Serge Lehman

Serge Lehman (born July 12, 1964) is the main pseudonym of the French science fiction writer Pascal Fréjean. He has won the Prix Rosny-Aîné with the novels trilogy F.A.U.S.T. and with such short fictions as Dans l'abîme and Origami. F.A.U.S.T also won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 1998. His stories have also appeared in Tales of the Shadowmen and he worked on the script of the film Immortel (Ad Vitam) by Enki Bilal.

He gained critical acclaim outside the sci-fi field in France by writing The Chimera Brigade in 2009-2010. This comic book, illustrated by Gess, has been regarded by French critics as the French reply to Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Its inspiration comes from the idea that the superhero concept has actually its roots in European pulp literature, whose codes and tropes have been modernized by the modern American comic books.

This remarkable alternate history story is set just before World War II and tells how an elite band of superhumans, born or "created" during the First World War, when dubious scientific experiments took place in order to create new superweapons, have now taken control of the capital cities of Europe and try to avoid or cause total war. Lehman tells how they are all erased from existence for good, meaning why they have been forgotten in European popular cultures since then.

In France, The Chimera Brigade won the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 2011 (in the newly created comics section). First volume of this six-issue comic book is planned to be published in English by Titan Books in 2014.