Fabian Deplekker was born on 29 June 1971 in Laeken, a Brussels municipality. His family is from Ternat. He spent his childhood reading authors such as André Franquin, Frank Miller and Mœbius. He completed his secondary studies in Jette. Among his favorite comics were 'La Quête de l'Oiseau du temps' by Régis Loisel and 'L'État Morbide' by Daniel Hulet. He began a university course in biology, but changed direction and did a graduate course at the Institut Saint-Luc in Brussels, then he launched himself with a few friends in the Hécatombes collective under the pseudonym of Ptoma.
Ptoma is a representative of the so-called "Ligne Sombre" trend. He has made albums like 'Réminiscences' and 'Nettoyage par le Vide' for the Petits Meurtres collection of the Emmaneul Proust Editions. In 2003, he made 'Les Équilibres Meurtiers', and a year later 'Torch Song'.