Jacques Tardi

Jacques Tardi is a French comic artist. After graduating from the École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon and the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris, he started drawing comics in 1969, at the age of 23, in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine *Pilote*, initially illustrating short stories written by Jean Giraud and Serge de Beketch, before creating the political fiction story *Rumeur sur le Rouergue* from a scenario by Pierre Christin in 1972. He made his breakthrough in the mid-1970s with his comic series *Les Aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec*, in which his enormous attention to detail in illustrating the urban landscapes of Paris and the technology of the early 20th century is evident. Tardi especially gained fame and recognition with his graphic novels about the horror and misery of The First World War, like *C'était la guerre des tranchées*. Another major focus of his work is adaptations of crime stories set against a historical backdrop, in particular Tardi is known for his adaptations of *Nestor Burma* written by Léo Malet.