After studying advertising at the Duperré School of Applied Arts in
Paris, Beauchard began working in comics in 1985 (
Pas de samba pour capitaine Tonnerre), and wrote and illustrated stories in numerous magazines, including
Okapi,
À suivre,
Tintin Reporter, and
Chic. His distinctive
black-and-white style was influenced by
Georges Pichard and
Jacques Tardi, among others. In 1990, he co-founded the independent publisher
L'Association, which became a major force in French small-press comics. The series is about the author's brother and his decades-long struggle against epilepsy. It was the first of his long works to be translated into English, and is now considered to be among the masterpieces of recent
Franco-Belgian comics. The series has been repeatedly nominated for prizes at the
Angoulême International Comics Festival : in 2002, the fourth volume received the
Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Scenario and in 1998 and in 2004, volumes 2 and 6 were nominated for the
Prize for Best Comic Book. Since 1997, he has also worked for publishers other than
L'Association, and has collaborated with other authors such as
Joann Sfar,
Christophe Blain, and
Emmanuel Guibert. In 1998, he was named
European Cartoonist of the year by
The Comics Journal. In 2005 Beauchard was awarded the
Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist. With historical assistance by
Jean-Pierre Filiu, Beauchard published the 2012 graphic novel
Best of Enemies: A History of US and Middle East Relations through
SelfMadeHero. It was translated to English by Edward Gauvin. ==Bibliography==