Voyage en Italie, by Cosey
'Voyage en Italie'.

Cosey is one of the most important Swiss comic artists of all time. He was part of a new generation of European comic artists who emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, making philosophical stories for more mature audiences. His signature series is 'Jonathan' (1975), about a young man on a literal and spiritual journey in foreign countries. Cosey also made several one-shot stories, of which 'Á La Recherche du Temps Perdu' (1983-1984) is the most critically praised. Cosey's comics portray picturesque travels through Europe, America or South-East Asia, the majority based on personal voyages to countries in these continents. Yet his stories are first and foremost intelligent character studies. His protagonists are on a fascinating journey to find their inner self and more meaning to their lives. Albums are often presented as multi-media experiences, with novels, films and musical records suggested by Cosey to reflect the mood of that particular story, or give his readers additional food for thought and entertainment. Cosey's stories have been translated in several languages and achieved popularity with readers with similar travel aspirations and/or mental quests. 

Pol Aroid by Cosey
'Les Aventures de Paul Aroïd'.

Early life
Bernard Cosendai, better known as Cosey, was born in 1950 in Lausanne, Switzerland, but part of his family was born in the United States. He often wondered what his life would've been if he had been raised there. Dreams of living in another country had a profound impact on his personal interests. From a young age, Cosey had great interest in literature, particularly the work of J.D. Salinger, Bruce Chatwin, Nicolas Bouvier, Paul Theroux, Saul Bellow, Raymond Carver, Russell Banks, T.C. Boyle, Carl Gustav Jung and Haruki Murakami. In the field of comics, his graphic influences are Walt Disney, Derib, Hugo Pratt, Jijé, Raymond Macherot, André Franquin, Maurice Tillieux, Christophe Blain, René Sterne, Zep, Daniel Clowes, Art Spiegelman, Joann Sfar, Hergé and Chris Ware. In a 2011 interview by Wouter Porteman and Peter D'Herdt, he also surprised the journalists by expressing his admiration for the atmosphere, characters and suspense of the 'Suske en Wiske' album 'De Lachende Wolf' ('The Laughing Wolf') by Willy Vandersteen, which he had once read in translation in a Swiss magazine. Nevertheless, he felt the artwork was "rather mediocre" and never read another album in the series since. 

Another passion is music. Cosey is fond of mezmerizing rock music, classical music, jazz and world music, the kind that makes the listener's mind wander off to magnificent places. He loves musical records so much that he frequently namedrops and recommends certain tracks and albums to his readers, almost as a "soundtrack" to his comics. 


'Un Shampooing Pour la Couronne'.

Early comics
In 1969, one of Cosey's drawings won third prize in a contest organized by the magazine Spirou. Cosey originally worked as a graphic designer for an advertising agency when he happened to read a newspaper interview with his idol, Derib. He loved Derib's comics, but particularly looked up to him since he was the only professional Swiss comic artist to enjoy some international fame. He wrote his idol a letter and was instantly hired as his assistant. At first, Cosey colorized several of Derib's series, such as 'Go West!' and 'Yakari'. But they soon discovered that they shared several common interests, including psychology, philosophy and spiritualism. 

In 1971, Cosey illustrated three stories of the series 'Monfreyd et Tilbury', scripted by André-Paul Duchâteau. They were serialized in Le Soir Jeunesse, the youth supplement of the Belgian newspaper Le Soir. A year later, Cosey joined the Swiss daily paper 24 Heures, where he published 'Paul Aroïd', a comic about a journalist, which was his first comic completely written and drawn by himself. Another story by Cosey starred a character named 'Saphorin Ledoux', in whom a prototypical version of  his later signature hero 'Jonathan' can be recognized. Publishing & Copyright published one album of 'Saphorin Ledoux' in 1974, titled 'Un Shampooing Pour la Couronne' (text by Jacques Ralf, colors by Marianne).

Jonathan, by Cosey
Jonathan #2 - 'Et la Montagne Chantera pour Toi'.

Jonathan
In 1975, Cosey launched his first truly ambitious series, 'Jonathan' in Tintin issue #6 (4 February 1975). He was lucky that Tintin magazine had a new chief editor, Henri Declez, who was willing to greenlight his comic for publication. At first, Cosey didn't want to publish in Tintin, since his idol and mentor, Derib, also appeared in its pages and he didn't want to come across as a rival, nor imitator. But since no other magazine was interested in 'Jonathan', he just went for it. Years later, Cosey met Tintin's previous chief editor, Greg, who told him that if he had still been in charge, he would've never accepted his comic. Cosey didn't feel offended, as he could perfectly understand that his artwork wasn't up to par to the magazine's standards yet and his adult, self-exploring themes were far beyond Greg's personal interests. 

