Jean-Marc Lofficier (French:[lɔfisje]; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation
screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier (born
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on February 3, 1953), and the reason why credits sometimes read "R. J. M. Lofficier", after the initials of both spouses.
Biography
Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in
Toulon, France, in 1954. The son of a
serviceman, he moved several times during his formative years, spending "a goodly part of my childhood in Bordeaux, and my teenage years in Fontainebleau".[1] A budding writer from an early age, Lofficier also "drew my own little
comic strips when I was 13, 14, and began being published in French '
zines at 16."[1] Recalling in 2005 that "writing wasn't deemed a respectable, economically sound way of making a living," he got an MBA and a law degree, then went to work in international banking.[1]
Graduating from the
Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and from
ESCP Europe business school in 1978, Jean-Marc Lofficier worked for
Barclays Bank in Paris for a year before being hired by
Crédit Lyonnais and moving to Los Angeles, California, U.S., where he met Randy. Jean-Marc and Randy were married the following year.[1] Jean-Marc recalled in 2005 that their writing partnership developed alongside their personal relationship; "Randy always wanted to write... [so] it evolved organically in a mutually complementary working relationship.".[1]
Jean-Marc left Crédit Lyonnais in 1985 to join Starwatcher Graphics, a new company set up by French artist
Mœbius and his wife Claudine, then living in
Santa Monica, California. After Mœbius returned to France, and Starwatcher Graphics was disbanded in 2000, the Lofficiers started their own company, Hollywood Comics,[2] which advises and counsels comic book professionals in their dealings with Hollywood. Jean-Marc and Randy moved to
Chalabre, in the south of France, in 2005.
Magazines and Hollywood
In 1979, the Lofficiers built on Jean-Marc's earlier work for fanzines and French magazines – including Lunatique and L'Écran fantastique, for which he wrote a combination of articles, reviews and short stories – and began working as "film journalists" for a variety of "cinema/
sf pro magazines."[1] Covering the Hollywood-based film industry (and particularly those aspects with a Sci-Fi or Fantasy bent), the Lofficiers wrote for a number of magazines created both for American and overseas audiences.
The Lofficiers' magazine work, which included short stories, retrospectives and TV program guides alongside journalistic articles, led naturally to them co-authoring a number of non-fiction books about film and television programs. Their first – The Doctor Who Programme Guide, published by
W. H. Allen in 1981 – arose from their work for French magazine L'Écran fantastique. The pair produced
"a series of dossiers on SF TV series for L'Ecran Fantastique: The Prisoner, Star Trek, Twilight Zone and... Doctor Who. For that [Who] dossier [Jean-Marc Lofficier] interviewed
Terrance Dicks and
Graham Williams. Then I sent them a courtesy copy. Terrance passed it on to Christine Donougher at W. H. Allen who saw an opportunity to publish it as a book."[1]
This title in turn led to the Lofficiers producing several
novelizations and editing various
anthologies of science fiction and fantasy short stories.
From 2000 to 2003, Jean-Marc Lofficier was editor and senior writer of a line of French comic books published by
Semic Comics, redeveloping old French characters from the 1960s such as Wampus, Kabur, Phenix, Homicron, Dragut and Dick Demon into more modern versions, even gathering a number of them in the mini-series Strangers published by
Image Comics in 2003.[3] This universe of characters is now gathered as
Hexagon Comics. The Lofficiers also wrote "Blood Oath", a crossover between Phenix and
Top Cow's
Witchblade.[4][5] Starting in 2010, the Lofficiers started to reprint the "classic" stories from the 1960s and 1970s in a series of black & white trade paperbacks, as well as write new stories, mostly by relaunching the comic-book Strangers. Since that date, Jean-Marc has been editor-in-chief of
Hexagon Comics.
Also for the French comic market, the Lofficiers wrote a trilogy of graphic novels based on the character of
Robur created by
Jules Verne. Illustrated by
Gil Formosa, the first two volumes were nominated for the 2005
Jules Verne Award for Bandes Dessinees.[6] There were published in English in Heavy Metal.
