Enki Bilal

A picture from the album Froid �quateur.

Another Bilal page can be found from here.

Enki Bilal was born in the former Yugoslavia but he moved early in his life to Paris, France. He has drawn a lot of sci-fi cartoons but the social critical tendencies are typical to all of his works. He has been in a very fruitful collaboration with the scenarist P.Christin. The album Froid �quateur is the third part of the Nikopol trilogy, and was chosen as "The book of the year" in France, the first cartoon book ever to achieve this honour. Bilal's style is very elaborate and visual, and the grave atmosphere is characteristic to all his works, especially the ones that directly criticize political systems.

A page from the album Partie de Chasse, demonstrating Bilal's typical layout.
The book "Hunting party" was a sensation when it was published, and it marked the beginning of a new genre of cartoons. The leaders of the Soviet Block gather to a remote place for a hunting trip. During the trip, the history of violence and subjugation begins to unfold through the conversations and flashbacks. Combining fact and fiction, Bilal creates an uncanny portrait of the demoralizing effect of power.

The underground of Paris of the next century: astronauts, aliens, destruction, ancient Egyptian gods, rotten political systems and violence make a great mixup in the first book of the Nikopol trilogy. From La Foire aux immortels.

Gore-filled hallucinations invade the life of a woman whose relationship with an alien breaks abruptly in the second part of the Nikopol trilogy. From La Femme pi�ge © 1988 by Les Humano�des accosi�s.

Bilal seems to be another fan of Gaud�an architecture. Opening scene from the book La ville que n'existait pas. Another book with social critics. This time a benefactress fullfills the dreams of the workers of an industrial village. The allegory is easy to point out.

Published books

• La Croisi�re des Oubli�s 1975
• L'Appel d'�toiles 1975
  extended version Le Bol maudit 1982
• Le Vaisseau du Pierre 1975
• La Ville qui n'existait pas 1977
• M�moires d'Outre-Espace 1978
• Exterminateur 17 1979
• Les Phalanges de l'Ordre Noir 1979
• La Foire aux Immortels 1980
• Paris sera toujours Paris 1981 (collective work with many authors)
• Crux Universalis 1982
• Die Mauer 1982 (a series of pictures)
• Partie de Chasse 1983
  extended version 1990
• Images pour un film 1983 (picture book of Bilal's stage setting of the film La vie est un roman
• Los Angeles - L'�toile oubli�e de Laurie Bloom 1984
• Grange Bleue 1985 (collective work)
• La Femme Pi�ge 1986
• L'�tat des stocks 1986 (a retrospective of Bilal's works)
• Mickson BD Football Club 1987 (collection of pictures)
• Hors-jeu 1987 (a picture book)
• Coeurs Sanglants 1989 (a fictitious newspaper review)
• Froid �quateur 1992

Most material © by Dargaud or Humano S.A.

This document was last updated Wednesday, May 15, 1996.