'Candélabres'.
Anne-Laure Garcia is a French comic book artist who works under the pen name Algésiras. She is best-known for the fantasy series 'Candélabres' (1999-2000, 2002, 2005). Algésiras also created the webcomic 'Wendigo', based on her love for the TV series 'Hannibal' about serial killer Hannibal Lecter. She is additionally notable as a scriptwriter for Philippe Ogaki's 'Les Guerriers des Silence' (2005-2008), based on Pierre Bordage's novel series, and 'Elinor Jones' (2010-2012), drawn by Aurore.
Early life and career
Anne-Laure Garcia was born in 1972 in Bangui in the Central African Republic and moved to Burkina Faso at the age of 10. Her parents were avid comic fans, and she became interested in the medium by reading French comic magazines like Pilote and Métal Hurlant as an adolescent. Garcia became familiar with the work of Richard Corben, Quino and Enrique Breccia, and developed interest in all forms of the fantasy genre: horror, gothic, and science fiction. She also ranks the US/UK authors Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave McKean, Simon Bisley, Alan Moore, Duncan Fegredo, Kyle Baker, Teddy Kristiansen and Chris Bachalo, the Japanese manga artists Atsushi Kamijô, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Osamu Tezuka, and the Europeans Andreas, Frank and Cosey among her influences. Garcia moved to France, where she received her high school diploma with a scientific option.
Her drawing teacher encouraged her to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts in Angoulême. Algésiras spent four years at the Academy's comics section, while earning some money by translating scripts and doing lay-out work for the animation firms Octopussy Animations and Les Armateurs.
Candélabres
Algésiras spent several years developing her first comics project, 'Candélabres'. The plot revolves around a 14-year old boy, Paul Klarheit, who is physically handicapped. One day, he finds himself caught in a forest fire, where a mysterious creature saves him from certain death. The being introduces himself as Julien Solédango and says he's a "chandelier", a kind of guardian angel who can interfere whenever there's fire nearby. He also gives Paul the ability to move his legs again. Paul is intrigued by this strange entity and wants to find out more. The first volume of 'Candélabres' was published in 1999 by Delcourt, with three more titles following in 2000, 2002 and 2005.
Wendigo
Since 2015, Algésiras has been posting 'Wendigo' on Deviantart.com and Tumblr. It is a fanfiction comic based on the TV series 'Hannibal' (2013-2015), based on Thomas Harris' psychological thriller series 'The Silence of the Lambs' and its key character, Hannibal Lecter. In Harris' novels, Lecter is a cannibalistic serial killer, whose high I.Q. makes him very cunning, manipulative and therefore dangerous. The TV show 'Hannibal' was a prequel, delving into the background of Lecter's childhood and how he became such a horrid man. Algésiras' series, revolves around Lecter's pet, Wendigo, a Native American mythological creature who assists him during his series. Two book collections of 'Wendigo' can be purchased through Algésiras' personal website.
Comic scriptwriting
Algésiras is also a prolific scriptwriter for other comic artists. She wrote an adaptation of Pierre Bordage's space opera trilogy 'Les Guerriers du Silence' for Delcourt's Neopolis collection between 2005 and 2008, with artwork by Philippe Ogaki. It was followed by 'Elinor Jones', a romantic series of three books set in the Victorian age, drawn by Aurore (Soleil, 2010-2012).
Graphic contributions
Algésiras made a contribution to the collective album 'Les Enfants du Nil - Anges' (Delcourt, 1993). She also participated in a collective book with comic adaptations of Yannick Noah songs (Delcourt, 2007), and to 'Paroles d'Étoiles' (Soleil, 2008), a comic documentary about children who grew up during World War II, based on the book by Jean-Pierre Guéno. She also wrote a story for the US anthology 'Smut Peddler' (Iron Circus Comics, 2012).
'Wendigo'.