He is the son of a Syrian, doctor in history who suffered from never finding the same recognition, and a Frenchwoman who was a precious support in his vocation.

This story of the birth of an artist is told in detail in "The Arab of the future", an autobiography drawn in six volumes (2014 to 2022), which had exceeded three million copies sold, before the arrival in bookstores. of the last part.

"When I lived in my small village in Syria, there was no bookstore, no library. I had a confined life," he explained to AFP on the occasion of the publication of volume 5.

"This interest in books and comics, I owe it to my Breton grandmother, who sent me books by post," he added.

This series, translated into more than 20 languages, has found international success.

And this volume 6, with only a little over a month on the shelf after its release on November 22, was the 12th best-selling book in France in 2022.

To question ourselves

The work of the Franco-Syrian cannot be summed up in this touching and funny account of the vicissitudes and doubts of a child and teenager gifted with a pencil, but less so for the rest.

Franco-Syrian cartoonist Riad Sattouf, September 7, 2020 © JOEL SAGET / AFP/Archives

He also draws the life of a young Parisian woman of today, since she was 10 years old, in "Les Cahiers d'Esther" (7 volumes since 2016), and has embarked on that of the actor Vincent Lacoste ("Le Young Actor", 1 volume for now).

Why him?

Because Riad Sattouf, filmmaker, launched his career.

He has directed two feature films, "Les Beaux Gosses" (2009) and "Jacky in the kingdom of girls" (2014).

And he is preparing a third, alongside youth idols: the comic trio of the Unknowns.

This relentless, meticulous worker juggles projects with an ease that is only a facade.

In truth, he questions himself all the time.

He says he was marked, in high school, by a teacher who told him: "Sattouf, you have facilities, but you know what happens to those who have facilities and who do not work?"

Perfectionist

Since his years as an arts student and then in animation, his rating has continued to climb.

"The Arab of the Future 6" thus recounts his first steps as an almost anonymous author in comic book festivals, who had only one idea in mind: to come back with another album that would make him known.

This admirer of Philippe Druillet and Moebius believed in a destiny for a long time.

Because in his maternal family, after a return to France in Rennes, we had decreed that he was brilliant with a pencil in his hand.

"I ended up believing it," he recalls.

At 25, in 2003, he won the Goscinny prize, rewarding a screenplay.

Then in 2010 and 2015, he won the Fauve d'or at the Angoulême Festival, prize for the best album of the year.

"When success comes, there are bound to be times when the ego swells. It happened to me too!", he admitted.

Only never at the expense of work.

This perfectionist pushed logic to the limit by becoming his own editor.

In 2021, he founded Les Livres du futur, a house where he is currently the only author.

But "I am above all a comic book author. I do nothing else than that", he explained in November.

© 2023 AFP