"HADES" ARTBOOKS (1995-1997)

Like many of you, I found out only at the beginning of the nineties that our favorite anime originated from "manga" (Japanese comics). I then succeeded into getting my hands - and that was not a walk in the park, even through the specialized shops - on the 10 issues of SAINT SEIYA dealing with the "Hades" chapter, which was never adapted into animation. After having read and re-read it, then having benefited from René Gilles Debert's translations in his fanzine "Namida", my passion of this series just kept increasing. As well as the frustration not to have seen this chivalrous war adapted for television... I then set myself a goal to make a book about this Hades series, as if the series had been produced and that I made a kind of art book out of it. Thus the idea was born, during July 1995.


"HADES" ARTBOOK Volume 1 (1995-1996)

If my drawing style was quite faithful to Araki's one as I adapted the adventures originally drawn by Kurumada, my literary style left much to be desired. This is thanks to this deficiency that I got the opportunity to let a friend take his pen and rewrite the first summaries I did while reshaping the draft. In November 1995, I read the first novelized lines by Arnaud Dollen about the Master Roshi's behavior in front of the Rozan waterfall. The magic instantly grasped me, as well as a flawless friendship. About six months later, we put an end to an artbook of 200 pages filled with sketches, character design, posters, comics and summaries of the first six Hades mangas.

The foundation stone of the Hades adaptation was laid !


"HADES" ARTBOOK Volume 2 (1996-1997)

The second book was " quicker " to achieve. The summer of 1996 was very productive regarding drawings, and the comics of the final episode was finished in October. Arnaud made an end of his texts within a non-stop day he spent on the final episode. The result was slightly better than the first volume, but a bit less enthusiastic towards the end as the desire to aim a new and different project grew stronger. These two books have been nevertheless introduced to the public for their opinion during the CARTOONIST (April 1997). The warm reception gave us more encouragement to perfect the few elements remaining from open points, and this volume was finished during June 1997. This was the first experience of our collaboration drawing / writing, and most of all the first project that was really polished and introduced to the public. Undoubtedly, this impressed and it's certainly during this year that I realized that I could bring something to SAINT SEIYA fans…