First Comics News: Why do you like to work on “Love the Fox”?
Frederic Bremaud: I like the stories where the characters are numerous, where all can take different directions. Love is a silent series. In writing it, one is obliged to return to the essence of the image, to simple things. Things so simple that they can no longer be seen.
I also like animals and their reactions. This is a great privilege.
Finally, I am very interested in ecology. And when one wants to preserve nature, one can denounce, by bringing solutions. Some do it very well. In Love, we do not denounce. We show how nature is. We try to make sure people like it and do not want to abandon it.
In short, presentation or denunciation are complementary.
And so, to summarize, I like this series because it allows me to combine my different passions related to ecology, animals, comics and narration in general.
1st: What is the story of “Love the Fox”?
Frederic: It is the story of a fox on an island whose volcano is erupting. An island that sinks into the ocean and whose inhabitants react differently according to their instincts.
But it’s not just that. It speaks of a gray whale that escorts its small babies towards the north, caught by orcas. And a polar bear that evacuates its iceberg in peril when it crosses the volcanic island.
These are several stories that actually come together.
1st: What is special about this fox?
Frederic: It goes against the grain. All the animals of the island move away from the molten crater. The fox, on the other hand, is moving toward it. And we do not know why. At the beginning at least …
1st: Are there other animals involved in this comic book?
Frederic: Of course, and of all sizes.
So a polar bear arrives on the island. A brown bear that sees his arrival as an evil eye. Muskoxen, porcupines, birds of all kinds, puffins, penguins, seals, gannets, who plunge into the sea to catch the fish.
In short, a lot of animals …
1st: Will there be or are there other comics in this series?
Frederic: The first episode of the series is The Tiger. The fox is the second. The Lion was then made. All these albums are already published in America by Magnetic Press. The fourth album on dinosaurs will soon be released by the same publisher.
At the same time, always with Federico Bertolucci, and always with Magnetic Press, we publish Little Tails. It is for us the same series in a certain way. We talk about nature, but for the little ones, and explore new possibilities to tell. Today, the albums on the forest, the savannah, and the jungle have been translated. Soon will also be published the episode on the sea, the farm and the prehistory.
As for Love, we think of a fifth volume on the seabed.
1st: What is “Leonid” all about? Why use a cat in “Leonid” and not some other animal?
Frederic: Leonid is a cats story on a farm. It also shows the animals of the farm and the dogs, but it is true that the felines occupy the main square.
The story, in two volumes, tells of a little neighborhood where lambs disappear, and where the farmer seems to accuse the cats. Pursued by the two dogs of the farmer, Leonid, a very young cat, must prove the innocence of his fellows and discover who is hiding under these terrible crimes.
Actually, it’s all based on a real story I had when I was younger, on my parents’ farm. Albino cats, completely crazy, attacked the youngest lambs.
A war of cats, therefore, where the actors of history really existed. Leonid is now an adult cat. He was not born at the time of the events, but I nevertheless enlisted him … He lives today in Normandy.
1st: Why should someone read “Lolika”?
Frederic: I do not know. This is a very different cartoon, closer to series like Akira. There, it is a bit a tribute to some mangas. Lolika, in fact, is what society could become if we continue to militarize it unceasingly.
Rich: What is the story in “Cats!”?
Cats tells the adventures of Manon and his cat Grapefruit. Like me, she shares her life between the continent and the island of Noirmoutier. Each page presents a story.
And here too, Grapefruit really existed. He was kind but rather distracted.
1st: What is special about “Artemis”?
Frederic: Nothing. I wanted in this series in two volumes, to speak of the Greek myths. I had fun, but in the end, the result is very classic. Too much probably.
In short, nothing special.
1st: What would be your dream comic book to work on?
Frederic: An album about the universe and the planets, with action, but without characters, and without texts. Simply movements that tell a story not boring. One day I will try but it may be difficult.
1st: Who or what has inspired you?
Frederic: For Love, I do not know. My personal adventures in the countryside (small, I raised the horses on the farm, I drove the flocks to the ponds and the hills …), my travels in the places of history.
So a little bit of everything.
1st: How can someone contact you?
Frederic: On facebook, I am Frederic Bremaud (with one R unlike my pseudonym). We can also leave a message on the page of the editors I work with, such as Magnetic Press, Glénat, Soleil, Ankama, Bamboo … They will transmit.
You can also see me from time to time in the salons. I do not do much, but it’s always a pleasure.
1st: Any words for the fans of your work?
Frederic: The fans of my work are above all the fans of the designers for whom I write. It’s normal. Then I will probably say to them: “No, no, the designer is the other, but it’s nice nevertheless! “
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