'Blueberry's Stardom', by Jean Giraud, 1994.
French comic artist Jean Giraud had one of the most interesting double lives in comic history. Under his own name (sometimes also the pseudonym "Gir"), he co-created the legendary western comic 'Blueberry' (1963-2012) with writer Jean-Michel Charlier. 'Blueberry' broke new ground in the genre with its highly realistic artwork and gritty, complex and adult storylines, which had an immeasurable impact on several other European western comics from the 1960s on. Giraud also scripted another western series, 'Jim Cutlass' (1979, 1991-1999), drawn by Christian Rossi. Under the pseudonym Moebius, Giraud reinvented himself, making experimental science fiction and fantasy series like 'Arzach' (1975), 'The Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius' (1976-1979) and 'L'Incal' (1980-1985). He experimented with graphic styles, lay-out, dialogue, visuals and plot development. Its themes, highly influenced by philosophical writings and hallucinogenic drugs, elevated adult comics to another level. Moebius was at the forefront of a new wave of experimental comic authors, who gathered in the comic magazine Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal) and the publishing label Les Humanoïdes Associés. Superhero fans may know him from his mini-series based on Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's 'The Silver Surfer' (1988-1989). Both as 'Jean Giraud' and 'Moebius', he rose as one of the most innovative, groundbreaking and influential comic authors of the second half of the 20th century. His cult following endures to this day. He was additionally active as a comic writer, screenwriter, storyboard and concept designer.
Early life
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud was born in 1938 in Nogent-sur Marne, a township in the eastern suburbs of Paris. Giraud was largely raised by his grandparents, with whom he lived in Fontenay-sous-Bois since his parents' divorce in 1941. He grew up reading comics and watching American B-Westerns, while developing a passion for drawing. His mother encouraged him to further pursue his artistic ambitions, and he took art courses from an early age. He enrolled at The Duperré School of Applied Arts in Paris, where he studied alongside Jean-Claude Mézières and Pat Mallet for two years. Feeling no desire for designing wallpaper and furniture, he started drawing his own western comic strips, inspired by Belgian artists like André Franquin and Morris. He also published his first illustrations in Fiction magazine. Other artistic influences of Giraud were Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt Van Rijn, Winsor McCay, Harold Foster, Jijé, Jack Kirby, Robert Crumb and Jean-Claude Mézières.
'Juanita' (Âmes Vaillantes, 25 May 1958).
After leaving the Academy in 1955, Giraud went to live with his mother in Mexico for eight months. There, he was exposed to mind-expanding substances, sex and the mysterious allure of the desert. The experience had an enormous impact on his future life and career. Back in France in 1956, he sold his first comic story ('Les Aventures de Frank et Jérémie') to Far West, a western magazine edited by Marijac. Between 1956 and 1958, through his former art school classmate Jean-Claude Mézières, he got the opportunity to work for the children's publications of Éditions Fleurus, such as Fripounet et Marisette, Coeurs Vaillants and Âmes Vaillantes. His contributions were mainly short stories of an educational and historical nature, and he also provided artwork to a publication called Sitting-Bull. In 1959-1960, he spent his military service in Algeria and Germany, making illustrations and comic strips for the army monthly 5/5 Forces Françaises. Another contributor to this magazine was the cartoonist André Chéret.
'Gare au Puma!!', from Bonux-Boy #10 (1960).
Assistant of Jijé
Back in civilian life, Giraud became an apprentice of Joseph Gillain, the classic Belgian comic artist known as Jijé. He inked the episode 'La Route de Coronado' of Jijé's western series 'Jerry Spring', published in Spirou magazine in 1961. Jijé taught Giraud the finer points of the comics profession, training him in creating simple lay-outs, effective use of black in composition, rhythm in storytelling and working with photo documentation. He also worked on comic stories for Bonux-Boy (1960-1961) and Total Journal (1966-1968), two advertising comic magazines edited by Jijé's son Benoît, who became a close friend to him. In 1961-1962, Giraud and Mézières were artists at Studio Hachette, where they participated in collections like 'L'Histoire des Civilisations'.
