Firmin Aristophane Boulon (published as Aristophane, the French name of Aristophanes) was a Guadeloupe-born cartoonist. A graduate of the French schools École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the European School of Visual Arts, he began work "preoccupied with evil and frailty as viewed through the lives of demons and mythological creatures."[1]
| Aristophane | |
|---|---|
| Born | Firmin Aristophane Boulon January 8, 1967 Baillif, Guadeloupe |
| Died | May 11, 2004 (aged 37) Dissay, France |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Artist |
Notable works | Les sœurs Zabîme,Conte Démoniaque |
His first work to receive attention was his 300-page graphic novel Conté Demoniaque ("Demonic Tale"): an epic set in hell inspired by Dante's Inferno, Paradise Lost, the philosophy of Max Stirner and the artist Gustave Doré.[2] 50 of its pages were exhibited in the "Angels and Demons" during the 1994 Angoulême comics festival in the Centre National de la Bande Dessinée et de l’Image.[3][4]
Sometime during 1998 Aristophane suffered a domestic accident that left him severely burned on the face and hands,[4] he was hospitalised in Nantes.[5] Following this accident he burned all the original art of his breakthrough work Conté Demoniaque and Faune, which he considered blasphemous after converting to Hinduism.[4][6] His last published work during his lifetime was the story "La Sentinelle" ("The Sentinel") in Ego Comme X no. 6 in 1999.[7]
His 1996 graphic novel, Les sœurs Zabîme, is about children in Guadeloupe and considered a "small masterpiece."[1] It was his final completed major work.
In school he had been told, "In painting, everything has been explored. The future belongs to comics."[8][6][9]
Works
- Short works and Faune in Lapin no. 2, 4-5, 8-9 and 11 (1992-1996)[10]
- Logorrhée ("Logorrhea", 1993)[11]
- Le vieux Samson ("Old Samson") in le Cheval sans Tête no. 3-5 (1993)[9]
- Tu Rêves Lili ("You Dream Lili"), children's book written by Christiane Renauld (1993)
- Short works and Les sept fantômes ("The seven ghosts") in Le Lézard no. 8-12 (1993-1996)[10]
- "Le mauvaise odeur" ("The bad smell") in Bananas no. 3 (1995)[9]
- Faune, ou l'histoire d'un immorale (1995)[11]
- "Monde virtuel" in Avoir 20 ans en l'an 2000 (1995)[12]
- Conte Démoniaque ("Demonic Tale", 1996)[11]
- Les sœurs Zabîme ("The Zabime sisters", 1996)[11]
- Short works and Shri-Ganesha ("The seven ghosts") in Jade no. 1, 4, 9, 11-13 and 15 (1995-1998)[10]
- Short works and Les sœurs Zabîme in Ego Comme X no. 1-6 (1994-1999)[10]
- The Zabîme Sisters (translated by Matt Madden 2010)