such as Frédéric Boilet, Tronchet, Émile Bravo, Christophe Blain and Emmanuel Guibert.
“La fille du professeur”, illustrated by Emmanuel Guibert, appears in the “Humour Libre” collection. This work, a cheerful re-enactment of the Victorian age, was awarded the l’Alph’Art Coup de Coeur at Angoulême in 1998, as well as the Prix René Goscinny.
Still with Emmanuel Guibert doing the illustrations, he starts the series “Les Olives noires” in the “Repérages” collection in 2001, a deeply moving and modern story of a young Jewish child travelling through Judea in the days of Jesus Christ.
