Today, I’m pumped to share with you the work of legendary French science-fiction comic artist Paul Gillon. 1926-2011.


Paul began working professionally at 14, illustrating album covers and creating caricatures for the local cultural scene. At 21, he started working in the comic industry. Soon after he began creating his own series and short stories. At 33, he began a daily comic strip that he worked on until he was 46. In 1964, when he was 38, he began working on the science fiction masterpiece ‘Les Naufragés du Temps‘ with writer Jean-Claude Forest. He continued to regularly release critically acclaimed projects in the following years, even releasing a Batman strip!

In 1982 he won the ‘Grand Prix de la ville d’Angoulême‘ lifetime achievement award. Gillon continued working up to his death in 2011.


I’m really not sure his notoriety among U.S. audiences, although I know he is highly respected in Europe. Hopefully this post exposes his work to a wider audience. He is obviously a master draftsmen. It’s as if Hal Foster drew science fiction!


Of note is the massive original scale of his comic pages as seen below. I’ve seen measurements listed as 28 x 36in!!!


Unfortunately, I’m not aware of many of his comics being translated into English. I do know The Survivor #1 and 2, and Lost in Time: Labyrinths are. As far as picking up his books in general, Ebay is your best bet.

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Special thanks to the classic blog Comic Historietas for sourcing many of these images. They have extensive info on Gillon.

Hope you enjoyed Gillon’s work. He is a favorite of mine!

-FV