The Most Famous

COMIC ARTISTS from France

This page contains a list of the greatest French Comic Artists. The pantheon dataset contains 226 Comic Artists, 16 of which were born in France. This makes France the birth place of the 3rd most number of Comic Artists behind Japan, and United States.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary French Comic Artists of all time. This list of famous French Comic Artists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of French Comic Artists.

1. René Goscinny (1926 - 1977)

With an HPI of 71.00, René Goscinny is the most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 54 different languages on wikipedia.

René Goscinny (French: [ʁəne ɡɔsini], Polish: [ɡɔɕˈt͡ɕinnɨ] ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the Astérix comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. He was raised primarily in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schools, and he lived in the United States for a short period of time. There he met Belgian cartoonist Morris. After his return to France, they collaborated for more than 20 years on the comic series Lucky Luke (in what was considered the series' golden age). He wrote Iznogoud with Jean Tabary. Goscinny also wrote a series of children's books known as Le Petit Nicolas (Little Nicolas) illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé.

2. Albert Uderzo (1927 - 2020)

With an HPI of 66.50, Albert Uderzo is the 2nd most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (Italian: [alˈbɛrto aleˈandro uˈdɛrtso]; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo (French: [albɛʁ ydɛʁzo]), was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the Astérix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny. Uderzo retired in September 2011.

3. Jean Giraud (1938 - 2012)

With an HPI of 63.75, Jean Giraud is the 3rd most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (French: [ʒiʁo]; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius (; French: [møbjys]) for his fantasy/science-fiction work, and to a slightly lesser extent as Gir (French: [ʒiʁ]), which he used for the Blueberry series and his other Western themed work. Esteemed by Federico Fellini, Stan Lee, and Hayao Miyazaki, among others, he has been described as the most influential bande dessinée artist after Hergé. His most famous body of work as Gir concerns the Blueberry series, created with writer Jean-Michel Charlier, featuring one of the first antiheroes in Western comics, and which is particularly valued in continental Europe. As Mœbius he achieved worldwide renown (in this case in the English-speaking nations and Japan as well – where his work as Gir had not done well), by creating a wide range of science-fiction and fantasy comics in a highly imaginative, surreal, almost abstract style. These works include Arzach and the Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius. He also collaborated with avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky for an unproduced adaptation of Dune and the comic book series The Incal. Mœbius also contributed storyboards and concept designs to numerous science-fiction and fantasy films, such as Alien, Tron, The Fifth Element, and The Abyss. Blueberry was adapted for the screen in 2004 by French director Jan Kounen.

4. Jean-Jacques Sempé (1932 - 2022)

With an HPI of 61.17, Jean-Jacques Sempé is the 4th most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Jean-Jacques Sempé, usually known as Sempé (French: [sɑ̃'pe]; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2022), was a French cartoonist. He is known for the series of children's books he created with René Goscinny, Le Petit Nicolas, and also for his poster-like illustrations, usually drawn from a distant or high viewpoint depicting detailed countrysides or cities. For decades, he created covers for The New Yorker.

5. Cabu (1938 - 2015)

With an HPI of 58.64, Cabu is the 5th most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Jean Maurice Jules Cabut (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ mɔʁis ʒyl kaby]; 13 January 1938 – 7 January 2015), known by the pen-name Cabu (pronounced [kaby]), was a French comic strip artist and caricaturist. He was murdered in the January 2015 shooting attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper offices. Cabu was a staff cartoonist and shareholder at Charlie Hebdo.

6. Philippe Honoré (1941 - 2015)

With an HPI of 57.33, Philippe Honoré is the 6th most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Philippe Paul-Louis Juste Honoré (French: [ɔnɔʁe]; 25 November 1941 – 7 January 2015), known by the pen-name Honoré, was a French cartoonist and a long-time staff member of Charlie Hebdo. Honoré was among five cartoonists assassinated on 7 January 2015, during the shooting attack on the Charlie Hebdo newspaper office.

7. Émile Cohl (1857 - 1938)

With an HPI of 54.71, Émile Cohl is the 7th most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Émile Eugène Jean Louis Cohl (French: [kol]; né Courtet; 4 January 1857 – 20 January 1938) was a French caricaturist of the Incoherent Movement, cartoonist, and animator, called "The Father of the Animated Cartoon".

8. Jacques Tardi (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 53.32, Jacques Tardi is the 8th most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Jacques Tardi (French: [taʁdi]; born 30 August 1946) is a French comic artist. He is often credited solely as Tardi.

9. Tignous (1957 - 2015)

With an HPI of 52.04, Tignous is the 9th most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Bernard Jean-Charles Verlhac (21 August 1957 – 7 January 2015), known by the pseudonym Tignous (French pronunciation: [tiɲus], from Occitan: Tinhós), was a French cartoonist. He was a long-time staff cartoonist for the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. On 7 January 2015, Tignous was killed in the Charlie Hebdo shooting.

10. Jean-Claude Mézières (1938 - 2022)

With an HPI of 49.58, Jean-Claude Mézières is the 10th most famous French Comic Artist. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Jean-Claude Mézières (French: [ʒɑ̃klod mezjɛʁ]; 23 September 1938 – 23 January 2022) was a French bandes dessinées artist and illustrator. Born in Paris and raised in nearby Saint-Mandé, he was introduced to drawing by his elder brother and influenced by comics artists such as Hergé, Andre Franquin and Morris and later by Jijé and Jack Davis. Educated at the École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art, he worked upon graduation as an illustrator for books and magazines as well as in advertising. A lifelong interest in the Wild West led him to travel to the United States in 1965 in search of adventure as a cowboy, an experience that would prove influential on his later work. Returning to France, Mézières teamed up with his childhood friend, Pierre Christin, to create Valérian and Laureline, the popular, long-running science fiction comics series for which he is best known and which influenced many science fiction and fantasy films, including Star Wars. Mézières contributed as a conceptual designer on several motion picture projects, most notably the 1997 Luc Besson film, The Fifth Element, as well as continuing to work as an illustrator for newspapers, magazines and in advertising. He also taught courses on the production of comics at the University of Paris VIII: Vincennes—Saint-Denis. Mézières received international recognition through numerous awards, most notably the 1984 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême.

People

Pantheon has 17 people classified as French comic artists born between 1857 and 1971. Of these 17, 5 (29.41%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living French comic artists include Jacques Tardi, François Bourgeon, and Sylvain Chomet. The most famous deceased French comic artists include René Goscinny, Albert Uderzo, and Jean Giraud. As of April 2024, 1 new French comic artists have been added to Pantheon including David Beauchard.