'Lucien'.
Parisian comic artist Frank Margerin studied Applied Arts, and joined Denis Sire's band 'Los Crados' as a drummer. By 1975 he was looking for a job in publishing or illustrating, and he was invited by Jean-Pierre Dionnet to publish his first comics in the magazine Métal Hurlant. His first story was the sci-fi parody 'Simone et Léon', and it was followed by several others, that were later collected in the book 'Frank Margerin Présente' in 1978. In 1978 he illustrated 22 pantomime comic strips that came with Malabar chewing gum, as well as 19 pages of advertising comics and 4 postcards, in succession of Philippe Poncet de la Grave. Between 1983 and 1984, he also made contributions to the monthly humor magazine Rigolo.
Additionally, Margerin created 'Albert et Mauricette' for the weekly supplement of Matin de Paris in 1982, and two years later, 'Skoup et Max Flash', the comic adventures of two journalists, created in cooperation with Phil Casoar for Zoulou. Margerin also worked as an illustrator for magazines like Nitro, Moto-Revue, Je Bouquine, Phosphore, Okapi, Astrapi and Playboy.
'Les Autos', 1991.
Margerin's main character is Lucien - a gentle rocker with a big nose, who made his first appearance in 1979. Initially appearing in stories with a character called Ricky, Margerin made comical observations of the life of suburban French rockers in the 1970s and 1980s. The 'Lucien' albums were published by Les Humanoïdes Associés until Margerin moved over to Fluide Glacial in 2008. The author could use his own experiences from rock 'n' roll life, since he himself was a member of Denis Sire's band Dennis' Twist, that consisted of authors from the Humanoïdes label.
In 1989, Margerin worked on an animated series about the adventures of Manu, broadcast on TV in 1990. Together with Alteau, he has also adapted Manu to comics for Les Humanoïdes Associés.
Margerin was one of several artists to make a graphic contribution to 'Pepperland’ (1980), a collective comic book tribute to the store Pepperland, to celebrate its 10th anniversary at the time. In 1983, he was one of many comic artists paying homage to the recently deceased Hergé in a special issue of (À Suivre), titled 'Adieu Hergé'. He was one of several artists to make a graphic contribution to 'Baston Labaffe no. 5: La Ballade des Baffes’ (Goupil, 1983), an official collective parody comic of André Franquin’s 'Gaston Lagaffe’. In 1990 he paid graphic tribute to François Walthéry in the collective homage book 'Natacha. Special 20 Ans' (Marsu Productions, 1990), which celebrated the 20th anniversary of Walthéry's series 'Natacha'. Margerin also contributed to the "safe sex" promotional book 'Les Aventures de Latex' (FortMedia, 1991). Together with 20 other comic artists (Zep, Ptiluc,Yslaire, Cosey, Philippe Vuillemin, Milo Manara, Loustal, Gilbert Shelton, Max Cabanes, Dupuy & Berberian, François Boucq, Gérald Poussin, Thomas Ott, Frank Pé, Frank Le Gall, Riff Reb's, Eric Buche, Enrico Marini and Valott) he illustrated a record single for the project '20 Vraies Fausses Pochettes De Disque Par 20 Vrais Dessinateurs de BD' (1995). Margerin chose for a song by Jango Edwards. He additionally made a graphic contribution to the anti-racism collective comic book 'Rire Contre Le Racisme' (Jungle!, 2006).
'Momo', 2005.
Apart from his work as a comic author, Margerin was employed as chief of the collective albums published by Les Humanoïdes, grouped under the collection name 'Frank Margerin Presente...'. Other work by Margerin include 'Momo le Coursier' in L'Écho des Savanes, and independent albums like 'Un Enfoiré et Quelques Connards' (Ed. Crapule), 'Y a Plus de Jeunesse' (Ed. Albin Michel) and 'Le Guide du Surf' and 'Le Guide de la Plage' (Ed. La Sirène). In 2012 he launched a new series in Fluide Glacial with Marc Cuadrado, called 'Je Veux Une Harley'.
In 1998 a statue of Lucien, made by François Cortes, was placed on the crossroad Barrouilhet in Angoulême. Unfortunately the statue was damaged by storm in 1999 and by vandals in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014. In 2008 hoodlums broke off his quiff and a leg. On 4 March 2014 other vandals sawed off its head. This was the final straw: the city council moved the statue to a different location, namely inside the local train station, where it was inaugurated on 29 January 2015.