Translation
In 1985, the Lofficiers were hired by French artist Moebius to translate and arrange for the publication of his works in English. This led to a series of 30+
graphic novels published mostly by
Epic Comics until 1995. During that time, the Lofficiers also translated numerous French comics for
Dark Horse Comics, co-editing their comic Cheval Noir, and for
Renegade Press, co-editing their comic French Ice, featuring the series Carmen Cru by French artist
Jean-Marc Lelong. In 1990, in recognition of their career as writers, translators and editors, the Lofficiers were presented with the
Inkpot Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comic Arts.
Pulps and science fiction
In 2003, the Lofficiers created their own small press,
Black Coat Press,[7] to translate and publish classics of French pulp literature into English, relying in part on the output of British writer/translator
Brian Stableford.
In 2005, the Lofficiers started another small press,
Rivière Blanche [
fr],[8] to publish French science fiction novels in the nostalgic style of the long-defunct Anticipation imprint of
Editions Fleuve Noir.
Lofficier's official website includes a section entitled "Illustrated History of the French Saint Novels", a guide to French-language novels based upon the character of
Simon Templar (alias "The Saint"), created by
Leslie Charteris.[9]
Works
Bibliography
Books
Books include:
Fiction:
Robonocchio en Francais (children's) (Black Coat Press, 2004,
ISBN1-932983-04-X)
Robonocchio en Español (children's) (Black Coat Press, 2004,
ISBN1-932983-25-2)
Doc Ardan: City of Gold and Lepers (translation/adaptation of
Guy d'Armen's novel, Black Coat Press, 2004,
ISBN1-932983-03-1)
Doc Ardan: The Troglodytes of Mount Everest / The Giants of Black Lake (translation/adaptation of
Guy d'Armen's novels, Black Coat Press, 2016,
ISBN978-1-61227-483-6)
La Dimension des Miracles Revisitée (French translation of
Robert Sheckley's The Dimension of Miracles Revisited, Rivière Blanche, 2007,
ISBN1-934543-17-9)
Jean-Marc Lofficier (French:[lɔfisje]; born June 22, 1954) is a French author of books about films and television programs, as well as numerous comics and translations of a number of animation
screenplays. He usually collaborates with his wife, Randy Lofficier (born
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on February 3, 1953), and the reason why credits sometimes read "R. J. M. Lofficier", after the initials of both spouses.
Biography
Jean-Marc Lofficier was born in
Toulon, France, in 1954. The son of a
serviceman, he moved several times during his formative years, spending "a goodly part of my childhood in Bordeaux, and my teenage years in Fontainebleau".[1] A budding writer from an early age, Lofficier also "drew my own little
comic strips when I was 13, 14, and began being published in French '
zines at 16."[1] Recalling in 2005 that "writing wasn't deemed a respectable, economically sound way of making a living," he got an MBA and a law degree, then went to work in international banking.[1]
Graduating from the
Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University and from
ESCP Europe business school in 1978, Jean-Marc Lofficier worked for
Barclays Bank in Paris for a year before being hired by
Crédit Lyonnais and moving to Los Angeles, California, U.S., where he met Randy. Jean-Marc and Randy were married the following year.[1] Jean-Marc recalled in 2005 that their writing partnership developed alongside their personal relationship; "Randy always wanted to write... [so] it evolved organically in a mutually complementary working relationship.".[1]
Jean-Marc left Crédit Lyonnais in 1985 to join Starwatcher Graphics, a new company set up by French artist
Mœbius and his wife Claudine, then living in
Santa Monica, California. After Mœbius returned to France, and Starwatcher Graphics was disbanded in 2000, the Lofficiers started their own company, Hollywood Comics,[2] which advises and counsels comic book professionals in their dealings with Hollywood. Jean-Marc and Randy moved to
Chalabre, in the south of France, in 2005.
Magazines and Hollywood
In 1979, the Lofficiers built on Jean-Marc's earlier work for fanzines and French magazines – including Lunatique and L'Écran fantastique, for which he wrote a combination of articles, reviews and short stories – and began working as "film journalists" for a variety of "cinema/
sf pro magazines."[1] Covering the Hollywood-based film industry (and particularly those aspects with a Sci-Fi or Fantasy bent), the Lofficiers wrote for a number of magazines created both for American and overseas audiences.
