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A cute story about women's sexuality, crabs, and zombies - Arthur de Pins Comicon Napoli Interview
We talk topics, techniques, humour, and more with the friendly French author behind Zombillenium, Péchés mignons, and La Révolution des Crabes, who had his own exhibition at the huge Italian comic convention.
Audio transcription
"Hi friends, we are at the 25th Comicon in Naples, in Napoli and this is beautiful, this is crowded, this is full of people, this is going to be noisy and this is great because we are joined by Arthur de Pins and behind you we have a beautiful exhibition about your work so thank you so much for joining us. One thing I love about your profile is that it says that you were educated in a very religious place so that you naturally started drawing naked women and monsters. What can you tell me about that?
I think it's a causality because of course, I don't know where you read that but that's true, I was raised in a Catholic school and there were only boys so naturally I ended up making naked women and demons and witches and so on so to me it was like a revenge because of course back in those days they didn't like me to draw those kind of things and so now that I am an adult I try to take revenge on my childhood so I think that's what every artist does I'm lucky that I know your work, other artists that we are interviewing here, I'm not that acquainted with their work I know your crabs, I know your women, let's talk a little bit about women a little bit more What sort of message did you want to send about complexes and women and being more natural about bodies with your very successful series and do you think that message could be useful nowadays?
Well in fact I don't know if it would be useful because I don't know who's reading Péchés mignons right now Péchés mignons which is Il Chiodo Fisso in Italian Yeah and in Spanish it's different so I didn't want to mess it up It's Pecados veniales in Spain When I started to create it I wanted to show something, to write something about sexuality but to talk about everything about sexuality but also something very cute I wanted to add the sexuality and the cuteness and back in those days that don't really exist It was early 2000s?
Yeah early 2000s there was of course erotism, pornography but it was mostly for men and it was something quite weird each time because it was very violent and I wanted everybody to read it, I wanted everybody to feel concerned about it and to feel safe reading it So that's how I started to make Péchés mignons And what's the feedback you got from women specifically?
At least my wife loves it What were women telling you about this beautiful work?
Well I think a lot of them were grateful because the body, of course the way I drew the body is quite, I mean I like it It's not a prototype right?
It's not a prototype but to me it's very close to the prehistoric Venus you see with big hips because to me it's like a caricature of femininity but the thing is all the characters are the same, I mean they're shaped the same way they have the same patterns so there's no Péchés mignons, there's no ugly people or handsome people everybody is drawn the same way with big head, big hips So that's another way for me to talk about what is essential without caring about dirty standards and everything And without being insulting, it's very respectful Okay talking about styles and how you draw things, let's talk about the crabs If I'm correct you started it as an animated product and then that taught you something new for your still images, for your drawing, for your still pictures Is that correct?
What can you tell me about the whole process of going animated and then learning something new for still pictures?
Well in fact it started in 2004, I did a short film called La Révolution des Crabes So it was just a five-minute short film In fact I started it to just, I was trying to earn some money from when you get some money from a fund as a funding for your film So I started it and I didn't succeed but I decided to finish the film anyway So I finished the film on my own, even the voices, I did the voices myself I did it on Flash, Flash 5 which is a very old software And the short film was viewed on the internet a lot of times There was not YouTube back in the days but I created a link where people could send it by email and click on the link and watch the film And then it was screened in many festivals, it won the public prize in Annecy for example It was screened in Japan, the US and it was quite a success film And after that I decided to make two other short films and it finally became one project of feature film And it ended up being a comic book, a free comic book I have the comic books, I didn't watch the short film I love the minimalistic style and sort of the message So what can you tell me you wanted to convey with those stories?
Well for me it's a fable with animals So it's with animals but it talks about humans And it's a fable about stupidity, about fear of not being alone So when I was a little kid I was always fascinated by crabs because I couldn't understand the way they were walking I didn't know if they walked sideways because they could only walk sideways or because they didn't know that they could walk in front of them That's something that you reflected Yes and so it became a story that was somewhere in my mind And so one day I did a short film and then a comic book from this And the story takes place after the war, it's between the 60s, 70s, 80s And in a beach where I used to go when I was a kid So for me it was also a way to celebrate my lost childhood I don't know, something like that And the difference also between the short film and the comic book In the comic book there is also human characters It's secondary characters but they are very important for the crabs Because the crabs see humans like gods Because the crabs can't walk in front of them at the beginning So they are too stupid to know that they can walk in front of them And after that, I don't want to spoil the ending No, you have to watch the short and buy the books Yes, at some point they evolute and so yes, you have to read it Talking about technique, we were saying going from animation to still images And then you become a fully illustrator guy And that's up to this day, right?
Yes So what can you tell artists about this?
Well, except I did the Zombillenium movie Which I go back to animation but I didn't animate myself, of course And well, I think it's very common for people to go from animation to comic book It's more common than the opposite And in the comic book industry, I know a lot of colleagues, friends who did the same way Some of them are very famous, Juanjo Guarnido, for example But also, I don't know, maybe a third of them, I think A lot of people, especially from Les Gobelins or from Les Articaux or from many other schools And each time for the same reason Because the comic books allow us to create our own story, to tell our own story Because animation, if you want to tell your own story, it can take years To be accepted by a producer and to pitch your project for thousands of times And it's normal because it costs a lot of money So they have to be sure that it will be a good project In the comic books, you come and you make like five pages and you pitch your project to just one person He says, okay, and then you can go And afterwards, your comic book can be turned into something Into something animated So even if you want to make animation, the best way, the shortest way is to make first a comic book That's very interesting Okay, closing one, I have to ask you about Zombillenium Yes What can you tell me about fans enjoying your latest work?
About here at Comicon, people, what are they asking you about?
And what is coming next from you?
Well, that's a lot of questions It's a triple final one I will start with the Comicon Well, people here ask me especially about Pêché Mignon I mean, this is not Pêché Mignon because it's quite different, but it's the same kind of art style They asked me about Pêché Mignon, about Sweet Paprika Because I did a cover of Mirka Andolfo's work And she did the same for Pêché Mignon also It's my first crossover collaboration I think because that's the book I'm supposed to be here for Pêchés Mignons, Il Chiodo Fisso in Italian And my next project is very different It's about knights I don't know if..."
"Knights as in...
Knight with a K Okay, like my surname Yes And so it will take place during the Crusades And basically the script is very easy It's like the Seven Samurai or the Magnificent Seven But with knights instead of samurai When can we expect to take a look at it?
Maybe in 2026, I think Because they won't release it There will be two books And they won't release the first one until I'm done with the second one Of course So you'll have to wait, unfortunately Looking forward to taking a look at it Is that the title? Knights?
The title for the moment is Knight Club Knight Club That's the pun It's a pun with words because of your surname, right?
Yes, Knight Club like that Okay, I have to thank you Ten years ago you gave us this Yes, I'm so..."
"You signed this book We turned that into our wedding invite So that was crazy I wasn't expecting to meet you again So this is lovely And I'm happy for you also For your wedding Thank you so much Thank you, Artur You're welcome "
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