Cyril Pontet

Cyril Pontet was born in 1971 in Marseille. Once he'd finished his university studies, he decided to try his luck in the comic book world in 1993, and by the following year he'd already signed his first contract. In 1995 he replaced Olivier Ledroit as the illustrator for the cult fantasy series Chroniques de la Lune Noire (Dargaud, Europe Comics 2017, The Black Moon Chronicles). Self-taught, the artist's first big influences were the dynamic frames of American comics peopled with unusual, colorful heroes. Like so many others of his generation, monthlies such as 'Strange' and ‘Titans,' as well as the ‘Arédit' and ‘Artima' publications introduced him to the talents of Jack Kirby, John Buscema, John Romita, Gene Colan, Joe Kubert, Frazetta and many others. A few detours via the Franco-Belgian scene with Thorgal, Le Vagabond des limbes, Fantax and Taar le rebelle polished off his imaginative conquests with heroic fantasy, super-heroes, pulp fiction, Cthulian horror à la H.P. Lovecraft, gothic mystery, mythology and, most of all, swords and sorcery. His influences also include novelists such as Tolkien, Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Conan Doyle, Brian Lumley and more recently George R.R. Martin, Terry Pratchett and David Gemmel. His other interests areaAncient and medieval history, hoplology — the study of human combative behavior — and the legends and epics of ancient civilizations. He also participates in costume, character, graphic environment and logo design projects.