Atrabile

Atrabile (Les éditions Atrabile) is a Swiss independent publishing house specialising in bande dessinée (Franco-Belgian comics), founded in 1997 and headquartered in Geneva. It emerged from the ashes of the magazine Sauve qui peut, when Maxime Pégatoquet, Daniel Pellegrino and Benoît Chevallier launched their own revue, Bile Noire, whose first issue featured artists such as Frederik Peeters, Tom Tirabosco and Ibn Al Rabin. The revue quickly grew into a publishing house, and Atrabile became known for a distinctive editorial line: small teams, irregular periodicals, and most books in black-and-white roman format. The publisher's early catalogue was built around a core of Swiss and French-speaking authors — Peeters, Tirabosco, Alex Baladi, Pierre Wazem, Peggy Adam, Isabelle Pralong and Ibn Al Rabin — before opening up to foreign creators. Jason, a Norwegian cartoonist, became their first foreign author in 2000, followed by Baladi and Wazem in 2001. In October 2001, Frederik Peeters's Pilules bleues, the house's ninth album, earned critical success unusual for an independent publisher. Peeters's Lupus (2003–2006) was another major success, constantly reprinted, and helped sustain the catalogue. Atrabile also supports emerging and mid-career authors: Michaël Sterckeman from 2003, Loo Hui Phang and Cédric Manche from 2004, Manuele Fior and Peggy Adam in 2005, Nicolas Presl in 2006, and Graham Annable in 2007. The Italian author Manuele Fior won the prize for best album at the Angoulême festival in 2011 for Cinq mille kilomètres par seconde, bringing further recognition to the publisher and validating its editorial choices. The revue Bile Noire ran until issue 18, which appeared in February 2011. Today Atrabile continues to publish literary-minded comics, including translations (for example, Jason's Nick Drake biography, translated from Norwegian by Christophe Gouveia Roberto) and works by contemporary authors such as Alex Baladi, Paul B. Rainey and Michael DeForge. The publisher remains a small, independent, Geneva-based house with a strong reputation in the francophone comics world, regularly present at festivals such as Formula Bula in Paris and the Töpffer awards in Geneva.

Atrabile was founded in 1997 by Maxime Pégatoquet, Daniel Pellegrino and Benoît Chevallier, following the disappearance of the revue Sauve qui peut. The first issue of their own revue, Bile Noire, featured artists Frederik Peeters, Tom Tirabosco and Ibn Al Rabin. The revue soon became a publishing house, and between 1997 and 1999 it published two albums by Peeters and Tirabosco. In 2000, Jason became their first foreign author, followed by Alex Baladi and Pierre Wazem in 2001. Like many small 1990s publishing houses, Atrabile operated with 'two or three very active members, a revue with irregular periodicity, and most books in black-and-white roman format'. In October 2001, the ninth album, Pilules bleues by Frederik Peeters, achieved critical success and commercial success unusual for an independent publisher. From 2001 to 2008, Bile Noire published fewer but more luxurious issues than between 1998 and 2000, and the house released around thirty albums between 2002 and 2008. Beyond its four main authors, Atrabile supported Michaël Sterckeman from 2003, Loo Hui Phang and Cédric Manche from 2004, Manuele Fior and Peggy Adam in 2005, Nicolas Presl in 2006, and Graham Annable in 2007. Frederik Peeters's Lupus (2003–2006) was a second major success, constantly reprinted. In 2007, for its tenth anniversary, Atrabile organised an exhibition within the Festival international de bande dessinée de Lausanne (BD-FIL), for which many of the house's authors created frescoes using hundreds of Post-it notes. In 2011, the Italian author Manuele Fior won the prize for best album at the Angoulême festival for Cinq mille kilomètres par seconde, highlighting the publisher and rewarding the relevance of its editorial choices. The revue Bile Noire ceased publication with issue 18 in February 2011. Atrabile has continued to publish, maintaining its Geneva base and its independent, literary identity. Its catalogue includes translations, such as Jason's biography of Nick Drake, translated from Norwegian by Christophe Gouveia Roberto, and works by contemporary authors including Alex Baladi, Paul B. Rainey and Michael DeForge. The publisher remains active in the francophone comics scene, participating in events such as the Formula Bula festival in Paris and the Töpffer awards in Geneva.

• 2011

  Manuele Fior wins best album at Angoulême for Cinq mille kilomètres par seconde; Bile Noire ends with issue 18 in February.

• 2007

  Graham Annable joins; tenth-anniversary exhibition at BD-FIL in Lausanne with Post-it frescoes.

• 2006

  Nicolas Presl joins the catalogue.

• 2005

  Manuele Fior and Peggy Adam join the catalogue.

• 2004

  Loo Hui Phang and Cédric Manche join the catalogue.

• 2003

  Michaël Sterckeman supported; Lupus by Frederik Peeters begins publication (until 2006).

• 2001

  Alex Baladi and Pierre Wazem join; Pilules bleues by Frederik Peeters (ninth album) achieves critical success.

• 2000

  Jason becomes the publisher's first foreign author.

• 1997

  Atrabile founded in Geneva by Maxime Pégatoquet, Daniel Pellegrino and Benoît Chevallier; first issue of Bile Noire revue published.

Independent, literary-minded Swiss comics publisher known for black-and-white bande dessinée and a curated author list.

• 2001

  Pilules bleues

• 2003

  Lupus

• 2011

  Cinq mille kilomètres par seconde

• 2026

  Oublie ce monde cruel – L’histoire de Nick Drake

• 1997

  Bile Noire (revue)

1. 1Les éditions Atrabileatrabile.org
2. 2Oublie ce monde cruel – L’histoire de Nick Drake | Atrabileatrabile.org
3. 3Atrabile (maison d'édition)fr.wikipedia.org
4. 4Wikidatawikidata.org