''He’s a unique talent endowed with an extraordinary visionary imagination that’s constantly renewed and never vulgar. Moebius disturbs and consoles. He has the ability to transport us into unknown worlds where we encounter unsettling characters. My admiration for him is total. I consider him a great artist, as great as Picasso and Matisse''.
- Federico Fellini
Above: 'The Art of Moebius', published by Byron Preiss, 1989 imprint.
The life of an artist is defined by journeys. Whether geographical, scholarly, psychological or emotional, all play an important contribution towards an individual's art.
Jean Giraud was born in Nogent-sur-Marne, Paris, on May 8th 1938. A prolific illustrator and cartoonist, he was already beginning to be published when, as a teenager, he spent several months travelling in the deserts of the South Western United States and Mexico. Immersed in the local culture and music, it was probably these locations - renowned for pilgrimages and settlement by counter-culture drop-outs of the time - that informed the unique, otherworldly images that flowed from his pen over the following decades.
At first primarily known under his original name Jean Giraud, he collaborated with Pilote magazine editor Jean-Michel Charlier, in what was to become their hugely successful Western comic Lieutenant Blueberry.
Later on, as Moebius, he became famous for his uniquely transcendental style of Fantasy Science-Fiction stories, as originally depicted in the ground-breaking French magazine Metal Hurlant ( translation: 'Screaming Metal' ). Influenced by the shamanic writings of Carlos Castaneda, and the leader of a French Zen commune, Jean-Paul Appel-Guery, his work often featured characters propelled headlong through interstellar space, or across strange planets and teeming cities, always analogous in some way, to the experience of achieving higher states of consciousness.
Jean 'Moebius' Giraud became the most well-known exponent of the bandes dessinées (or "bédé") genre, which is the Franco-Belgian contribution to the world of comic-books. His illustrations and graphic albums were reprinted widely outside France, and the inspiration of his designs can be seen in many big Hollywood films. ( If you remember Luke Skywalker speeding across the desert of Tatooine - that image is pure Moebius. Although Giraud did not work on Star Wars, he later collaborated with George Lucas on Willow, so it's not too much of a stretch to suggest that Lucas was aware of Moebius during the making of Star Wars, and had perhaps referred to the American edition of Metal Hurlant - Heavy Metal - as an early visual guide ). Moebius is credited on many big-budget films, the most notable being Ridley Scott's Alien, Stephen Lisberger's original Tron movie, and Luc Besson's The Fifth Element.
Moebius' graphic novel, The Long Tomorrow, has been acknowledged by author William Gibson as a visual cue for the 'look' of his cyberpunk novels, and it is well-known that it was also used by Ridley Scott as a starting-point for the stunning visual power of Blade Runner.
Desert landscapes, giant crystals, exotic flora and fauna, and people dressed like South American natives, were all common features of the Moebius universe, alongside a myriad of characters, both outlandish and subtle.
Jean Giraud was born in Nogent-sur-Marne, Paris, on May 8th 1938. A prolific illustrator and cartoonist, he was already beginning to be published when, as a teenager, he spent several months travelling in the deserts of the South Western United States and Mexico. Immersed in the local culture and music, it was probably these locations - renowned for pilgrimages and settlement by counter-culture drop-outs of the time - that informed the unique, otherworldly images that flowed from his pen over the following decades.
At first primarily known under his original name Jean Giraud, he collaborated with Pilote magazine editor Jean-Michel Charlier, in what was to become their hugely successful Western comic Lieutenant Blueberry.
Above: Blueberry, from a series of nine postcards, 1984. Reprinted in The Art of Moebius, Byron Preiss, 1989.
Later on, as Moebius, he became famous for his uniquely transcendental style of Fantasy Science-Fiction stories, as originally depicted in the ground-breaking French magazine Metal Hurlant ( translation: 'Screaming Metal' ). Influenced by the shamanic writings of Carlos Castaneda, and the leader of a French Zen commune, Jean-Paul Appel-Guery, his work often featured characters propelled headlong through interstellar space, or across strange planets and teeming cities, always analogous in some way, to the experience of achieving higher states of consciousness.
Above: From Moebius Chaos, Epic Comics, 1991.
Jean 'Moebius' Giraud became the most well-known exponent of the bandes dessinées (or "bédé") genre, which is the Franco-Belgian contribution to the world of comic-books. His illustrations and graphic albums were reprinted widely outside France, and the inspiration of his designs can be seen in many big Hollywood films. ( If you remember Luke Skywalker speeding across the desert of Tatooine - that image is pure Moebius. Although Giraud did not work on Star Wars, he later collaborated with George Lucas on Willow, so it's not too much of a stretch to suggest that Lucas was aware of Moebius during the making of Star Wars, and had perhaps referred to the American edition of Metal Hurlant - Heavy Metal - as an early visual guide ). Moebius is credited on many big-budget films, the most notable being Ridley Scott's Alien, Stephen Lisberger's original Tron movie, and Luc Besson's The Fifth Element.
Moebius' graphic novel, The Long Tomorrow, has been acknowledged by author William Gibson as a visual cue for the 'look' of his cyberpunk novels, and it is well-known that it was also used by Ridley Scott as a starting-point for the stunning visual power of Blade Runner.
Desert landscapes, giant crystals, exotic flora and fauna, and people dressed like South American natives, were all common features of the Moebius universe, alongside a myriad of characters, both outlandish and subtle.
Above: Arzach, his most famous character, is a mysterious warrior who flies on a stoney pterodactyl. Pic courtesy of Google.
Unlike other countries, where comics are bizarrely regarded as a form of 'low' art, France takes its home-grown talent very seriously, and regards the comics genre as an equal to literature, film and music. As such, Moebius' standing amongst the pantheon of creative talents was recognised in 1985, when he was inducted into l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by President François Mitterrand, the highest accolade achievable in a country that reveres great artists.
Below: A selection from Moebius Chaos, Epic Comics.
Below: Two of the sketches in a notebook that became the Rosa-Amor series, as reprinted in Moebius Chaos, Epic Comics, 1991.
Below: Further sketches, as reprinted in Moebius Chaos, Epic Comics, 1991.
"The great Moebius died today, but the great Moebius is still alive. Your body died today, yet your work is more alive than ever."
-Paulo Coelho
Above: From Moebius Chaos, Epic Comics, 1991.
- Jean 'Moebius' Giraud: May 8th, 1938 - 10th March 2012
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