Opening sequence of 'Fort Navajo', the first 'Blueberry' story (1963).
Blueberry
When scriptwriter Jean-Michel Charlier asked Jijé to create a new western series for Charlier's magazine Pilote, Jijé suggested Jean Giraud for the assignment. The first story, 'Fort Navajo', premiered in Pilote on 31 October 1963. The initial set-up featured an ensemble cast, but the character of Lieutenant Mike S. Donovan, A.K.A. Blueberry, quickly took center stage. Along the way, the rough but suave Blueberry acquired two sidekicks, namely the boozing gold prospector Jimmy McClure and Redneck, an expert on Indian matters. Dargaud, the original publisher of the books, continued to use the series title 'Fort Navajo, Une Aventure du Lieutenant Blueberry' until 1973, when the series continued to appear under the ‘Blueberry’ banner.
Blueberry - 'Le Cheval de Fer' (1970). Dutch-language version.
The first 'Blueberry' cycle dealt with the American Indian Wars, and consisted of more basic adventure stories in the tradition of Charlier's other series, such as 'Buck Danny', 'La Patrouille des Castors' and 'Barbe-Rouge'. Giraud based Blueberry's original looks on the French western actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, while his artwork in general was still heavily inspired by Jijé. As the series evolved, Giraud became more and more influenced by the gritty western movies of Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci and Sam Peckinpah, American comic artists Milton Caniff and Hal Foster, and Western painter Frederic Remington. Giraud's brushwork became grittier too, and his involvement in Charlier's scripts increased. To heighten the realism, Blueberry also aged as the stories progressed, a highly unusual practice for adventure comics at the time. When Pilote started to focus more on mature readers from 1968 on, Giraud was able to give 'Blueberry' a more hard-boiled atmosphere.
Blueberry - 'Le Hors-la-loi' (1974). Dutch-language version.
'Blueberry' gained full maturity when Giraud and Charlier made a story arc about a hidden treasure of Confederate gold in Mexico. This story arc consists of the albums 'Chihuahua Pearl' (1973), 'L'Homme Qui Valait 500.000 $' ('The Half-A-Million Dollar Man', 1973), 'Ballade Pour un Cercueil' ('Ballad For a Coffin', 1974), 'Le Hors-la-loi' ('The Outlaw', 1974) and 'Angel Face' (1975). The flawless hero of 'Fort Navajo' had now transformed into a normal, flawed human being, one who wasn't safe from being manipulated, betrayed and tortured. Giraud portrayed a less romanticized version of the Far West: dirty, sweaty and filled with people who toss morals overboard in order to survive in this harsh environment. This more exciting portrayal of the era appealed to readers who enjoyed spaghetti westerns in theatres and on TV and liked to read similarly-styled comics. 'Blueberry' therefore had a strong influence on several other, gritty European western comics, like 'Comanche' by Hermann and Greg, 'Jonathan Cartland' by Michel Blanc-Dumont, 'Durango' by Yves Swolfs and even the later 'Jerry Spring' stories by Giraud's former tutor, Jijé.
Blueberry - 'Nez Cassé' (1980).
A dispute over royalties with publisher Georges Dargaud led to a more complex publication history of 'Blueberry' stories after 1973. Stories were first serialized in Nouveau Tintin (1975), Métal Hurlant (1979), Super As (1980), L'Écho des Savanes (1981) and Spirou (1983), before they were published directly in albums by Fleurus, Novedi and Alpen. From 1995 on, they appeared back under Dargaud's label.
From 1968 on, Giraud and Charlier made a 'Blueberry' spin-off about the character's younger years. These prequel stories were printed in Pilote's Super Pocket series, while Dargaud made three books available in 1975 and 1979. Between 1985 and 1990, three new installments of 'La Jeunesse de Blueberry' ('Young Blueberry') were created by Charlier and New-Zealand artist Colin Wilson at Novedi.
Jim Cutlass
During their dispute with Dargaud, Giraud and Charlier created 'Jim Cutlass', another western comic of which one album was published by Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1979. Giraud revived the series in 1991 and wrote six more books for artist Christian Rossi at Casterman until 1999.
