Fabien Vehlmann is a jack-of-all-trades screenwriter. Tales and legends, philosophical fables, historical stories, fantasy for children, recovery of mythical heroes with Spirou, eroticism, science fiction with The Last Atlas which earned him with Gwen de Bonneval the Goscinny 2020 prize for screenwriter of the year, he has fun in all registers and is aimed at all audiences.
We noticed him in the early 2000s, when he was writing the adventures of Marquis of Anaon, designed by Matthieu Bonhomme. Then Vehlmann found success with the series Alone, designed by Bruno Gazzotti. A story of children wandering in limbo. Death, an adventure for preteens? You had to dare! The series is rewarded in Angoulême with the jury prize for 9-12 year olds.
Fabien Vehlmann’s work featured prominently in the exhibition that the international comic book festival devoted this year to storytellers who do not draw. For his ability, precisely, to tackle perilous subjects.
“The story ‘Jolies ténèbres’ particularly marked me. Vehlmann attempts a mixture between the world of childhood and a sordid event, the rape and murder of a little girl. He tells it in hollow by using the world of storytelling.”
Screenwriter Loo Hui Phangat franceinfo
Pretty Darkness was drawn by the duo Kerascoët, published by Dupuis.
The coming months should see the release of the fourteenth volume of the series. Alone. The album will be titled The Protectors. The authors still draw their inspiration from the painful memories of childhood.
“These are painful memories, of course. But that’s why we do this job. ‘Alone’ allows this dialogue between adults and the anxieties of children.”
The cartoonist Bruno Gazzottiat franceinfo
Alone, published by Dupuis should ultimately have 21 volumes. And imagine that the conclusion is already written.
Fabien Vehlmann is not done with his obsessions. His new youth series is called The Kitchen of the Ogres, published by Rue de Sèvres. Jean-Baptiste Andréae provides the images. The first volume, to be published, is entitled thrice dead.