La collection de M. Brique (Zine Zag #8)
Fascinated by comics since his childhood, Benoît Joly drew his first stories for Robert Valade's superhero fanzine. He joined the CEGEP de Joliette art school in 1981. There, he met Martin Laplante, with whom he founded the fanzine OPIUM. Joly also contributed work to Robert Rivard's fanzine Empire and Solaris. In 1985, he studied Visual Arts at the University of Laval. In search of a publisher, he founded the Enfin Bref fanzine with several other artists from the area.
At this point, Joly switched from a realistic to a caricatural drawing style. With Suzanne Payette, he founded the experimental fanzine Rachel. He won a prize for his comic 'Les Immobiles' in 1987. He drew 'Exit' at the publishing house Raz-Marée, 'Théatre Aquatique' in the magazine Bambou, and he wrote the album 'Jacque Tiroir' for artist Marc Pageau. He made illustrations for the literary magazine Nuit Blanche, and appeared in Ad Hoc, Spoutnik, and Tabasko. For the publishing house Mécanique Générale, he drew the albums 'Démons d'Après-Midi' and 'Pour Une Personne'.