The Last Jungle Book - Volume 2 - The Promise

Born in Brussels in 1954, Stephen Desberg started out as a comic book writer in 1976. He wrote short stories for Tintin magazine (Le Lombard). It was not until 1978 that this follower of Maurice Tillieux, the creator of "Gil Jourdan" (Spirou), began a career as a professional writer. In 1980 be began working for the weekly Spirou magazine (Dupuis), ensuring the continuity of the "Tif and Tondu" adventures, illustrated by Will.
He then successively created the characters 421, Billy the Cat, Mic Mac Adam and Jimmy Tousseul. After releasing several albums with these characters, he partnered with the cartoonist Johan De Moor and Casterman publishing house to create "Gaspard de la nuit" (1987-1991), and in the monthly magazine A suivre ... - "Les enquêtes de La Vache". These comedy series now appear in albums under the title "Lait entier" (Troisième Degree collection at Le Lombard), and are going through new developments.
In a more grown up genre, again working with Will as the illustrator, Stephen Desberg published two albums in the Aire Libre collection by Dupuis: "Le Jardin des désirs" (1989) and "La Vingt-Septième Lettre" (1990). As an original and versatile writer, Desberg goes from one genre to another with ease and inventiveness, from fantasy themes to reality that aims to challenge difficult subjects, such as intolerance.
In 1996 he expressed his disdain of racism with illustrator Bernard Vrancken in "Le sang noir", a romantic saga in four albums published by Le Lombard. Stephen Desberg is an American citizen who lives in Belgium and, like every son of Uncle Sam, is obliged to declare his income to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) - the tax authorities of the United States. Therefore no one can tell us about the functioning of this institution better than him.
As a comic book writer, he has naturally made it the subject of a highly original series of albums. Illustrated by Bernard Vrancken, episodes of this present-day financial thriller have been coming out since 1999 under the generic title of "IR$" in the Troisième Vague collection by Le Lombard. His homeland serves as a backdrop in his other albums as well, such as "L'étoile du désert" (1996, Dargaud) - a twilight western created with Enrico Marini, or "Tosca" (2001-2003 Glénat), an uncompromising portrait of the evolution of the American mafia, created with Francis Valles.
Stephen Desberg is also passionate about religious themes. He explores the mythological world of angels and demons in "Les immortels" (2001-2005, Glénat), created with Henri Reculé. He collaborated with Enrico Marini on riddles of Christian origins in "Le Scorpion" (2000-2014, Dargaud), a saga bursting with flamboyant heroes with capes and swords in eighteenth century Rome, where warriors confront monks and cardinals in an attack on the totalitarian power.
In fall 2003, with Daniel Koller, he launched "Mayam" (Dargaud), a theological fantasy series recounting the travels of an ambitious Terran diplomat on a planet with a thousand competing cults. A prolific author, Desberg writes scripts for many other series, including "Miss October" (2012-2014, Le Lombard), "Sherman" (2011-2012, The Lombard) and "Sienna" (2008-2014, Bamboo). In 2014, he began writing the second volume of "Black Op" (Dargaud), a series illustrated by his friend Hugues Labiano.
In 2015, with Miguel Lalo he started working on a dark thriller series "Le rédempteur" (Dargaud). Né au Chili, le pays de sa mère, en 1970, Henri Reculé débarque en Belgique, le pays de son père, à l'âge de 14 ans. Il y suivra les cours d'illustration de l'école Saint-Luc, à Liège, à l'issue desquels il réalise un album complet en guise de projet de fin d'études, Le Grand Veneur, en compagnie de Jean-Luc Sala (Bakemono, Crossfire).
Cette collaboration remporte un concours organisé par Le Lombard, qui permet aux deux jeunes gens d'y publier La légende de Kynan, leur premier album professionnel, en 1993. C'est le début d'une belle histoire entre Reculé et l'éditeur, qui se concrétise dans les cinq tomes de Castel Armer, une geste épique dont il assure scénario et dessins. Il fait alors la connaissance de Stephen Desberg, avec qui il publie le diptyque Le Crépuscule des anges, chez Casterman, puis Les Immortels, chez Glénat.
Les deux hommes continuent leur collaboration au Lombard avec Le dernier livre de la jungle (4 tomes en collection Polyptique) et aujourd'hui, Cassio. Décidément fidèle à ses proches collaborateurs, Henri Reculé assure également le design des personnages de Empire USA, de Desberg, entre deux tomes de Cassio.