Artwork by Jean-Marc Rochette.
Jean-Marc Rochette was born in 1956 in Baden-Baden, Germany. He studied art history for one year, but then switched to studies in Plastic Arts in Aix-en-Provence. He published his earliest work in Actuel and Le Canard Sauvage, and then ventured into animated film for a while. He eventually made his actual professional comics debut in l'Écho des Savanes in 1976.
He started out doing short stories, which were later collected by Futuropolis in the book 'Le Dépoteur de Chrysanthèmes', and then worked with Nikita Mandryka on 'Anodin et Inodore'. In 1980, he started drawing the antopomorphic comic series 'Edmond le Cochon' with scripts by Martin Veyron. The first series ran until 1983, and the strip was revived in 1992.
'Triomphe', 2006.
In addition, Rochette contributed to the weekly B.D. by Editions du Square, and created the character of 'Claudius Vigne' in À Suivre. Also for À Suivre, he took over 'Le Transperce-Neige' with Jacques Lob, following the death of Alexis. Rochette switched to a more realistic style, which more suited this futuristic fable. In 1986-87 he teamed up with Benjamin Legrand to create 'Requiem Blanc'.
He changed his style once again for 'Némo et le Capitaine Vengeur', a series in cooperation with Jean-Pierre Hugot for Okapi magazine in 1987. Between 1987 and 1994, he was additionally present with technical football illustrations in Le Sport and L'Équipe.
'Edmond Le Cochon'.
By the mid-1990s, Rochette took on new series for À Suivre, such as 'Les Aventures Psychotiques de Napoléon et Bonaparte' and 'L'Or et l'Esprit: Le Tribut'. He worked with Jean-Luc Cornette on the juvenile comic books 'Pizza Quatre-Saisons', 'Le Coyote Mauve' and 'Le Joli Petit Cafard', published by Éditions Pastel and Le Seuil.
He 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. He made a graphic contribution to the book 'Françaises, Français, Belges, Belges, Lecteur Chéri, Mon Amour' (Jungle!, 2005), in which comic artists illustrated short stories by comedian Pierre Desproges.
In 1999-2000, he made two new volumes of 'Transperceneige' with Legrand. His characters 'Dico et Louis le Vétilleux', created together with René Pétillon, have appeared in a series of albums published by Albin Michel from 2003.
'Edmond Le Cochon'.