Enki Bilal is certainly one of the most influential artists in the field of contemporary graphic novels and comic book art. His work reflects a stark, world-weary view of society, often weaving stories set in a futuristic, imagined version of his native Serbia.

Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1951, the young artist was raised in Paris, France from the age of 9. In his teens and early twenties he met and collaborated with the author René Goscinny, who inspired an interest in comic book art, and the screenwriter Pierre Christin who introduced Enki to filmmaking.

Bilal's work is most widely recognized from his brilliant contributions to Heavy Metal Magazine, where he offered much to establish the style and direction of its futurist themes and visual excellence.

Bilal's recent graphic novel The Dormant Beast (2002) tells the story of a man with a photographic memory who struggles against a totalitarian society in which remembrances of the past are blurred and repressed.