'Jim Cutlass'. Dutch-language version.
Moebius
While Giraud and Charlier had basically reinvented the western comics genre with 'Blueberry', Giraud embarked upon even more innovative territory under his pen name Moebius. Between 1963 and 1964, he had first used the name for a couple of short stories in the satirical monthly Hara-Kiri. From 1969 on, Moebius made a series of science fiction illustrations for sci-fi novels published by Opta, which marked the beginning of Giraud's exploits outside of the mainstream. Giraud further developed his Moebius persona while on a hiatus from 'Blueberry' between 1974 and 1979. With comic artist Philippe Druillet, journalist/writer Jean-Pierre Dionnet and financial director Bernard Farkas, Jean Girard launched the revolutionary comic anthology Métal Hurlant in December 1974. The men gathered under the collective name Les Humanoïdes Associés, which also became the name of the associated publishing house. Métal Hurlant published mainly avant-garde science fiction and fantasy comics. Besides aforementioned authors, it also ran work by international creators like Richard Corben, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri, Enki Bilal, Caza, Serge Clerc, Alain Voss, Bernie Wrightson, Milo Manara, Jordi Bernet, Antonio Segura and Frank Margerin. A licensed US edition called Heavy Metal was launched in April 1977. The final issue of the original run of Métal Hurlant appeared in 1987, but Les Humanoïdes Associés has continued to publish comics and graphic novels in France since then.
Métal Hurlant #1 (1 January 1975) and #6 (1 March 1976), the latter featuring Major Grubert.
The Airtight Garage
Moebius experimented with every aspect of the comics medium. He switched from drawing with a brush to a pen, which resulted in more open drawings with influences from the "Clear Line" style. He crafted highly imaginative worlds and creatures, while his narratives are mainly based around improvisation and character development instead of plot. An essential character in Moebius' output is Major Grubert, a traditionally outfitted explorer inspired by Frank M. Buck's 1930 novel 'Bring 'm Back Alive'. The character had first appeared in a short story for Pilote, and then in experimental and surreal stories for France-Soir and Fluide Glacial. He was also instrumental in one of Moebius' masterpieces, 'Le Garage Hermétique' ('The Airtight Garage', 1976-1979). In this series of often confusing short stories, Major Grubert encounters several entities seeking to invade an asteroid in a pocket universe. Another notable character is Jerry Cornelius, a secret agent created by sci-fi and fantasy author Michael Moorcock as a sort of "open source" character for other authors to work with.
English-language publication of ‘The Airtight Garage’ in Heavy Metal magazine (1977).
'Le Garage Hermétique' was serialized in Métal Hurlant from 1 March 1976 to 1 June 1979, and in the US edition Heavy Metal starting in 1977. The original French book version was published in black-and-white under the title 'Major Fatal' in 1979. The story was colorized for the US publication, and has been published both as a graphic novel (Titan Books, 1989) and a 4-issue comic book series in 1992. The comic is widely praised because of its improvised nature, which makes the reader a witness of the artistic process of story development, while it also leaves a lot open to the reader's own interpretation. As a result, 'The Airtight Garage' is not only a journey through a fictional world, but also through an artist's mind. In later years, Moebius created sequels like 'L'Homme du Ciguri' ('The Man from the Ciguri', 1995) and 'Le Chasseur Déprime' (2008), and the first Moebius book at Éditions du Fromage, 'Le Bandard Fou' ('The Horny Goof', 1974) can be considered a prequel. Major Grubert has continued to appear in Moebius' work throughout his career, and was also the central character in the "sketchbook graphic-novel" 'Le Major' in 2011.
'Arzach' (1975).
