7. Author, Artist, Publisher: Claire Bretécher, Les Frustrés, 1975

This chapter considers the work of Claire Bretécher, and especially the self-publication of Les Frustrés in 1975. After working for Spirou, Record, and Tintin, Bretécher came to the fore in the 1970s in the pages of Pilote. Alongside Gotlib, Mandryka, Moebius, Druillet, and a few others, she was part of a generation of artists who, on leaving Pilote, sought to revolutionise comics. One key facet of this post-Pilote revolution was the invention of new publishing structures, capable of giving room to original voices. This quest for editorial and creative independence culminated in 1975 with the publication of Les Frustrés, a mocking chronicle of the transformations to French society. Week after week in the pages of L’Obs, Bretécher depicted the left-wing intelligentsia’s commitments and contradictions. By deciding to self-publish the numerous one-page stories that she had drawn for L’Obs, Bretécher took a bold step towards independence, showing just how much the market had changed over the course of the previous decade. Artists could now shake off their reliance on publishers to become the actors of their own artistic destiny.