Francis Masse received an education at the École des Beaux-Arts in Grenoble, and subsequently devoted himself to painting and sculpting. After working on animated cartoons in the early 1970s, he published his first comic pages in fanzines and alternative magazines like Zéno, Zinc and Le Canard Sauvage. Until 1977, he was a regular in the magazines l'Écho des Savanes, Charlie Mensuel, Hara-Kiri, Fluide Glacial, La Gueule Ouverte, Pilote and Métal Hurlant. Most of his stories from this period have been collected in albums by Éditions du Fromage, Audie and Les Humanoïdes Associés.
In 1981, he made his first longer story, 'Nimbus Présente le Grand Orchestre' in Métal Hurlant. Afterwards, he did contributions to Rigolo and Zoulou. In 1985, he produced a story for the collection '30/40' of Futuropolis . At the same time, Masse started working for À Suivre, creating stories like 'Les Deux du Balcon' et 'La Mare aux Pirates'. Francis Masse dropped most of his comic activities in the early 1990s.