Tonino Benacquista

Born in 1961 in Choisy-le-Roi, just outside of Paris, Tonino Benacquista is an author with many faces: whether writing novels, plays, movie scripts, or comics, he consistently provides rich and surprising fictional worlds, finding the perfect balance between humor and depth. Of Italian origin, Benacquista has now become one of the most well-known and appreciated French authors of his generation, having received a number of prizes, and having the honor of working on such celebrated series as Lucky Luke, for which he co-wrote two volumes alongside Daniel Pennac. Beyond his extensive work as a film scriptwriter, Benacquista's experience in the field of comics has included collaborations with such artists as Jacques Ferrandez (L'Outremangeur, Casterman, 1998), Olivier Berlion (Cœur tam-tam, Dargaud, 2003), Philippe Bertrand (L’Amour cash, Dargaud, 2008), Loustal (Les amours insolentes, Casterman, 2010), and Achdé, working together on Lucky Luke. Their two albums, Lucky Luke Versus the Pinkertons and Lone Riders (Lucky Comics, Cinebook in English), enjoyed both critical and commercial success. More recently, following a fruitful collaboration with Florence Cestac (Des salopes et des anges, Dargaud, 2011), Benacquista joined with artist Nicolas Barral to create Les Cobayes (Dargaud, 2014; Guinea Pigs, Europe Comics, 2018). Their collaboration continued in 2017 with Le Guide mondial des records (Dargaud; The World Book of Records, Europe Comics, 2018).