Arzach
Moebius' talent for creating strange and desolate landscapes was showcased even more in 'Arzach', a collection of short comic stories about a silent warrior riding on a pterodactyl-like creature. The stories have no balloons, captions or onomatopoeia, which makes for a surreal and psychedelic reading experience. Even the main character's name seems disturbing, as Moebius spelled it differently in every story (Arzak, Arzach, Harzac, Harzach, Harzack). The installments appeared in Métal Hurlant between 1 April 1975 and 1 January 1976 and were collected in book format in 1976. Moebius returned to this character at the end of his life, when he planned to explore the character's origins in a trilogy. Only the first book was published under the title 'Arzak: L'Arpenteur' ('Arzak: The Surveyor') by Glénat in 2010. The second and third installments were never created due to the author's death in 2012.
'The Incal'. English-language edition.
L'Incal
Moebius' first collaboration with avant-garde comic writer and film director Alejandro Jodorowsky happened in 1975, when he did creature and character designs and storyboards for Jodorowsky's planned movie adaptation of Frank Herbert's epic sci-fi novel 'Dune' in 1975. The project was never completed, but Moebius and Jodorowsky continued to work together on comics projects. After releasing the comic book 'Les Yeux du Chat' at Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1978, they created a comic classic with 'L'Incal' ('The Incal'). The saga focuses on P.I. John Difool, who receives the Light Incal, a crystal of enormous powers. The original series by Moebius and Jodorowsky was published in Métal Hurlant starting in December 1980 and then made available in six books by Les Humanoïdes Associés between 1981 and 1988. It was the first installment in Jodorowsky's own sci-fi universe known as the "Jodoverse", which also includes 'Meta-Barons' (drawn by Juan Giménez), 'The Technopriests' (drawn by Zoran Janjetov) and 'Mégalex' (drawn by Fred Beltrán). A sequel called 'Après L'Incal' was started by Jodorowsky in 2000. Moebius drew only the first book; the second and third installments were drawn by José Ladrönn. The character's early years were explored in 'Avant l'Incal' by Jodorowsky and Zoran Janjetov (1988-1995) and a final cycle called 'Final Incal' was produced by Jodorowsky and Ladrönn (2008-2014).
Le Monde d'Edena #6 - 'Les Réparateurs' (1996).
Le Monde d'Edena
Moebius was highly influenced by drugs and the philosophies of French New Age guru Jean-Paul Appel-Guéry and Swiss nutritionist Guy-Claude Burger for his next major work, 'Le Monde d'Edena' ('The Aedena Cycle'). The artist's journeying lifestyle also left its mark on the comic; the installments were drawn in Tokyo, California and France. The cycle had its origin in a promotional comic Moebius had made for French car manufacturer Citroën in 1983 ('Une Croisière Citroën sur l'Étoile'), in which two characters are transported to a "Garden of Eden" in another galaxy. Éditions Casterman collected the rest of what has to be Moebius' most philosophical series in four books between 1988 and 2001. Main themes are dreams, nutrition, health, biology and sexuality, structured societies and the archetype of good and evil. The series was published in English by Marvel/Epic comics between 1988 and 1994.
Le Coeur Couronné / Griffes d'Ange
Moebius and Jodorowsky also made 'Le Cœur Couronné' (1992-1998), a comics trilogy about the affair of a Philosophy professor with a delusional student, as well as the erotic one-shot 'Griffes d'Ange' (1994).
'The Long Tomorrow' (1976).
The Long Tomorrow
Another notable comic by Moebius is 'The Long Tomorrow' (1976), a futuristic crime noir short story written by Dan O'Bannon, who also did the special effects on Jodorowsky's 'Dune' project. The story was a huge source of inspiration for George Lucas' 'Star Wars' film 'The Empire Strikes Back', Ridley Scott's sci-fi film 'Blade Runner' (1982) as well as the fashion in the music video for 'Firestarter' by The Prodigy (1996). Compilations of Moebius' other short stories were published by Les Humanoïdes in books like 'Double Évasion' (1981), 'La Citadelle Aveugle' (1989) and 'Escale sur Phargonescia' (1989).
