Born in France in 1947, Chantal Montellier is recognized as one of the major figures of Francophone comics. From the 1970s onward, her work was translated and disseminated internationally, and published in the leading comics magazines that shaped the history of the medium — Charlie Mensuel, Métal Hurlant, Ah! Nana, and (À Suivre) — as well as by key publishing houses such as Les Humanoïdes Associés, Futuropolis, Dargaud, Casterman, and Actes Sud.

Committed, visionary, and graphically experimental, Chantal Montellier received early critical recognition, often focused on the militant dimension of her work, sometimes at the expense of full acknowledgment of its formal and visual qualities. Without downplaying this essential political engagement — now being rediscovered by a new generation of readers — this collective monograph offers a comprehensive reappraisal of her work, attentive to its formal, narrative, and political power.

The publication brings together essays by around ten contributors and includes the reissue of several historical texts that shed light on the critical reception of the artist’s work. It notably presents the first reprint of La Mare rouge, a story originally published in 1984–1985 in the magazine Révolution. A central place is given to images, with extensive reproductions of original boards, published pages, and graphic documents.

Echoing the exhibition Qui a peur de Chantal Montellier ?, presented at MAMCO Geneva in 2023 and at the Villa Arson in Nice in 2024, the book includes a section entitled “Visual Essays.” Through the juxtaposition and dialogue of images, this section develops a complementary critical analysis, using iconographic montage as a tool for thinking.

This collective monograph celebrates the radical nature and visual force of Chantal Montellier’s work, while contributing to the recognition of the matrilineal heritage of comics, with the aim of transmitting and reaffirming the significance of her artistic and political commitment.

A co-publication with Les Presses du réel, available in bookshops and on the Les Presses du réel website.