He is the one who brings color back to Marsupilami: meet Benjamin Chaud at the Hyères book festival
Fabrice Michelier Published on 05/18/2025 at 10:00, updated on 05/18/2025 at 10:00
He is among the favorite authors of the youngest, thanks to his pen and pencil. Benjamin Chaud notably brought Pompon Ours to life and gave a second life to Marsupilami. Great books that sharpen the eye of young readers while offering them real stories. His very rich drawing and his stories, with a real background, delight children. "These are large albums with lots of details, a bit like seek and find, in which there is also a story, a narrative thread," the author declares at his stand at the Hyères Book Festival.
In his 25-year career, Benjamin Chaud has published around a hundred albums. Enough to attract the attention of major publishers, such as when he was contacted to take over the adventures of Marsupilami. "Little Urban offered me the chance to do it because they acquired the rights from Franquin's family. And I was really happy, he's an artist I admire. And the world of Marsupilami is fantastic: the jungle, these magical animals... There's also an ecological dimension that touches me," he explains. For Les aventures du Petit Marsu , he enjoys a great deal of freedom: "It's proofread by Isabelle Franquin when it comes to penciling and coloring, but she never refuses anything," explains the Briançon author.
“Show children that you can succeed without being overly courageous.”While he collaborates with other authors and lends his touch to sagas like Pomelo or Taupe et Mulot , Benjamin Chaud also puts a lot of himself into his characters. Regarding Pompon Ours, the first volume of which was published in 2011, he even confesses an autobiographical aspect: "He was born at the same time as my eldest son. It was to talk about the father-son relationship. And when my second son arrived, Pompon Ours had a little brother. It's very autobiographical: he's the father I want to be and the child I would like him to be: curious, free, intrepid, while being sulky, selfish. I like heroes who are like us. It's important to show children that you can succeed even if you're not hyper-courageous, generous or intelligent. Life is also about making mistakes, and you learn more from your mistakes." A message that touches his readers... and their parents.
Facing Instagram censorshipYesterday, Marc Levy and I discussed censorship and banned books in certain American states. Benjamin Chaud, for his part, is facing another form of censorship: that of social media. On Instagram, the illustrator shares with his followers some more adult drawings, which have difficulty passing the moderation barrier, even though they convey no apparent transgression.
"I can't understand why or how drawings are censored. A drawing has an abstract dimension, it's imaginary. I don't see how that could be immodest. In the history of art, there are so many paintings that represent nudes! And drawing is also about representing the human body. The body isn't immodest, it's the way we look at it that can be. I don't feel like I'm doing transgressive things. My drawings are tender, funny... While there's a lot of disguised pornography on these networks," he concludes.
He keeps a low profile at his stand, but Jérémy Fernandez catches the eye of the younger generation. In front of him are the two volumes of his manga, Soul's Control, which he writes under the name Kurogami. A fan of classic shōnen manga (Naruto, One Piece, etc.), he never thought he'd ever take the plunge in high school and college. "Like everyone else, I've always loved drawing, but I never thought I'd do anything with it," he says.
It was at university, accompanied by a friend, that he decided to perfect his skills. Then the idea of developing his own universe germinated. The first seeds of Soul's Control were thus planted. "It's a fairly classic concept in manga, with a hero possessed by a demon. I wanted to do it my way. I started with this idea and tried to build a universe around it," he summarizes. He thus develops his story and a world populated by witches, demons, magic... "with a hero whose quest is to discover who he is, and to escape."
An initiatory quest that follows in the footsteps of Flynn, who lives in the woods with his sidekick Cold, a small creature. "Their daily life is turned upside down by the arrival of a demon in their village. It is then that Flynn discovers that a demon lives inside him," presents the publisher, ADH Éditions.
Two volumes have already been published, and the third is expected by the end of the year. The author hopes to complete his story in about twenty volumes.
Var-Matin
