Alexis Nolent

Not to be confused with Yukihiro Matsumoto.

For other uses, see Matz.

Alexis Nolent (French: [alɛksi nɔlɑ̃]; born 1967) is a French writer. He writes scripts for video games and has also written a novel and, under the pen name Matz, a number of comics.

Alexis Nolent
Nolent in 2024
Born	1967 Rouen, France
Area(s)	Writer
Pseudonym(s)	Matz
Notable works	The Killer Snowpiercer: The Prequel Affairs of the State
Awards	Prix Saint-Michel: Best Story (2004) Best French Language Comic (2006)

Life and career

Nolent was born in Rouen, France, and grew up in the Caribbean, before moving to Paris.^[1]

His graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete, AKA Headshot, was adapted into the 2012 film Bullet to the Head.^[2] He has written The Killer (Le Tueur) and Cyclops (Cyclopes) both of which have been optioned for films, also by producer Alexandra Milchan, the former at Netflix with director David Fincher^[3] and the latter at Warner Brothers by James Mangold.^[4] The Killer is his first to be published in English and is published by Archaia Studios Press,^[5] who are dividing each of volumes into two parts and releasing in American comic book format bi-monthly. The first four issues were collected as a hardcover volume, which won IGN's Best Indy Book of 2007 Award,^[6] Newsarama's Best of '07 gave it the "Best Comic You Didn't Read This Year" award^[7] and Entertainment Weekly named it #2 in a list of Best comics of 2007.^[8]

Other work includes Headshot (Du plomb dans la tête) with Colin Wilson, Shandy with Dominique Bertail and an upcoming adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel Savage Night with artist Miles Hyman.^[9][10]

The Killer was optioned for a 2023 feature film adaptation, starring Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton.^[11]

Awards

• 2004: Won Best Story, Prix Saint-Michel, for Du plomb dans la tête
• 2006:
  • Won Best Comic (French language), Prix Saint-Michel, for Shandy 2: Le dragon d'Austerlitz
  • Nominated for Best artwork, Prix Saint-Michel, for Shandy 2: Le dragon d'Austerlitz
• 2007: Nominated for "Award for Favourite European Comics" Eagle Award, for The Killer.
• 2008: Nominated for "Best U.S. Edition of International Material" Eisner Award, for The Killer.^[12]

Bibliography

• Peines perdues (with Jean-Christophe Chauzy,^[13] Casterman, August 1993)^[14]
• The Killer (with Luc Jacamon^[15]):
  • French, Casterman:^[16]
    • Long feu (October 1998)
    • L'Engrenage (April 2000)
    • La Dette (August 2001)
    • Les Liens du sang (August 2002)
    • La Mort dans l'âme (October 2003)
    • Modus vivendi (September 2007)
  • English, Archaia Studios Press:^[5]
    • Volume 1 (collects #1-4: "'Long Fire" and "Vicious Cycle", hardcover, 128 pages, September 2007, ISBN 1-932386-44-0)
• Shandy (with Dominique Bertail,^[17] Delcourt):
  • Agnès (November 2002, ISBN 978-2-84789-073-0)
  • Le Dragon d'Austerlitz (January 2006, ISBN 978-2-84789-926-9)
• Du plomb dans la tête (aka Headshot) (with Colin Wilson, Casterman):^[18]
  • Les Petits poissons (January 2004)
  • Les Gros poissons (February 2005)
  • Du bordel dans l'aquarium (January 2006)
• Cyclops (with Luc Jacamon, Casterman^[19]):
  • La Recrue (September 2005)
  • Le Héros (September 2006)
• Snowpiercer: The Prequel (with Jean-Marc Rochette^[20]):
  • Part 1: Extinction (2019)
  • Part 2: Apocalypse (2020)
  • Part 3: Annihilation (2024)
• The Killer: Affairs of the State (with Luc Jacamon^[15])
  • Traitement négatif (January 2020)
  • Circuit court (October 2020)
  • Variable d'ajustement (October 2021)
  • Frères humains (September 2022)
  • La face cachée de l'abîme (October 2023)