Artwork by Manchu.
Philippe Bouchet, also known as (Fifi) Manchu, is a prominent French science fiction illustrator. His career began in the 1970s as a designer and concept artist for the DIC animation studios, while on the side the dabbled into small press comics with the fanzine Basket Bitumi. Later on, he became a productive illustrator of sci-fi books for imprints like Le Livre de Poche, Folio SF and L'Atalante.
Early life and career
Philippe Bouchet was born in 1956 in Cholet, a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department. His father was an upholsterer and decorator, and the boy often watched him while he was sketching armchairs and sofas with colored pencils. Developing his own passion for drawing, Bouchet started copying the his favorite comic characters. In 1968, the epic sci-fi film '2001: A Space Odyssey' and the next year's moon landing fuelled another dream: becoming an astronaut. However, Bouchet stuck with drawing, and spent four years studying Advertising Illustration and then Animation at the École Brassart in Tours. As a sci-fi illustrator, his main influences have been Chesley Bonestell, Chris Foss and Robert McCall.
Animation
In the second half of the 1970s, Bouchet found employment with the animation department of DIC (Diffusion Information Communication). Founded as a commercial art studio by Jean Chalopin, the firm was at the verge of becoming a production house for animated cartoons. Its main director was Bernard Deyriès, Bouchet's former Brassart Animation teacher, and the team was also reinforced by Jean Barbaud, Marie-Pierre Journet and, shortly afterwards, Bruno Bianchi. At DIC, Bouchet notably participated in the animated TV series 'Ulysses 31' (1981-1982), a science fiction adaptation of Homer's 'Odyssey', for which he designed the spacecrafts and the backgrounds.
When DiC moved its offices from Tours to Paris in 1979, Fifi Manchu became a freelance artist. During the 1980s, he continued to work with Jean Barbaud on animation projects for Albert Barillé's Procidis studio, including the educational TV shows 'Il Était Une Fois... La Vie' ('Once Upon a Time... Life', 1986-1987) and 'Il Était une Fois... l'Espace' ('Once Upon a Time... Space', 1987).
Comic from Basket Bitume;
Small press comics
In his spare time, Bouchet became active in the Tours scene of comic fanzines. During this period, he also assumed the pen name of Fifi Manchu, which was inspired by the horror film 'The Mask of Fu Manchu' starring Boris Karloff. Together with his DIC colleagues Bruno Bianchi (B.Burn's), Jean Barbaud and Marie-Pierre Journet, additionally joined by their friend Patrick Lavaud, Manchu launched Basket Bitume, a juvenile zine mixing science fiction, vague political undertones and low-brow humor. Its mascot was an obscene goat with protruding udders. In January 1979, Basket Bitume won a "Saucisson Smith" Award at the Angoulême Comics Festival. Due to an error, the prize was shared with the P.L.G.P.P.U.R. fanzine of Philippe Morin et Pierre-Marie Jamet.
Cover art for the comic series 'Lady Spitfire' ((by Sébastian Latour and Maza) and 'Arctica' (by Daniel Pecqueur and Bojan Kovačević).
Sci-fi illustrator
In 1984, Bouchet began his versatile career as a science fiction illustrator, under the pseudonym Fifi Manchu, when editor Gérard Klein asked him to illustrate volumes of the pocketbook series 'La Grande Anthologie de la Science-fiction' for Le Livre de Poche. Over a period of 15 years, he made over 200 cover illustrations for the collection. In addition, he provided artwork for other space-related projects, working for the 'Lunes d'Encre' collection of Denoël, Gallimard (Folio SF collection), Mnemos, L'Atalante, Robert Laffont, Le Bélial', Bragelonne, ActuSF, Mango, Pocket and Fleuve Noir. Since 1999, Manchu has also provided designs, backgrounds and cover illustrations to several comic series in the Delcourt collections Neopolis, Conquistador and Histoire & Histoires, and also for the collection 'Les Univers de Stefan Wul' by Ankama Éditions.
Manchu's artwork was also used in the magazines Sciences et Vie Junior, Sciences et Avenir and Ciel & Espace. In addition, he has worked for the French National Center for Space Studies (CNES), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Planète Mars (APM) and the Thomson Corporation. Since 2002, Delcourt has released several bilingual French-English 'Art of Manchu' art books with the artist's space and sci-fi work.
Recognition
For his sci-fi artwork, Fifi Manchu has been awarded the Prix Bob-Morane (2001), the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (2001), the Prix Extraordinaire aux Utopiales (2015) and the Prix du Meilleur Artiste Européen (2015).
Cover art for the comic series 'La Guerre Secrète de l'Espace' (by Régis Hautière and Damien Cuvillier) and 'Hauteville House' (by Fred Duval and Thierry Gioux).