Aedena
Starting in 1983, Moebius was active in merchandising his properties. He co-founded the publishing label Aedena in 1984, while his wife Claudine Giraud oversaw Starwatcher, a company specialized in publishing and distributing related products. Based in Los Angeles, Moebius got most of his graphic novels published in the US through Marvel Comics. Additionally, he worked with Stan Lee on a two-issue mini-series starring the 'Silver Surfer' for Marvel's Epic imprint in 1988 and 1989. Under his own Aedena label, he produced the portfolio 'La Cité-Feu' (1985) with Geoff Darrow, and he published 'La Nuit de l'Étoile' (1986), a sci-fi comic written by Moebius and drawn by Marc Bati.
'The Silver Surfer'.
Comics writing
Since the early 1970s, Giraud also wrote comic stories for other artists. For Pilote, he penned the initial episodes of the post-apocalyptic comic 'Jason Muller' for Claude Auclair in 1970, as well as a couple of short stories for Jacques Tardi. Further scriptwriting work includes six books of 'Altor' with Marc Bati, a comic initially published under the title 'Cristal Majeur' (Dargaud, 1986-2003), and 'Little Nemo', a sequel to the classic American newspaper comic 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' by Winsor McCay, which was drawn by Bruno Marchand (Casterman, 1994-2002). Giraud and Bati have also made a comic book based on George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' ('La Ferme des Animaux' at Novedi in 1985). In 2005, Moebius wrote the French manga story 'Icare' for Jirô Taniguchi (Éditions Kana). With Jean-Marc Lofficier, who also translated most of his works to English, he worked on the scripts of a couple of stories set in the same universe as 'The Airtight Garage'. 'The Elsewhere Prince' was drawn by Eric Shanower and published by Epic Comics in six issues in 1990, and Jerry Bingham did the art for 'The Onyx Overlord', which was published in four issues in 1992. With scriptwriter Jean-Luc Coudray, he made 'Les Histoires de Monsieur Mouche' in 1994.
Blueberry (2)
Affected by his work as Moebius, Jean Giraud began to take the 'Blueberry' comic into different directions. Especially after Jean-Michel Charlier's death in 1989, Giraud further developed the character's background and mined deeper emotions. He completed the final story he had started with Charlier, 'Arizona Love' (Alpen, 1990), and wrote and drew five more albums, which form the 'Mister Blueberry' cycle (1995-2005). Instead of following Charlier's plan of rehabilitating Blueberry and sending him back to the army, Giraud decided to turn his protagonist into a loafing civilian who spends his days playing poker. He also added another spin-off to the 'Blueberry' universe, which focused on Blueberry's adventures as a marshal in the war against the Apaches prior to the Confederate gold storyline. The first two books of 'Marshal Blueberry' were drawn by William Vance (Alpen, 1991, 1993), while the third one was drawn by Michel Rouge (Dargaud, 2000). In the meantime, the 'Young Blueberry' series was still continued by François Corteggiani and Michel Blanc-Dumont, although with no creative input from Giraud.
'Blueberry' - 'Dust' (2005). Dutch-language version.
A third planned spin-off about an elderly Blueberry was called 'Blueberry: 1900', and was supposed to be drawn by François Boucq. Giraud wanted Blueberry to reside with the Hopi tribe and meditate under the influence of mind-expanding substances, while a comatose President William McKinley is levitated in his bed. The project was halted by Philippe Charlier, the son and heir of Jean-Michel Charlier, who felt this new direction strayed too far away from the creative integrity and legacy of his father. However, the psychedelic hallucinations did end up in the 2004 movie 'Blueberry, l'expérience secrète' starring Vincent Cassel, Michael Madsen and Juliette Lewis (with Jean Giraud in a cameo role). The film was not a commercial success, but did gain a certain cult status as a "trip film". Since it deviated so much from the source material, the Charlier heirs demanded that their family name should be removed from the credits.
Film work
Besides the abandoned 'Dune' project, Jean Giraud/Moebius has participated in the development of several movies. He did storyboards and concept designs for Ridley Scott's movie 'Alien' (1977), 'Tron' (1982) by The Walt Disney Company, René Laloux's 'Les Maîtres du Temps' ('Time Masters', 1982), James Cameron's 'The Abyss' (1989) and Luc Besson's 'The Fifth Element' (1997). A comic album with stills from 'Les Maîtres du Temps' and a companion book with storyboard drawings and photos were published by Les Humanoïdes Associés in 1982.
