The White Sultana

Pierre Christin was born in suburban Paris in 1938, and studied at both the Sorbonne and Sciences Po in Paris. Alongside his jazz music and his first jobs in journalism, he set off to America's West Coast in the '60s, where he discovered the joys of life on a ranch and the open highway, as well as sci-fi, crime fiction, and the richness of African-American music. In 1967, he and Jean-Claude Mézières released the first of many "Valerian" adventures. From 1970 to 1980, with "Pilote" magazine, he wrote for various aritists, including Tardi and Boucq—totaling nearly 60 comics—dealing with all kinds of themes, adapting his style to each collaborator. He always kept his optimistic, even utopian, side for his old friend Mézières, whose narrative clarity and humor he always enjoyed working with. Christin tended to save his more serious subjects for Enki Bilal, producing such classics as "Les Phalanges de l'Ordre Noir" and "Partie de chasse." Yet his range was greater still, and he explored other themes with Annie Goetzinger, crafting detailed and intimate portraits of women in "La Demoiselle de la Légion d'Honneur" (1980), "Paquebot" (1999), "La Sultane Blanche" (1996 Dargaud; "The White Sultana," 2016 Europe Comics), and "Hardy Agency" (Dargaud, Europe Comics in English). Christin is also a seasoned traveler, completing a world tour between 1992 and 1999, an experience he writes about in "L'homme qui fait le tour du Monde," with Philippe Aymond. The two would later pair up again for "Est-Ouest" (Dupuis; "East-West," Europe Comics), which chronicles his time in the US and in Cold War-era Europe, behind the Iron Curtain.

Following her studies specialized in fashion drawing, Annie Goetzinger was soon published in Circus, L'Echo des savanes, Fluide Glacial, Métal Hurlant and, most of all, Pilote magazine. Her first full comic, "Casque d'or" (1976 Glénat), won her two prizes at Angoulême festival. After that she illustrated "Auroure, une vie de George Sand" (Éditions des femmes, 1978), scripted by Adela Turin, and "Felina" (1979 Glénat), for Victor Mora. She then started her activities in costume design for the theater, illustrations, short stories (for the Fripon collection at Humanoïdes associés) and press drawings, often for Le Monde. She started a highly fruitful collaboration with Pierre Christin in 1980, with "La Demoiselle de la Légion d'honneur" (Dargaud). The pair went on to produce "La Diva et le Kriegsspiel" (1981 Dargaud), "La Voyageuse de la petite ceinture" (1985 Dargaud), "Charlotte et Nancy" (1987 Dargaud), "Le Tango du disparu" (2008 Métaillé), "Le Message du simple" (1994 Le Seuil), "La Sultane blanche" (1996 Dargaud, "The White Sultana" 2016 Europe Comics) and "Paquebot" (1999 Dargaud). Goetzinger and Christin continued for many years to work together on the "Hardy Agency" series (Dargaud; Europe Comics in English). After releasing the last album of the "Portraits souvenirs" collection (1992 Les Humanoïdes associés, "L'Avenir perdu"), with Jon S. Jonsson and Andreas Knigge, Annie Goetzinger paired up with Rodolphe on the script for "Marie-Antoinette, la reine fantôme" (2011 Dargaud; "Marie Antoinette, Phantom Queen," 2016 NBM). In 2016 Goetzinger released another graphic novel based on a legendary life: "Jeune fille en Dior" (Dargaud; "Girl in Dior," 2015 NBM), a work retracing the steps of Christian Dior, the man who would one day be one of the world's most famous fashion designers. Most recently, in 2017 Goetzinger published the biographical graphic novel "Les apprentissages de Colette" (Dargaud), set to be published in English in 2018 by NBM ("The Provocative Colette"). Goetzinger sadly passed away in December 2017, but leaves behind her a magnificent body of work and a legion of devoted fans.