Guibert, Emmanuel 1964–

Personal

Born 1964, in Paris, France. Education: Attended École Hourdé. Hobbies and other interests: Prix René Goscinny, and Alph'Art Coup de Coeur, both 1998, both for La fille du professeur.

Addresses

Home and office—Paris, France.

Career

Comics artist.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED COMICS

Brune, Relié (Gordes, France), 1992.

La campagne à la mer: Guibert en Normandie (sketch-book), Ouest-France (Rennes, France), 2002.

Les poixons, Cartonnée (Paris, France), 2003.

Le pavè de Paris, Relié (Gordes, France), 2004.

ILLUSTRATOR; COMICS

(With Joann Sfar) La fille du professeur (graphic novel), Dupuis (Marcinelle, Belgium), 1997, translated by Alexis Siegel as The Professor's Daughter, First Second (New York, NY), 2007.

(With Guy Deliste) La guerre d'Alan, Broché (Paris, France), 2000.

(With B. David) Le capitaine Écarlate, Cartonné (Paris, France), 2000.

(With Didier Lefèvre) Le photographe: Tome 1, Dupuis (Marcinelle, Belgium), 2003.

(With Didier Lefèvre) Voyages en Afghanistan: le pays des critons doux et des oranges amères, Relié (Gordes, France), 2003.

(With Didier Lefèvre) Le photographe: Tome 2, Dupuis (Marcinelle, Belgium), 2004.

Va et Vient, Broché (Paris, France), 2005.

(With Bernadette Després, Jacqueline Cohen, and Evelyne Rebert) Tom-Tom et Nana, Tome 33: Ben ça, Alors!, Broché (Paris, France), 2005.

(With Christian Rosset, Gilles Clement, and Marie Lallouet) Monographie prématurée, Broché (Paris, France), 2006.

(With Gilles Tevessin and Romain Multier) Un taxi nommé Nadir, Broché (Paris, France), 2006.

(With Didier Lefèvre) Le photographe: Tome 3, Dupuis (Marcinelle, Belgium), 2006.

"LES OLIVES NOIRES" SERIES; COMICS

(With Joann Sfar) Pourquoi cette nuit est-elle différente des autres nuits?, Dupuis (Marcinelle, Belgium), 2001.

(With Joann Sfar) Adam Harishon, Dupuis (Marcinelle, Belgium), 2002.

(With Joann Sfar) Tu ne mangeras pas le chevreau dans le lait de sa mère, Dupuis (Marcinelle, Belgium), 2003.

"SARDINE IN SPACE" GRAPHIC NOVEL SERIES; FOR YOUNG READERS

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace: le doigt dans l'oeil, Broché (Paris, France), 2000, translated by Sasha Watson as Sardine in Outer Space: Volume One, First Second (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 2: le bar des ennemis, Broché (Paris, France), 2000, translated by Sasha Watson as Sardine in Outer Space: Volume Two, First Second (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 3: la machine à laver la cervelle, Broché (Paris, France), 2001, translated by Sasha Watson as Sardine in Outer Space: Volume Three, First Second (New York, NY), 2007.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 4: Les voleurs de Yaourt, Broché (Paris, France), 2001, translated by Sasha Watson as Sardine in Outer Space: Volume Four, First Second (New York, NY), 2007.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 5: le championnat de Boxe, Broché (Paris, France), 2002.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 6: le capitaine tout rouge, Broché (Paris, France), 2002.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 7: le grande sardine, Broché (Paris, France), 2003.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 8: les tatouages carnivores, Broché (Paris, France), 2003.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 9: les montagne électorale, Cartonné (Paris, France), 2004.

(With Joann Sfar) Sardine de l'espace 10: le cyber disc-jockey, Album, 2005.

"ARIOL" SERIES; COMICS COLLECTIONS; FOR YOUNG READERS

(With Marc Boutavant) Ariol: Debout!, Broché (Paris, France), 2002.

(With Marc Boutavant) Ariol: jeux idiots, Broché (Paris, France), 2002.

(With Marc Boutavant) Ariol: Bête comme â, sale commen un cochon …, Broché (Paris, France), 2003.