The Lofficiers' magazine work, which included short stories, retrospectives and TV program guides alongside journalistic articles, led naturally to them co-authoring a number of non-fiction books about film and television programs. Their first – The Doctor Who Programme Guide, published by
W. H. Allen in 1981 – arose from their work for French magazine L'Écran fantastique. The pair produced
"a series of dossiers on SF TV series for L'Ecran Fantastique: The Prisoner, Star Trek, Twilight Zone and... Doctor Who. For that [Who] dossier [Jean-Marc Lofficier] interviewed
Terrance Dicks and
Graham Williams. Then I sent them a courtesy copy. Terrance passed it on to Christine Donougher at W. H. Allen who saw an opportunity to publish it as a book."[1]
This title in turn led to the Lofficiers producing several
novelizations and editing various
anthologies of science fiction and fantasy short stories.
From 2000 to 2003, Jean-Marc Lofficier was editor and senior writer of a line of French comic books published by
Semic Comics, redeveloping old French characters from the 1960s such as Wampus, Kabur, Phenix, Homicron, Dragut and Dick Demon into more modern versions, even gathering a number of them in the mini-series Strangers published by
Image Comics in 2003.[3] This universe of characters is now gathered as
Hexagon Comics. The Lofficiers also wrote "Blood Oath", a crossover between Phenix and
Top Cow's
Witchblade.[4][5] Starting in 2010, the Lofficiers started to reprint the "classic" stories from the 1960s and 1970s in a series of black & white trade paperbacks, as well as write new stories, mostly by relaunching the comic-book Strangers. Since that date, Jean-Marc has been editor-in-chief of
Hexagon Comics.
Also for the French comic market, the Lofficiers wrote a trilogy of graphic novels based on the character of
Robur created by
Jules Verne. Illustrated by
Gil Formosa, the first two volumes were nominated for the 2005
Jules Verne Award for Bandes Dessinees.[6] There were published in English in Heavy Metal.
Translation
In 1985, the Lofficiers were hired by French artist Moebius to translate and arrange for the publication of his works in English. This led to a series of 30+
graphic novels published mostly by
Epic Comics until 1995. During that time, the Lofficiers also translated numerous French comics for
Dark Horse Comics, co-editing their comic Cheval Noir, and for
Renegade Press, co-editing their comic French Ice, featuring the series Carmen Cru by French artist
Jean-Marc Lelong. In 1990, in recognition of their career as writers, translators and editors, the Lofficiers were presented with the
Inkpot Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comic Arts.
Pulps and science fiction
In 2003, the Lofficiers created their own small press,
Black Coat Press,[7] to translate and publish classics of French pulp literature into English, relying in part on the output of British writer/translator
Brian Stableford.
In 2005, the Lofficiers started another small press,
Rivière Blanche [
fr],[8] to publish French science fiction novels in the nostalgic style of the long-defunct Anticipation imprint of
Editions Fleuve Noir.
Lofficier's official website includes a section entitled "Illustrated History of the French Saint Novels", a guide to French-language novels based upon the character of
Simon Templar (alias "The Saint"), created by
Leslie Charteris.[9]
Works
Bibliography
Books
Books include:
Fiction:
Robonocchio en Francais (children's) (Black Coat Press, 2004,
ISBN1-932983-04-X)
Robonocchio en Español (children's) (Black Coat Press, 2004,
ISBN1-932983-25-2)
Doc Ardan: City of Gold and Lepers (translation/adaptation of
Guy d'Armen's novel, Black Coat Press, 2004,
ISBN1-932983-03-1)
Doc Ardan: The Troglodytes of Mount Everest / The Giants of Black Lake (translation/adaptation of
Guy d'Armen's novels, Black Coat Press, 2016,
ISBN978-1-61227-483-6)
La Dimension des Miracles Revisitée (French translation of
Robert Sheckley's The Dimension of Miracles Revisited, Rivière Blanche, 2007,
ISBN1-934543-17-9)