Julie Doucet is one of the main representatives of the Quebec alternative comics and small press scene, having her autobiographical comics translated in German, Finnish and Spanish. Born in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, Julie Doucet studied Plastic Arts in Montréal during the 1980s. She ranked Diane Obomsawin as one of her graphic influences. In 1985, she began contributing to Yves Millet's Tchiize! magazine, and subsequently to L'Organe and Rectangle. Doucet began self-publishing in 1988, creating her own alternative comic series 'Dirty Plotte', which appeared in varying formats until 1990. Drawn & Quarterly's translations in English gave her a wider audience, which led to her international breakthrough. In this autobiographical series, she criticizes the politically correct. She doesn't hesitate to depict obsessions and cruel intimacy.

Around the same time, her work popped up in several alternative reviews in the USA, such as Robert Crumb's Weirdo, Wimmen's Comix, Heck!, Buzzard and Rip-Off Comix. She won the Harvey Award for 'Best New Talent' in 1991. That same year, she went to New York for a year, and her experiences there are told in the book 'My New York Diary' (Drawn & Quarterly, 1999). She then settled in Seattle until 1995. Doucet continued to make comic books published by Drawn & Quarterly, such as 'Lève Ta Jambe Mon Poisson est Mort' (1993). She also published her 'Monkey and the Living Death' under the Chacal Puant label.