Indeed, 'Jonathan' was a quite unusual comic hero in Tintin's pages. The central character, Jonathan, can't be called a "hero" in the traditional sense, nor he is an anti-hero either. In his debut story, 'Souviens-Toi, Jonathan' (1975), he is introduced as a young Swiss traveller in the Himalaya Mountains. He goes on a journey to find a Tibetan girl he once loved, Saïcha, and adopts a feral child, Drolma, along the way. Action or adventure aren't the focus. Jonathan's thoughts and feelings receive far more attention. He is depicted as a cultivated person, who enjoys the films of Woody Allen and reads introspective literature, such as the Hindu scriptures the Vedas and the works of psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. Jonathan is even named after Richard Bach's novel 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' (1970).

Like any teen, Jonathan also finds solace in music. He listens to contemporary rock groups (Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, The Kinks, The Pat Metheny Group), artists (Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Brian Eno), but also modern classical music (John Cage, Toru Takemitsu), jazz (Keith Jarrett, Terje Rypdal) and world music (Ravi Shankar, traditional Tibetan folk music). In later albums, Cosey would add newer artists too, like Arvo Pärt, Midnight Oil and Air. He also went further than pure namedropping. He sometimes had them appear in the stories, as part of Jonathan's imagination, or dreams. In the final pages of each story, Cosey also recommends certain records by these artists to his readers, so they can check them out for themselves. This makes 'Jonathan' such a multimedia experience that it's strange that so far the series has never been adapted into film or a TV series. Yet in October 2021, when the 17th 'Jonathan' album was released, publishing company Le Lombard released a playlist on YouTube. 

Jonathan by Cosey
Jonathan #4 - 'Le Berceau du Bodhisattva'.

But while Jonathan searches for more meaning, the stories offer no conclusive messages or answers. To Cosey, a journey is always far more interesting than the actual destination, which he applies to both Jonathan's actual voyages and his mental progress. The artist always had a fascination for memories: how people remember things and the kind of symbolism behind it. Cosey noted that everybody deals with memory loss about certain parts of ourselves that he can't or don't want to retrieve. Yet one can (re)discover things in one's self that one forgot. 

Despite - or thanks to - the unusualness, 'Jonathan' struck a chord with readers. Many teenagers and twentysomethings could relate to a quest for their inner self. The books, films and music recommended by the author also motivated readers to check these works out and expand their cultural horizons. Naturally, the very idea of traveling alone to a faraway country was also appealing. In the 1970s, Tibet was a mysterious destination for many Westerners. Since the Chinese army occupied the country in 1950-1951, they kept its frontier closed for tourists. Apart from Hergé's 'Tintin in Tibet' (1960) the country had rarely been explored in comics either. Only after Mao's death in 1976 did Tibet open up its borders again. Cosey took the opportunity to travel to the country, collect more firsthand visual documentation and get a better sense of local culture. He made it his goal to base all his next stories on personal travel experiences, making his stories feel like genuine travel reports with credible, realistic plot developments. 

Jonathan by Cosey
Jonathan #7 - 'Kate'.

Between 1975 and 1986, Cosey created eleven 'Jonathan' stories. One of his most popular stories was 'Kate' (1981), which introduced the recurring female character Kate whom many fans of the series like. The album in question received the Prix Alfred for "Best Album" at the Comics Festival of Angoulême, France. The album 'Le Privilège du Serpent' (1982) was notable for featuring a cameo of Derib in the role of the character Casimir, after Derib had given Cosey a role in the 'Buddy Longway' story 'Trois Hommes Sont Passés' (1976).

From the story 'Neal et Sylvester' on, Cosey left the colouring to his assistants Fraymond and Paûle Ceppi, wife of Daniel Ceppi. After 1986, Cosey took a long break from the series, only to revive 'Jonathan' in 1997 and make five albums more.


Jonathan #12 - 'Celui Qui Mene les Fleuves a la Mer'.

À La Recherche de Peter Pan
In 1978, Cosey went to Burbank, California, to apply for a job at the Walt Disney Company. They showed interest, but he eventually came back on the idea, since he would lose his creative freedom. During the second stage of his career, Cosey focused more on character-driven one-shot albums instead of entire series. He felt that over the course of several albums a character like Jonathan already had a clearly defined past by now. It also limited the locations his character could "discover". Through creating one-shot albums, Cosey would be allowed far greater creative freedom. 

His first full-length one-shot comic story was 'À la Recherche de Peter Pan' ('Searching for Peter Pan', serialized in Tintin magazine from issue #23, 7 June 1983 until #41, 9 October 1984). Set in the 1930s, it tells the tale of a British novelist who travels to the Swiss Alps to search inspiration for his next book, but also to find out more about the death of his half brother Dragan, who died in a local hotel. In his back pocket, he carries a copy of James Barrie's play 'Peter Pan'. During his journey, he learns that he has to be quick, since the village where the hotel is located could get covered in an avalanche once one of the glaziers breaks. Yet something strange is going on, because he often notices a pianist in the local hotel playing compositions his brother used to play...