In 1985, Moebius headed for Tokyo to work on the script and conceptual art for 'Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland' (1989), an animated film based on Winsor McCay's 'Little Nemo in Slumberland'. Giraud also made original character designs and did visual development for the Warner Bros movie 'Space Jam' in 1996. In the 1990s, Giraud worked on a planned movie adaptation of 'The Airtight Garage', but the project never happened due to lack of funding. The Chinese 3D-CGI feature film 'Thru the Moebius Strip' (2005) was based on an original story and designs by Jean Giraud.
'Inside Moebius'.
Graphic contributions
Giraud made a graphic contribution to Marion Vidal's 'Monsieur Schulz et ses Peanuts’ (Albin Michel, 1976), an essay about Charles M. Schulz’ 'Peanuts’, illustrated with subversive parodies of the comic, that Schulz unsuccessfully tried to sue. Giraud was also one of several artists to make a graphic contribution to 'Pepperland’ (1980), a collective comic book tribute to the store Pepperland, to celebrate its 10th anniversary. He also contributed drawings to the "safe sex" promotional book 'Les Aventures de Latex' (FortMedia, 1991). Giraud paid tribute to Nikita Mandryka in the collective comic book 'Tronches de Concombre' (Dupuis, 1995). He additionally made a graphic contribution to the anti-racism collective comic book 'Rire Contre Le Racisme' (Jungle!, 2006).
Later career
Several art books with Moebius' drawings and paintings have been published, such as 'Starwatcher' (1986), 'Made in L.A.' (1988), 'Quattre-vingt huit' (1990), 'Chaos' (1991), 'Chroniques Métalliques' (1992), 'Fusion' (1995), 'Une Jeunesse Heureuse' (1999). He additionally made illustrations for books and magazines, including an edition of Paulo Coelho's novel 'The Alchemist'. He also worked with Coelho on the video game 'Pilgrim' in 1997. In 1999, Giraud released 'Giraud/Moebius - Histoire de mon Double', which featured a biography of Giraud by Moebius and vice versa. From 2004 to 2010, Stardom published 'Inside Mœbius', an illustrated autobiographical fantasy featuring many of his longtime characters, such as Major Grubert, Blueberry and Arzak. The project covers 700 pages and was published in six hardcover volumes.
Recognition
Jean Giraud won the Prix Saint-Michel (1971) for 'Best European Artist', and his work 'Arzach' won the Grand Prix Saint-Michel in 1976. 'Blueberry' was honored with a Shazam Award (1974) and Sproing Award (2000) for 'Best Foreign Comics Series'. 'L' Incal Lumière' received a Micheluzzi Award for 'Best Comic' (1998), while 'Le Coeur Coronné' won a Haxtur Award (2001) for 'Best Long Story'. Giraud also received a Haxtur Award for 'Beloved Artist' (2003). At the Festival of Angoulême he was given an award for 'Best French Artist' (1977) and won the Grand Prix (1981) and Grand Prix d'Arts Graphiques (1985). He won the Harvey Award for Best American Edition of a Foreign Work three times, in 1988, 1989 and 1991. Giraud also received the Eisner Award for 'Best Limited Series' (1989, for 'Silver Surfer'), 'Best Story or Single Issue' (1991, for 'Concrete Celebrates Easter') and 'Best American Edition of an International Work' (2017). Giraud was additionally bestowed with two Yellow Kid Awards for 'Best Foreign Cartoonist' (1975) (1980), an Adamson Award for "Best International Comic Artist" (1979), the Grand Prix de la Science-Fiction Française (1980), an Inkpot Award (1986) and, both for his entire oeuvre: a Max & Moritz Award (2000) and the Prix Albert-Uderzo (2004).
He was inducted in both the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame (1997) as well as the Eisner Hall of Fame (1998). In 2011, Jean Giraud received a knighthood in the Ordre National du Mérite. In 2016 he also became the first comic artist to be inducted in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame.
