6 ms·

French comic-book artist "Moebius" dies

147 points by mikecane 15y ago

bornon5 15y ago
When I was in school, one of my illustration professors said to us, "None of you will ever be as creative as Moebius." To hear this was not a letdown. Moebius was incredibly prolific and unbelievably talented, and his work represents the upper bound of what is creatively possible.
wazoox 15y ago
I'm pretty sure he painted the glass sets of the Death Star for "Empire strikes back", too.
- masklinn 15y ago
  According to wikipedia, Lucas used one of his designs for ESB's Imperial Probe Droid, but that's it (although later features draw from his style and works e.g. Coruscant)
  - wahnfrieden 15y ago
    Star Wars and Alien drew from his work indirectly. Notably his work on the scrapped Dune movie that started Salvadore Dali and was directed by Jodorowsky.
    - gcb 15y ago
      http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky/ http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky/
    - xsmasher 15y ago
      The space suits in alien were his design.
    - callil 15y ago
      He also did early concept work for Blade Runner. Syd Mead talks about his small influence in the early designs.
SolarUpNote 15y ago
I heard about him from his work on the original Tron. http://www.google.com/search?q=moebius+tron&hl=en&prmd=imvnsu&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=09JbT5HJOMLj0QGmjMy1Dw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1261&bih=843 http://www.google.com/search?q=moebius+tron&hl=en&pr...
novalis 15y ago
I joined the French Institute in my home town because they had a lot of his work and he was the reason why I got pulled into art at that young age. The work was so vast and different, so fantastic, I couldn't imagine the things he gave life to, on my own. I understood that then as I do now. It was greatness and he shared it through art. By that process he made me a rich man. Rich of thought. A true treasure. I have no words that can express how saddened I am by the news of his passing. It simply makes me cry and hurt. This is an irreparable loss.
rbanffy 15y ago
This is very sad. His visions of the future, that seeded so much of our collective imagination, will be missed. Our distant future will not be the same.
mladenkovacevic 15y ago
I loved Moebius. And not just his sci-fi bizarro stuff. Blueberry is one of the best American Western graphic novels. His books were full of art and stories that you could simply get lost in, completely taken to a different world. Some other books worthwhile checking out that are most likely available in English: Airtight Garage, The Incal, The Metabarons.
- shareme 15y ago
  not just comics and books go watch Aliens or Tron again..the effects were more than just inspired by him..
- riffraff 15y ago
  Not sure if it was implied, as the message above is ambiguous but, but I believe `the metabarons` was drawn by Juan Giménez, though published by Moebius' publishing company.
  - mladenkovacevic 15y ago
    You are correct sir. It's been a while. A Metabaron merely appears in the Incal books as a supporting character.
nicolas314 15y ago
I was lucky enough to know some of his relatives and got to meet Moebius a few times in the 90s. He was not just a genius, he was also profoundly human and simple. He will live forever in our culture.
johncoltrane 15y ago
I was born in 1974 so I was too young to see them on their first run but I've been lucky to catch lots of reruns of "Tac au Tac" in the 80s. This incredible TV show was based on the surrealist concept of "Cadavre exquis" and made a bunch of cartoonists work together on a large drawing board around a common idea. Jean Giraud participated in a number of episodes, including this one with Joe Kubert and Neal Adams: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj263p_joe-kubert-neal-adams-jean-giraud-1972_creation http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj263p_joe-kubert-neal-adam... Moebius leaves a long trail of beautiful work behind him.
fsiefken 15y ago
Moebius about his experience with psychoactive mushrooms: http://youtu.be/guF1jN2xw-Q http://youtu.be/guF1jN2xw-Q
zeruch 15y ago
When I was a teen and was moving rapidly between artistic movements (I still moonlight as an illustrator) I was generally not fascinated with too many comic artists per se (most of what I saw was "good enough" in the spandex-tight world of the Big 2 companies at the time) but Moebius was one of a few that just stuck with me. Elegant, thoroughly idiosyncratic stories, both as a narrative and as visual spectacle. What a bummer to hear.
mikecane 15y ago
I hesitated posting this item to HN because it seemed more like a Reddit item (I don't use Reddit), but I figured if no one at HN cared, it would just sink. Glad to see Moebius has fans here.
stel 15y ago
Surprised to see this on HN, but glad that he still has influence outside the traditional comic book set. Moebius was an inspiration to me back when I wanted to be a comic book artist. I still have many of his graphic novels (and took my HN username from one of his works). To say he will be missed is an understatement.
bane 15y ago
Really sad to hear about this. Tremendously influential in comics and modern art, but I don't think we've even begun to see how big his art is. (Also responsible for influencing a great part of The 5th Element, one of my favorite movies) A wonderfully different vision of the future than what we saw produced in the U.S.
captainsinclair 15y ago
This guy was an amazing artist. I collected and read his books and enjoyed his stories in Heavy Metal magazine. I hope he finds the ultimate art studio in heaven.
gcb 15y ago
Most of his work is out of print. I read most from a collection of a friend and always failed to buy any.
thomasfl 15y ago
I remember going to see The fifth element by Luc Besson at the cinema without knowing Jean Giraud had designed much of the set and costumes. It was overwhelming to see Jean Girauds fantasy world on the big screen after reading his comic books about John DiFool.