At the time, 'À La Recherche de Peter Pan' was a serious risk. Cosey's publisher Lombard didn't believe it would sell, since audiences would rather follow a series than a one-shot album. When the comic was published in Tintin, one erotic scene was censored, which also happened in the English/American translation. Yet despite all odds, 'À la Recherche de Peter Pan' became both a critical as well as commercial success, even outselling any other comic he made since or before. In 1988, it won the Max und Moritz Award for "Best Comic Book Publication". Some readers even regard as superior to any of his 'Jonathan' titles.

Saigon-Hanoi by Cosey
'Saigon-Hanoi'

Voyage en Italie
In 1988, Cosey drew 'Voyage en Italie' ('Travel to Italy', 1988), which follows a depressive Vietnam veteran and his friend who travel from the USA to Italy. They decide to look for a former girlfriend they both once had a relationship with. To their surprise, she turns out to have joined a monastery, where she takes care of Keo, a young Cambodian refugee who is illegal in the country. Keo dreams of visiting the United States and thus the three friends take it upon them to bring the little girl there, no matter how difficult this attempt will be. Normally, Cosey would've published the comic in Tintin magazine, but Lombard didn't even show interest, since their magazine's sales were already going downhill. Luckily, Jean van Hamme had launched the graphic novel collection 'Aire Libre' at Éditions Dupuis, which focused on more mature readers. 'Voyage en Italie' became one of the collection's earliest titles and was a critical success, paving the way for more one-shot stories by Cosey.

Orchidéa
Cosey's 'Orchidéa' (1990) tells the story of an old man, Ellsworth Humelsine, who lives in a rest home. When his family wants to surprise him for his birthday it turns out that he has been missing for four days. As they are informed where he might be hanging out, they start searching for him.

Saigon-Hanoi
Cosey's 'Saigon-Hanoi' (1992) deals with a Vietnam veteran returning home after the war and who tries to pick up his civilian life again. To make the story Cosey spent two months in Vietnam. The comic book won the Prix Alfred for "Best Story" at the Comics Festival of Angoulême.

Joyeux Noël, May
'Joyeux Noël, May' (1995) is set in the snowy hills of the Rocky Mountains, where a young female author gets cut off from her mother by heavy snowfall. While stuck in the little village Mize, Colorado, she strikes a friendship with another mysterious woman...


'Zeke Raconte des Histoires'

Zeke Raconte des Histoires
'Zeke Raconte des Histoires' (1999) is a more experimental album by Cosey. It focuses on a man named Zeke who seems to have disappeared, but who in reality leads a reclusive life in Mekong. The tale swings back and forth between two people who tried to find him and scenes where Zeke entertains listeners with tall tales about his extraordinary life, told in flashbacks.

Une Maison de Frank L. Wright
'Une Maison de Frank L. Wright' (2003) also deals with memories. It tells four stories about unfulfilled youth romances and second chances occuring later in adulthood. The book was notable for being Cosey's first short story collection and a move to a simpler drawing style. The story that closes off the book, 'Sur L'Île', is his most autobiographical account, in which a boy and girl look for an unlocked car on a parking lot to steal comics. Cosey confirmed that he indeed in his childhood went to the parking lot of La Blécherette during the football championship to find an unlocked car. 'Sur L'Île' features a dream sequence in which he pays tribute to all the comics who "nourished me in a compelling way and (...) triggered my love for this wonderful job." 


'Zélie Nord-Sud'

Le Bouddha d'Azur
In 2005, Cosey received the honor of creating the first album of Dupuis' 'Empreintes' collection. The book in question was the two-parter, 'Le Bouddha d'Azur' (2005-2006), prepublished in Spirou. The story is set in the early 1960s during the Chinese occupation of Tibet. A young English kid, Gifford, travels to Tibet as a stowaway, but things go wrong and he has to get there by foot. As he arrives in a local village he falls in love with the townspeople, as well as the mysterious girl Lhahl. The second album takes place ten years later, at the same location.

Other comics in the 2000s
In addition, Cosey produced 'Echo' for publisher Daniel Maghen (2007). 'Zélie, Nord-Sud' (1994) was an assignment of the "Direction de l'Aide au Développement et à la Coopération", a unit of the Swiss Ministery of Foreign Affairs who do humanitarian work in Third World countries. As part of his research, Cosey visited Burkina Faso and Mali. He was allowed a certain degree of creative freedom and made it a story about a black Swiss girl who returns to her roots in Central Africa. The story was colored by Valott, prepublished in Hello Bédé and published in the Signé collection of Lombard. The most obscure story in Cosey's bibliography is the two-parter 'Champéry, Été 1863' (2004). This album was released by the Swiss preservation organisation Le Patrimoine Champérolain to celebrate their 10th anniversary and therefore only available at Champéry's tourist office and local book store 'Dents du Midi'. Co-created with Fabrice Clément, it is set during the late 18th and early 19th century and follows the life of Gustin, a soldier in Napoleon's army.

