A story of adventure and science fiction in Corsica

– Was the comic strip for you work to do?
After studying graphic design which should have led me to comics, I preferred to focus on drawing and illustration, because, in any case, it is the thing that has always pleased me since I was old enough to do anything. After a few years on a series of varied and varied “tasks”, from costume design to drawn “shows” in nightclubs, etc. and to the best of them, I ended up experimenting with comics, a field that combines drawing with limitations, invention and storytelling, all That’s from a popular perspective. Together they go completely in the direction of my artistic philosophy.

Your relationship with Corsica?
– Corsica, I practice it as a tourist, we will not hide! I would have liked to be able to root my Corte or Ajaccio roots, but no. I’m a basic Benzoto, and worse than Paris. Since 1978, I’ve been doing it annually, which is a long time. Like many mainland residents, I adore this island, its sea, mountains, etc… and I have a special relationship with its inhabitants. But, unlike many mainlanders, this report is not unusual: a certain form of mistrust mixed with exaggerated complicity, tinged with condescension and flattery. My personal relationship with Corsica is still under analysis, but let’s say far, without being distant and arrogant, inquisitive, sometimes amused, and always kind. Look, I wanted to turn on my story. But I walk away… For the comics, I wanted to talk about a wonderful place, still preserved, but threatened by an age in crisis that must choose between saving and profit, simply put. Corsica seemed to me the perfect place.

– The idea of ​​this comedian Agughia?
– The idea came from the fact that I wanted to make a 7Os-style comic book, “à la Valérian” to tell the truth. SF story, genre, and therefore, effective, but with a fairy tale aspect. Not a letter, not a big speech, but rather a plot plot, and I hope it will be entertaining, against the background of a critical look at some of the excesses of the present world. And this is, in fact, for me, a sixth interest: to speak of the present in an odd and exaggerated line.
– Theme ? How is your work organized?
– As I told you, I still go to Corsica a lot. So it was not a problem of documentation. Next, I painted the panels in Paris, so some will find I’m a little on the side. Then, it’s also SF, so I wasn’t looking for the absolute truth of landscapes and Corsica in its identity either.
– There is also the issue of ecology, environment and tourism…
– Environment, climate change, etc… It’s hard to ignore, especially when you see the extraordinary nature of the island, to say it’s in borrowed time. Concrete, fires etc… As for tourism, every year I see it grow in Corsica more or less, and it develops anyway. I can’t quite spit on it, because I’m not Corsican, it would be a little bloated. Suppose that mass tourism of the poorest, associated with the tourism of the super-rich, still represents something rather dismal.

Are you a screenwriter and animator at the same time?
I, I, like to do both things, even if painting “for” someone else has a soothing side from time to time. We often hear writers, directors, or colleagues say they are storytellers. I am a storyteller. I always start with a graphic approach before approaching the story, and by drawing, the line I am trying to embody.

– Projects?
– It’s still a bit mysterious, but for a while, I’ve been working on Irish mythology. Here’s another island I love, Ireland. Maybe in the fairly short term I will go back to that forever.

*Dargaud’s editions