147 points by mikecane 15y ago

When I was in school, one of my illustration professors said to us, "None of you will ever be as creative as Moebius." To hear this was not a letdown. Moebius was incredibly prolific and unbelievably talented, and his work represents the upper bound of what is creatively possible.

wazoox 15y ago

I'm pretty sure he painted the glass sets of the Death Star for "Empire strikes back", too.

masklinn 15y ago
According to wikipedia, Lucas used one of his designs for ESB's Imperial Probe Droid, but that's it (although later features draw from his style and works e.g. Coruscant)
- wahnfrieden 15y ago
  Star Wars and Alien drew from his work indirectly. Notably his work on the scrapped Dune movie that started Salvadore Dali and was directed by Jodorowsky.
  - gcb 15y ago
    http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky/ http://www.duneinfo.com/unseen/jodorowsky/
  - xsmasher 15y ago
    The space suits in alien were his design.
  - callil 15y ago
    He also did early concept work for Blade Runner. Syd Mead talks about his small influence in the early designs.

SolarUpNote 15y ago

I heard about him from his work on the original Tron. http://www.google.com/search?q=moebius+tron&hl=en&prmd=imvnsu&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=09JbT5HJOMLj0QGmjMy1Dw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1261&bih=843 http://www.google.com/search?q=moebius+tron&hl=en&pr...

novalis 15y ago

I joined the French Institute in my home town because they had a lot of his work and he was the reason why I got pulled into art at that young age. The work was so vast and different, so fantastic, I couldn't imagine the things he gave life to, on my own. I understood that then as I do now. It was greatness and he shared it through art. By that process he made me a rich man. Rich of thought. A true treasure. I have no words that can express how saddened I am by the news of his passing. It simply makes me cry and hurt. This is an irreparable loss.

rbanffy 15y ago

This is very sad. His visions of the future, that seeded so much of our collective imagination, will be missed. Our distant future will not be the same.

mladenkovacevic 15y ago

I loved Moebius. And not just his sci-fi bizarro stuff. Blueberry is one of the best American Western graphic novels. His books were full of art and stories that you could simply get lost in, completely taken to a different world. Some other books worthwhile checking out that are most likely available in English: Airtight Garage, The Incal, The Metabarons.

shareme 15y ago
not just comics and books go watch Aliens or Tron again..the effects were more than just inspired by him..
riffraff 15y ago
Not sure if it was implied, as the message above is ambiguous but, but I believe `the metabarons` was drawn by Juan Giménez, though published by Moebius' publishing company.
- mladenkovacevic 15y ago
  You are correct sir. It's been a while. A Metabaron merely appears in the Incal books as a supporting character.

nicolas314 15y ago

I was lucky enough to know some of his relatives and got to meet Moebius a few times in the 90s. He was not just a genius, he was also profoundly human and simple. He will live forever in our culture.

johncoltrane 15y ago

I was born in 1974 so I was too young to see them on their first run but I've been lucky to catch lots of reruns of "Tac au Tac" in the 80s. This incredible TV show was based on the surrealist concept of "Cadavre exquis" and made a bunch of cartoonists work together on a large drawing board around a common idea. Jean Giraud participated in a number of episodes, including this one with Joe Kubert and Neal Adams: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj263p_joe-kubert-neal-adams-jean-giraud-1972_creation http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj263p_joe-kubert-neal-adam... Moebius leaves a long trail of beautiful work behind him.

fsiefken 15y ago

Moebius about his experience with psychoactive mushrooms: http://youtu.be/guF1jN2xw-Q http://youtu.be/guF1jN2xw-Q

zeruch 15y ago

When I was a teen and was moving rapidly between artistic movements (I still moonlight as an illustrator) I was generally not fascinated with too many comic artists per se (most of what I saw was "good enough" in the spandex-tight world of the Big 2 companies at the time) but Moebius was one of a few that just stuck with me. Elegant, thoroughly idiosyncratic stories, both as a narrative and as visual spectacle. What a bummer to hear.

mikecane 15y ago

I hesitated posting this item to HN because it seemed more like a Reddit item (I don't use Reddit), but I figured if no one at HN cared, it would just sink. Glad to see Moebius has fans here.

stel 15y ago

Surprised to see this on HN, but glad that he still has influence outside the traditional comic book set. Moebius was an inspiration to me back when I wanted to be a comic book artist. I still have many of his graphic novels (and took my HN username from one of his works). To say he will be missed is an understatement.

bane 15y ago

Really sad to hear about this. Tremendously influential in comics and modern art, but I don't think we've even begun to see how big his art is. (Also responsible for influencing a great part of The 5th Element, one of my favorite movies) A wonderfully different vision of the future than what we saw produced in the U.S.

captainsinclair 15y ago

This guy was an amazing artist. I collected and read his books and enjoyed his stories in Heavy Metal magazine. I hope he finds the ultimate art studio in heaven.

gcb 15y ago

Most of his work is out of print. I read most from a collection of a friend and always failed to buy any.

thomasfl 15y ago

I remember going to see The fifth element by Luc Besson at the cinema without knowing Jean Giraud had designed much of the set and costumes. It was overwhelming to see Jean Girauds fantasy world on the big screen after reading his comic books about John DiFool.