Le Bouddha d'Azur by Cosey
'Le Bouddha d'Azur'.

Mickey Mouse
In 2016, Cosey drew 'Une Mystérieuse Mélodie, où Comment Mickey Rencontra Minnie' (Glénat, 2016), a story starring Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse. The comic book was made with official permission by the Walt Disney Company, and the publisher also invited other comic artists to make similar Mickey stories, such as Lewis Trondheim, Régis Loisel, Tébo and Nicolas Kéramidas. The graphic novel is set in Hollywood in 1927. Mickey is depicted as a scriptwriter who tries to make a living there, meeting Minnie along the way. The story is quite a break in tradition for Cosey, as it is drawn in the usual jolly Disney style, rather than his own realistic drawings. Much of the imagery is reminiscent of Floyd Gottfredson's style.

Calypso
In 2017, Cosey released 'Calypso' (Futuropolis, 2017), a contemporary graphic novel in black-and-white, about a detoxing actress who stages her own kidnapping.

Mickey Mouse by Cosey
'Une Mystérieuse Mélodie, où Comment Mickey Rencontra Minnie'.

Book illustrations
Cosey is also active as an illustrator, providing novels such as Jacques Salomé's 'L'Enfant Bouddha' (1993), Jean-Charles Bernardini's 'Le Vol de l'Aigle' (2002) and Yves Blanc's 'Les Guetteurs du Passé' (2010) with drawings.

Graphic contributions
Cosey was one of several artists to make a graphic contribution to 'Pepperland’ (1980), a collective comic book tribute to the store Pepperland, to celebrate its 10th anniversary at the time. In 1981, he was one of several artists to draw a comic strip homage to John Lennon, after the former Beatle was assassinated a year earlier, in a special issue of (À Suivre). Cosey was also one of many artists to sign the petition to find about more about the mysteriously disappeared comic writer Hector G. Oesterheld whom many presume was murdered by soldiers under the regime of Argentinian dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. He made a graphic contribution to 'Baston Labaffe no. 5: La Ballade des Baffes’ (Goupil, 1983), an official collective parody comic of  André Franquin’s 'Gaston Lagaffe’. Cosey also drew a homage to Derib in the tribute album 'Les Amis de Buddy Longway' (1983) and honoured Nikita Mandryka in the collective comic book 'Tronches de Concombre' (Dupuis, 1995). 

In 1995, Cosey was one of 20 comic artists (Zep, Ptiluc, Frank Margerin, Yslaire, Philippe Vuillemin, Milo Manara, Loustal, Gilbert Shelton, Max Cabanes, Dupuy & Berberian, François Boucq, Gérald Poussin, Thomas Ott, Frank Pé, Frank Le Gall, Riff Reb's, Eric Buche, Enrico Marini and Valott) to create a special album cover for a musical artist, in his case Youssou N'Dour. Cosey also paid homage to Hergé in the two-page story 'La Rencontre' (1986), where Jonathan meets two people spending the night inside a plane wreck in the snowy mountains of the Himalaya. Both are a realistically-drawn version of Tintin and Captain Haddock and refer to a scene from 'Tintin in Tibet'. On 21 January 2003, Cosey also drew a new 'Tintin' album cover, 'Tintin au Tibet Occupé' ('Tintin in Occupied Tibet') for Le Figaro to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Angoulême Comics Festival. He also drew a graphic tribute to René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's 'Astérix' for 24 Heures at the occasion of the series' 50th anniversary. A decade later he paid tribute to the same franchise in 'Générations Astérix' (2019). 

Recognition
Cosey was awarded the Prix Saint-Michel Avenir (1976) and the Grand Prix Saint-Michel (1979). The 'Jonathan' story, 'Kate', received the 1981 Prix Alfred for 'Best Album' at the Angoulême Festival. 'Á La Recherche du Peter Pan' won the 1988 Max und Moritz Award for 'Best Comic Book Publication'. In 2017, he received the Grand Prix du Festival d'Angoulême for his entire career. He was honored with a career retrospective at the 2018 edition of the festival.

Legacy and influence
Cosey has had a strong influence on several European comic artists, particularly in the graphic novel genre. In Switzerland, he inspired Rafael Morales and Zep. In France, he is admired by AlgesirasMichel Plessix and Stéphane Servain, while in Belgium he influenced Jeroen JanssenMarvano and Erika Raven


Cosey.

The World of Cosey

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