(With Marc Boutavant) Ariol: le vaccin à réaction, Broché (Paris, France), 2003.

(With Marc Boutavant) Ariol: karaté! Album, 2004.

(With Marc Boutavant) Ariol: Oh! la mer! Album, 2005.

(With Marc Boutavant) Ariol: copain comme cochon, Broché (Paris, France), 2007.

Sidelights

French comics artist Emmanuel Guibert began drawing as a child, and has admitted that "pencil" was one of the first words in his vocabulary. Now best known for his contributions to comics series such as Joann Sfar's "Sardine de l'espace" ("Sardine in Outer Space") and Marc Boutavant's "Ariol," Guibert started his creative career as a story-board artist for videos and films. In 1992, he published his first original comic, Brune, which weaves a tale around the rise of facism in pre-World War II Germany. From 1995 through 1999, Guibert shared a studio in Paris with noted comics artist and writer Joann Sfar. According to the First Second Books Web site, at their studio "stories grew … like ragweed," and the resulting works included the 'Sardine in Outer Space" comic series as well as the stand-alone graphic novel The Professor's Daughter. A Publishers Weekly critic, in a review of the latter title, called Sfar and Guibert "two of France's best graphic novel talents."

Sardine, the titular heroine of "Sardine in Outer Space," is a rebellious space pirate fighting against the evil Chief Executive Dictator of the Universe, Supermuscleman, and his henchmen. Sardine's companions include Little Louie, her trusty sidekick, and Uncle Yellow Shoulder, who looks after the crew and the ship, Huckleberry. Supermuscleman runs a space orphanage, wherein he requires all the young residents to conform to what he views as appropriate manners. The series plays out over ten volumes, the first of which contains Sardine's first twelve adventures. Sardine in Outer Space: Volume One was described by Booklist contributor Jesse Karp as "a free-wheeling ride peppered with as much grisly monster-filleting action and bodily fluid humor as a young reader could want." A Kirkus Reviews contributor also cited the volume's "nonstop action, humor geared to multiple levels of cultural awareness and the promise of more episodes to come." A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that, although the "plots are wispy, … the pirate humor and gothic panels … provide surprises in every space vignette."

Sardine and company continue to encounter adventures in a similar fashion in further series volumes. In Sardine in Outer Space: Volume Two, for example, she joins Louie in sabotaging the machine Supermuscleman uses to brainwash orphans into proper behavior. The volume also includes a rescue of Captain Yellow Shoulder and a high-speed chase along the Milky Way. Though noting that adults might find the tales repetitious, a Kirkus Reviews contributor felt that Sfar and Guibert's stories "will keep the younger audiences to whom they're actually addressed chortling." Karp wrote that the low-brow, bathroom jokes "give the book an illicit, forbidden-fruit appeal," while School Library Journal critic Dawn Rutherford dubbed the second series installment "delightful and entertaining."

Guibert and Sfar's other notable collaboration, The Professor's Daughter, presents a gothic tale of love between the teenaged daughter of a professor and a mummy. Although a Publishers Weekly critic found much to enjoy in the graphic novel, "Guibert's work is the real treat," according to the critic.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 2006, Jesse Karp, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume One, p. 56; September 1, 2006, Jesse Karp, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume Two, p. 128.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2006, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume One, p. 407; August 15, 2006, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume Two, p. 841.

Kliatt, January, 2007, George Galuschak, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume One, p. 31.

Publishers Weekly, June 12, 2006, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume One, p. 52; November 27, 2006, "And Then What Happened?," p. 53; February 5, 2007, review of The Professor's Daughter, p. 46.

School Library Journal, July, 2006, Benjamin Russell, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume One, p. 125; November, 2006, Dawn Rutherford, review of Sardine in Outer Space: Volume Two, p. 166.

ONLINE

First Second Books Web site,http://www.firstsecondbooks.net/ (July 2, 2007), "Emmanuel Guibert."

Lambiek Web site,http://lambiek.net/ (July 2, 2007), "Emmanuel Guibert."

Powells Web site,http://www.powells.com/ (July 2, 2007), interview with Guibert.