Marzena Sowa came to France in 2001 to finish her studies that she had begun in Krakow. In Bordeaux, she met the artist Sylvain Savoia, and from 2004 onwards, they worked together on the "Marzi" series (Dupuis 2005, Europe Comics 2017), which depicts Marzena's childhood memories of Poland during the final years of the communist regime. The seventh volume of the series was released in July 2017. The series achieved international success and was nominated at the Angoulême International Comics Festival and also for an Eisner Award in the U.
S. In 2013, with Sandrine Revel, Sowa published "N'embrassez pas qui vous voulez" (Dupuis; "You Can't Just Kiss Anyone You Want, " Europe Comics 2017) which presents another view of the Soviet era. In 2014, with the artist Gawron, she published "L'Insurrection - Avant l'orage, " which takes place in Poland at the tail end of World War II.
Born in 1969, Sylvain Savoia and Jean-David Morvan both grew up in Reims, and discovered comic books together through the fanzine Hors Gabarit.
In 1989, they both registered at the Saint-Luc art school in Brussels. Savoia began to work with Zygus magazine and was also published in Jet, a monthly publication founded by Le Lombard and open to new artists. In 1993, alongside Morvan, Savoia published his first album, "Reflets perdus, " with publisher Zenda. In the ensuing years, Savoia accelerated his output, collaborating with Philippe Buchet on the artwork of the first two albums of the "Nomad" series, again written by Morvan.
Savoia later illustrated the next three albums of the series by himself. To maintain their rhythm, Savoia, Morvan, and Buchet opened Studio 510 TTC in Reims in 1994, and alongside his comics work, Savoia worked regularly on advertising, corporate communication and professional training books. In 2003, he and Morvan started the crime series "Al'Togo" with Dargaud, and the next year his partner, Marzena Sowa, asked him to illustrate "Marzi" (Dupuis, Europe Comics in English) an autobiographical series about her childhood in Poland for which Savoia developed a whole new graphic style.
After the series' international success, Savoia brought his readers another lesson in humanity with "Les ésclaves oubliés de Tromelin" (Dupuis 2015; "The Forgotten Slaves of Tromelin, " Europe Comics 2016). The book flits between the tragic history of Tromelin Island from the perspective of a young slave girl, and Savoia's own experience on the island during an archeological excavation. Most recently, Savoia has also joined with author and historian Fabrice Erre to create the series "Le fil de l'histoire" (Dupuis; "On the History Trail, " Europe Comics), set on bringing the past to vivid life for younger readers.