Death
Jean Giraud died in Paris, on 10 March 2012 at the age of 73, after a long battle with cancer. One of his final comics created under his own name was 'La Version Irlandaise', the first of a two-part volume in the 'XIII' series, released with its companion piece by the main series’ authors William Vance and Jean Van Hamme in November 2007.
Artwork by Moebius, 1987.
Legacy and influence
With an oeuvre fuelled by mind-expanding drugs and New Age philosophies, Moebius has created a legacy which remains an inspiration to science fiction and fantasy authors to this day. He is considered one of the most influential comic artists since Hergé, and among his many and diverse admirers are comic authors like Hergé, Stan Lee and Marc Sleen, film directors Federico Fellini, George Lucas, Ridley Scott and Quentin Tarantino, and novelists Paulo Coelho, Neil Gaiman and William Gibson.
In France, Giraud influenced comic artists like Jacques Tardi, Philippe Adamov, Emmanuel Roudier, Arno, Georges Bess, Dominique Hé, André Juillard, François Boucq, Jean-Jacques Sanchez, Cyril Knittel, Denis Bajram, Marc Bati, Bruno Bellamy, Frank Biancarelli, Jean-Paul Bordier, Jérôme D'Aviau, Dominique Hé, Grun, Emmanuel Malot, Patrice Pellerin, Riad Sattouf and Didier Tarquin. In Belgium, he was an inspiration to Karel Verschuere, Frank Sels, Jan Bosschaert, Stephan Louwes, Stedho, François Schuiten, Frank Pé, Thierry Van Hasselt and Marc Verhaegen. Veteran artists Hergé and Paul Cuvelier also held Giraud in high regard. In Switzerland, he influenced Frederik Peeters, Philippe Wurm and Zep, in Germany Martin tom Dieck, in Spain Rafa Negrete and Julio Ribera, in Italy Silvio Cadelo and Stefano Carloni, in Denmark Bo Torstensen, in Sweden Peter Bergting, in Finland Sami Kivelä and in Serbia Zlatko Milenkovic, Milan Mišic and Zoran Janjetov. In the United Kingdom, he counts Stewart Kenneth Moore and David Pugh among his followers. In the Netherlands, Eric Heuvel, Maarten Janssens, Michiel Offerman, Aloys Oosterwijk, Lae Schäfer, Eric Schreurs, Marijn van der Waa, Erik Wielaert, Piet Wijn and Menno Wittebrood have cited him as an influence. Roger Brunel made a sex parody of 'Blueberry' in 'Pastiches 1' (1980).
Outside Europe, Giraud also had a strong following. In Canada, he ranks Louis Paradis among his fans. In the United States, Rod Kierkegaard, Bill Stout, Geof Darrow, Paul Pope and Gene Fama have cited Moebius as an influence. In Mexico, he influenced José O. Ladrönn and Ric Velasco, in Brazil Gazy Andraus and Watson Portela, in Argentina Fernando Sosa and in Uruguay he inspired Zalozabal. In Turkey, he influenced Galip Tekin and Suat Yalaz, in South Korea Kim Jung-Gi and in Japan Yu Kinutani, Hayao Miyazaki and Katsuya Terada.
'Arzach' was a major influence on the development of the 'Panzer Dragoon' video game by Team Andromedia in 1995. 'The Airtight Garage' inspired the name of a San Francisco-based bar and video game parlor and a band from Washington DC (1993-1996).
Books about Jean Giraud
An interview by Numa Sadoul with Jean Giraud was published under the title 'Mister Moebius et Docteur Gir' (Albin Michel, 1976). It was reprinted by Casterman in 1991 as 'Mœbius : Entretiens avec Numa Sadoul', which also contained later interviews. A large career retrospective, 'Trait de Génie Giraud/Moebius' was on exhibit in the Comics Museum in Angoulême, and an extensive catalog edited by Thierry Groensteen was published at this occasion, entitled 'Trait de Génie: Giraud=Moebius' (CNBDI, 2000). Another highly recommended title is 'Un Singulier Pluriel: Jean Giraud-Moebius' (Vertige Graphic, 1992) by Nathalie Coucke.
Self-portrait, 2000.