Jean Giraud
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Jean Giraud (born May 8, 1938) is a French comics artist. He is known by his own name, but has also used the pseudonyms Gir and, more famously, Moebius.
Giraud was born in Paris. At age 16, he began his only technical training at the Arts Appliqués. At 18, he was drawing his own comic strip, "Frank et Jeremie" for the magazine Far West. In 1962 Giraud and writer Jean-Michel Charlier started the comic strip "Fort Navajo" for Pilote. It was a great hit and continued uninterrupted until 1974. The Lieutenant Blueberry character, created by Giraud and Charlier for Fort Navajo, quickly became its most popular character, and his adventures as told in the western serial Blueberry, are possibly Giraud's best known work in his native France. Giraud's prestige in France — where comics tend to be held in higher artistic regard than in the United States — is enormous; France has even issued postage stamps to commemorate him.
The Moebius (you have to detach the o-e it's not a ligature) pseudonym, which Giraud came to use for his science fiction and fantasy work, was born in 1963. In a satire magazine called Hara-Kiri, Moebius did 21 strips between 1963 and 1964 and then disappeared for almost a decade. In 1975 Métal Hurlant (a magazine which he co-created) brought it back and in 1981 he started his famous L'Incal series in collaboration with Alejandro Jodorowski. Moebius' famous serial The Airtight Garage, and his groundbreaking "Arzach" also began in Métal Hurlant.
Moebius has contributed storyboards and concept designs to numerous science fiction films. In 1982 he collaborated with director René Laloux to create the science fiction feature-length animated movie Les Maîtres du temps (Released in English as: The Time Masters) based on a novel by Stefan Wul. In 1988 Moebius worked on the American comic The Silver Surfer with Stan Lee. Moebius/Giraud is also known to be a friend of filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. The two of them recently opened an exhibition in Paris, which showcases work by both artists.
Major Works
- Blueberry (1963-)
- "Arzach" (1976)
- The Airtight Garage (1979)
- The Incal (1981-1988)
- Le Monde d'Edena (1985-2001)
- Silver Surfer (1988)
Film Work
- Giraud worked on Alejandro Jodorowski's film adaptation of Dune which was never completed
- Giraud's artwork for the Dan O'Bannon short story comic "The Long Tomorrow" was a key visual reference for Blade Runner.
External Links
- Notice for an exhibition of Giraud/Moebius' work (http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/exhibitionInfo/exhibition/14579)de:Jean Giraud
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