As a teenager, Richard Marazano was fascinated by the arts, politics and the sciences. After much deliberation, Marazano decided to study physics and astrophysics in college, before finally starting out in the comic book world at the prestigious fine arts school in Angouleme. His first album, "Humain trop humain, " illustrated by Éric Dérian, was released in 1995 (Le Cycliste). In 2003, with artist Michel Durand, he created the series "Cuervos" (Glénat), which met with great critical acclaim and picked up some prestigious prizes.
Marazano also enjoyed great public success with his award-winning science-fiction series "Le complexe du chimpanzé" (Dargaud; "Chimpanzee Complex, " Cinebook), illustrated by Jean-Michel Ponzio. Since then, Marazano has taken on more and more projects, with a variety of artistic collaborators. With Dargaud in particular Marazano has published a number of series over the last decade, including "Le rêve du papillon" (2010-2014), "S.
A. M." (2011-2013; Cinebook in English), "Otaku Blue" (2012-2013), "Le Protocole Pélican" (2011-2013), and "Mémoires de la guerre civile" (2017-2018; "Memories from the Civil War, " Europe Comics/Cinebook), in collaboration with his accomplice Jean-Michel Ponzio. Alongside artist Marcelo Frusin, he has also explored antiquity with the ongoing series "Expedition" (2012; Europe Comics 2018), and he has joined with Christophe Ferreira for two other adventure series, "Alcyon" (2014-2015, Europe Comics 2019) and "Le monde de Milo" (2013-2015, Lion Forge 2019, Milo's World).
Richard Marazano loves travel tales, and is also interested in Inca, Aztec and Mayan cultures, a diversity of interests manifest in his most recent work, "Zarathustra" (Dargaud, Europe Comics 2019), an epic created alongside Mir.
Born in southern France, Jean-Michel Ponzio took to drawing from an early age. In 1985, he earned a degree in technical drawing in Marseille, before moving on to Paris to study advertising communication.
Finally he obtained an advanced degree in visual communication in Toulouse, in 1989, before testing his talents in the professional world. For several years he worked on 3D short films, before going back to study once more, this time in Angouleme, where he specialized in digital imaging. From 1996 to 2000 he contributed to the animated series "Insektors" (Studio Fantôme), before switching to special effects, working on a number of high-profile movies, including "Fight Club." From there, he transitioned to cover illustrations, and then to comics.
An encounter with scriptwriter Richard Marazano proved fateful, as the two quickly went on to create a number of successful series, including "Le complexe du chimpanzé" (Dargaud; "Chimpanzee Complex, " Cinebook), "Le Protocole Pélican" (2011-2013), and "Mémoires de la guerre civile" (2017-2018; "Memories from the Civil War, " Europe Comics/Cinebook). He is now recognized as a leading name in contemporary Franco-Belgian comics.
