Born in Brittany, France, in 1965, Alain Corbel studied in Brussels at the St. Lukas School of Fine Arts. There he met Eric Lambé, with whom he created Mokka and Pelure Amère, two comic magazines.

Between 1996 and 1997 he was the artistic director of the children's section of the Breton newspaper Nekepell.

In Portugal, he has worked as a comic artist, illustrator and storywriter for various magazines and newspapers, and has published several illustrated books, including Contos de Macau, by Alice Vieira, published by Editorial Caminho, which won him the award for Best Portuguese Illustrator.

He organises writing and illustration workshops, since 2000, in Guinea Bissau and São Tomé. Between 2001 and 2004 he participated in a project promoted by an NGO that dealt with the social reality of several African countries - Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Angola and Mozambique - which resulted in a book entitled Ilhas de Fogo (Islands of Fire). Alain Corbel visits several countries and makes numerous trips that help him as an illustrator. He even considers his professional work to be a kind of inner journey. This is why he affirms that freedom and flexibility in illustration style and techniques are fundamental.

His illustrations reflect exactly this perspective: that of a world traveller who collects experiences through images. From an imagetic point of view, it is possible to find in his work influences from the east and the west, captured by a drawing technique reduced to its essential features, where colour is a fundamental element.

His work has been recognised and awarded prizes, namely in 2000 the 3rd Prize of Category 1, Luzerner Comix Festival; in 2001 Award of Excellence, Society for News Design, USA; 2002 the National Illustration Prize, for "Contos e Lendas de Macau"; 2004 Award of Excellence, Society for News Design, USA; and in 2005 the Honourable Mention by the National Illustration Prize, for "A Máquina Infernal".