We each have our own idenpendent imagination, a capacity to dream and create. But there is, perhaps, a collective imagination. A repository for the impossible, furnished by the artists we label as visionaries.
Jean Giraud, the man known as Moebius, was responsible for expanding that collective imagination, broadening our concept of fantasy exponentially as a frontiersman and trailblazer.
Jean Giraud (1938-2012)
We are sad to relay the news that Jean Giraud has died at 74.
He leaves in his wake a legacy of negative space conquered and whole worlds illustrated to glorious life. Heroes, adventures and realms we won’t soon forget. Comics and film. Blueberry. The Silver Surfer. The Incal. Arzach. Métal Hurlant in general. Alien. The Fifth Element.
Moebius is gone, but so many of our dreams will continue to piggyback upon his, untold visions riding atop the shoulders of a giant.
Let’s take this day and remember the wondrous world-building of a true master:
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A true visionary and a master, we are all better off for having known his work.
This is very sad news, another true giant in the industry passes away.
Amazing artist…I’m spending the weekend looking through his work. The influence on our generation is staggering. RIP good sir.
Beautifully put, Paul.
This is so sad, I’m rediscovering his work with Incal and other works finally coming to the US. He will be missed.
It’s hard to believe there won’t be any new work from him, but I’m so grateful for what we have. Vale Jean.
Wow this is the first time an artist that I’m familiar with died during my time reading comics. So weird.
Absolutely amazing artist.
He was an artistic master. A true powerhouse who deserved far more attention than what he received. His talent was beyond the world of comic books and his art is worthy to stand beside some of top works of art found in museums around the world. Even 74 years isn’t enough time to appreciate his talent. I just hope with his passing, it will draw more attention to the amazing work he created over his career
I just discovered Moebius fairly recently, and I instantly fell in love with his work. It’s easy to see why he is viewed as one of the greatest artistic masters in the industry. Hopefully, his work will continue to attract an audience and it will effect people like it did me. This is a sad day, indeed. RIP Jean.
RIP Mobius.
By the way, did Bart Simpson co-produce this video?
R.I.P.
I haven’t been blessed with his work yet, but I’m definitely going to get my hands on The Incal in the near future.
Brilliant artist. RIP.
That video was very interesting. I never knew about the Mexico stuff – and now when I see his bleak desert landscapes, it all makes sense. What a legacy of work Jean Giraud has left. What a huge influence.
So sad to hear. I feel great shame to never really read a book with his art in it. But that surely is going to change in the near future.
RIP
I’ll never forget until my dying day the first time I saw Moebius’ work in 1977. I was a teenager with no interest in comics. I was looking for science fiction books in an all purpose nerd shop across the high school when I saw a trade paperback titled Arzach that had just been released by someone calling themselves Heavy Metal. It was like being hit by a lightning bolt. This was comics for the sixteen year old me, not the twelve year old who kinda dug Spider-Man and Sgt. Rock. It was a revelation to see that comics could tell a story in a cinematic way with no dialogue. It was cool, bizarre, mysterious, a little bit sinister and it sure as hell didn’t look like anything I’d seen before. That led to years of buying Heavy Metal with all those artists like Bilal, Corben and, especially, Phillipe Druillet. To this day I’m completely at home with the European style and those 70’s American underground artists. My head wouldn’t get turned like that again until Dave Stevens’ Rocketeer. But today I will read Lt. Blueberry in honor of Jean Giraud, a man who changed my world view in a single moment just by seeing his work.
Long Live Moebius
I also discovered Moebius through Heavy Metal as a teen. His work blew my mind and was totally different than anything I had ever seen before. His legacy is prevalent – so many were influenced by his style and designs. May his work live on.
Was he inking straight, not over pencils!!!? RIP, great piece, thank you.
check out his concept art for willow that would have been amazing if they had followed his direction.
http://io9.com/5892148/legendary-french-artist-moebius-the-man-who-made-the-abyss-alien-and-tron-even-weirder-is-dead-at-73
Forget the Willow art, that He-Man was awesome! I liked the Tron image as well – almost as if Ralph McQuarrie and he colaborated on it. R.I.P. to both men.
I think my library has Incal – I will have to put a request in for it.
Wow, that’s beautiful stuff there.
I didn’t know he worked on those movies and it’s a shame some of those designs didn’t stick in the final versions. Think about it though: Moebius AND H.R. Gieger worked, essentially, together for a movie. That’s amazing.
@TNC: Exactly what I thought when I walked into the theater opening night, said the aging Fanboy.
Understand I had been privy to limited edition prints of Gieger and Moebius as well as McQuarre before the films’ screening, as well as having read the novel. To see all of the different influences effecting the look and feel of the film was a JOY.
Makes me glad I have an early print framed and on the walls.
my first term at art school i took a visual communication class…we studied film, art….basically anything that told a story visually. We had a 2 hour lecture on Moebius’ work breaking down panel by panel and analyzing the sequential moves. It was awesome and i learned so much in those 2 hours, and one of the things that made me rediscover comics.
Hope you got credit for the class.
of course! it was a mandatory 4 credit class…..pretty awesome
To lose McQuarrie and Moebius in subsequent weeks is just breath-takingly sad.
I met McQuarrie when I was a kid. He was a very kind man, and patiently suffered through my many of nerdy questions. To this day, my signed print of his Hoth concept art is framed above my desk.
As for Moebius, I only recently became aware of him because Frank Quietly had stated that he was a major influence. An amazing storyteller.
It’s sad that only through an artist’s passing will his work become more available.
Twas Always So. Will Always Be.
Calling Moebius a visionary doesn’t do justice to his work and influence. I was surprised to find how Mexico had such an impact on his depiction of landscapes. A true artist.
That’s fucken shithouse news as we say at Australian wakes
Moebius created my favourite comic cover ever. Part 1 of a silver surfer mini with a great, detailed Galactus face and a tiny Surfer flying past. Beautiful.
RIP to a true artist. A true legend.
A true artist indeed, loved his work with Jodorowsky…he’ll be missed
Sad news. I use to spend hours starring at his art, a beautiful imagination. Merci Mr. Jean Giraud.