|
| via |
French comic artist Jean Henri Gaston Giraud, aka Moebius, died over the weekend. Patrick K liked his work. The end.
Moebius is dead.
Words like genius and visionary are often over-used when someone dies. French comic artist Jean Giraud was both.
His art and storytelling created entire worlds effortlessly. Moebius’ work ranged from the western grit of the Lieutenant Blueberry tales to the inner- space fever dream of Airtight Garage, taking in everything from wordless fantasy (Arzach) to existentialist future-gumshoe grit (L’Incal) along the way. In a career spanning six decades he moved effortlessly between high- concept, reverential epics and whimsical visual poems which broke the fourth wall between creator and audience.
|
| via |
Moebius was above all a storyteller: an artist and a creator. He drew every day of his life. His impeccable technical skills meant he had absolute mastery over every type of illustration technique, from oil painting to the most delicate pencil lines. Unlike many comic artists, who for ease of working draw their panels at twice the size they’ll eventually be published, Moebius drew his work straight onto the page at commercial scale. His skill with the line was such that he often didn’t bother with pencil roughs, using pen straight away. His style was both instantly recognisable and hugely diverse. He could capture the serene and the savage with a graceful economy unmatched by anyone else in the comic world.
|
| via |
His influence and originality is difficult to overstate. Even if you’ve never heard of him or picked up a comic book, you’ll know Moebius’ work. He drew the storyboards and designed costume concepts for Alien and Tron. His work was a direct visual influence on Blade Runner (he invented the cyberpunk trope of a bleary, unshaven detective wearing a trenchcoat). It would be hard to find a modern piece of science-fiction which doesn’t owe him some debt. At its best, his work showcased the limitless reach of the human imagination and the inherent joy of simply telling a story. Moebius knew the difference between whimsy and silliness and understood where insight ends and pretension begins. His Frenchness was threaded through everything he touched, the Gallic ability to take aesthetics which would be cheesy or clumsy in Anglo- Saxon hands and make them simultaneously serious and self-referential. That’s no easy trick.
|
| via |
English versions of Moebius’ work can be hard to find. Whether you’re a comic fan or not, read one of the Blueberry or Airtight Garage albums and see if you’re not entranced by the universes he conjured with the stroke of a pen. French culture holds les bandes dessinées as culturally significant, vibrant art forms with value, not the marginalised comic books of the English-speaking world. The French see comics like we see music – an art form; one capable of providing great illumination and pleasure in the hands of the right person. His work for Marvel Comics on the Silver Surfer series remains a benchmark of thoughtful, contemplative sequential art – somehow making a goofy space opera concept tell us more about humanity than millions of hours of reality TV ever could.
Take a moment today to remember Moebius and think about the worlds lying coiled inside all of us.
--PATRICK K
brought to you by
4 comments:
seems a little, you know, French to me
Why is it French people can get away with stuff no-one else can? Look at Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Or Napoloeon.
Legend...his imagination created worlds that have become ubiqitous.
RIP
A true visionary. More than just an artist, a prince amongst men and a storyteller steeped in myth and imagination.
Post a Comment