Alec Severin

Try as you might, you won’t find anyone more meticulous than Al Severin. Not satisfied with writing and illustrating his own comic books, he set himself the task of learning how to publish, print and bind books too, so that he could follow the entire trajectory of his creations from A to Z. After years spent working for mainstream publishers, Al Severin set up his own publishing company, Several Pictures; but developments in the comic book market were to put paid to his years of patience and hard work. Now, retired from the world of the ninth art, Al Severin devotes his time to illustrating and to practising his faith.

The son and grandson of illustrators and graphic artists, Al Severin was merely following a route that already seemed to be mapped out for him. Impatient to get started, he launched himself in at the deep end by self-publishing “L'Affaire Tchang” before he had even reached his majority. And not only was Al Severin precocious: he was also a very hard worker. He produced illustrations for the “Journal de Spirou”, “Tintin reporter” and “Rodéo”, and published “Gratin” and “A Story of War” with Michel Deligne. In the early nineties, he joined the team at Claude Lefrancq, where he created his best-known series, “Harry sauve la planète”, with a stunning first volume entitled “Urkanika”.

After the age of thirty, Al Severin decided to become his own boss and began creating small print runs of his own books and portfolios. In 2008, he set himself the challenge of publishing a cartoon in 1.5 x 2cm format – probably the smallest album ever made. Five years later, he attracted attention once again with “Spirou sous le manteaux”, a faux art book produced in a style similar to that of Jijé when the latter was<0 working on the adventures of the famous groom.