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Benjamin (Zhang Bin)
Zhang Bin, also known as Benjamin or Zhang Lin, is a Chinese author of manhua and novels, born on May 16th, 1974 in the province of Heilongjiang. He studied fashion and design in his hometown before moving to Beijing in 1996 to pursue a career in comic drawing. Persistent, he eventually published his works which gained some success in China. In addition to being a comic artist, Benjamin also plays in a rock band. He is part of the new generation of comic artists who create their comics solely on computer and graphic tablet. Benjamin grew up in a small village near the Russian border and discovered comics as a child. He initially wanted to become a painter, but eventually studied fashion and design in Beijing. He published his first comic, "A Flower That Does Not Live in Summer", in a small magazine in 2000. He then published his first album, "One Day", in January 2002 which is considered one of the founding albums of drawing through graphic tablet and which brings together several of his previous works. In March 2002, he founded an illustration advertising studio. In 2003, he decided to become a full-time comic author and published "Orange", whose style and fabulous colors make it one of the major albums of the artist. In 2004, he won the Gold Dragon Award with "Nobody Can Fly, Nobody Can Remember". In 2007, he published "Savior", which faced a wave of unexpected criticism in China, but was published in France in 2009. That year, he collaborated with Jena Lee on a music video and published an Artbook. He also founded a comic magazine and a digital arts school in Beijing, where he teaches full-time. He no longer publishes albums but participates in covers for franchises such as Star Wars or Marvel, and is exhibited in art galleries in France and invited to international Manga conventions such as Japan Expo or Paris Manga.
