Alejandro Jodorowsky (also known as Alexandro Jodorowsky) is a
Chilean film and theatre director, screenwriter, playwright, actor,
comic book writer, author, poet, mime, musician, and spiritual
guru. He is best known for his avant-garde, cult films, such as "El
Topo," a midnight movie favorite.
1938: Birth of Jean Giraud - who isn't yet either Gir or Moebius -
on May 8th in Nogent-sur-Marne. Jean is from the earliest age
educated at the very efficient ABC school, whose slogan ("If you
know how to write, you know how to draw") appeals to Misses Giraud,
the mother. 1954: Jean Giraud enters the Arts Appliques
institution. 1955: He illustrates several issues of the publication
Fiction. His first comic pages appear in Far-West, Sitting
Bull,Fripounet et Marisette, Ames vaillantes, Coeur vaillant and le
Journal de l'armee. From 1959 to 1960 he performs his military
service in Algeria. 1961: Under the guidance of Jije, the seminal
Belgian artist behind such comics as Spirou et Fantasio, Jean
Giraud draws part of La Route de Coronado, an episode of the
Western series Jerry Spring. 1963: Jije returns the favor two years
later by proposing that his protege be the artist on the first
volume of a brand-new series, also a Western, and titled Fort
Navajo. This Western will soon become known by its more popular
title: Blueberry. It is published in the magazine Pilote where
Jean-Michel Charlier, the series' writer, is also Editor-In-Chief.
At the same time, Jean transforms into Moebius for the first time
and for a few short stories in another magazine, Hara Kiri, a
monthly satirical publication. 1973: Appearance of the third and
last alias of Jean Giraud. He signs Gir in a couple of the Fort
Navajo volumes as well as in La Deviation, a story whose theme is
more mature and whose graphic rendition is purer, belonging more to
the world of Moebius than that of Jean Giraud. However, Jean
chooses to put the name Moebius to sleep for a few years, from
1969to 1974, as he participates to a series of Sci-Fi illustrations
for Opta, a French publishing house specializing in science fiction
and crime fiction. Moebius reawakens in 1974. 1975: After having
drawn, under one name or another, Le Bandard fou, Cauchemar blanc
and L'Homme est-il bon?, Moebius embarks with fellow creators
Philippe Druillet, Jean-Pierre Dionnet and businessman Bernard
Farkas aboard the Metal Hurlant shuttle, which soon spirals into a
revolutionary adventure. There he will publish the firs pages of
Arzach, followed by Le Garage hermetique (The Airtight Garage), two
resounding works that quickly come to rock the entire
Franco-Belgian bande dessinee community. The same year, he meets
Alexandro Jodorowsky. The young Chilean filmmaker is looking to
adapt Frank Herbert's masterpiece Dune to the big screen.
Jodorowsky needs the help of creative minds to bring the complex
story to life, and Moebius is asked to work on the film's
storyboards. The project falls apart but the duo of Jodorowsky /
Moebius reforms soon after in 1978 for The Eyes of the Cat, their
very first graphic collaboration. 1980: Moebius and Jodorowsky
create together The Black Incal, the first volume in The Adventures
of John Difool (which is later retitled The Incal). At the same
time, Moebius draws conceptual designs for Ridley Scott's Alien,
followed by the storyboards for Time Masters by Rene Laloux, and
then Tronfor Walt Disney Studios. 1984: Moebius logically then
migrates to the US and Hollywood. He offers himself some
recreation, however, famously taking his stab at the US comics
scene, drawing an episode of the Silver Surfer, Stan Lee's famous
hero. All the while, he continues collaborating with filmmakers,
notably James Cameron on The Abyss and Ron Howard on Willow. 1992:
Pairing up with Jodorowsky once again, they come up with the
three-part story Madwoman of the Sacred Heart. 1994: Again with
Jodorowsky, he illustrates a long esoteric poem, pairing the words
with erotic illustrations only he could pull off. This becomes
Angel Claws. 1997: L'Homme du Ciguri, the follow-up to Le Garage
Hermetique, is released. 2000: Release of the first volume of After
the Incal, sequel toThe Incal. 2004: Release of Beautiful life from
publisher Zampano and written by Stephane Cattaneo. It is the story
of an individual who happily runs toward his end. 2004/2005: Paris
hosts the Moebius -Miyazaki exposition where for the first time the
two major artists share their personal collection of drawings.
2005: Release of Icare, drawn by Taniguchi and published by Kana,
an affiliate of French publisher Dargaud. In this story, Tokyo is
the target of terrorist attacks performed by test tube men. Amid
this setting arrives an extraordinary child who soon proves capable
of flying. The scientific world is immediately on guard and the
child, baptized Icare, is quickly isolated under the guise of being
a defense secret. 2006: After Arzach and Major Fatal, les
Humanoides Associes continue their roll out of new editions of the
Moebius oeuvre by releasing all his major works: L'Homme est-il
bon? Cauchemar Blanc , Le Garage hermetique, Les vacances du Major
and The Incal. 2007: Moebius collaborates with legendary BD writer
Jean Van Hamme on the cult series XIII, drawing its 18th volume,
entitled The Irish Version. 2008: Jean Giraud participates to the
production of a new section of the Futuroscope, a French theme park
based upon multimedia, cinematographic and audio-visual techniques,
inspired by his book The Airtight Garage. He releases Arzak,
l'arpenteur and Les Carnets Major, as well as Faune de Mars,
between 2010 and 2011 at his own Moebius Productions. From October
2010 to Mars 2011, Paris's Fondation Cartier plays host to a huge
and stunning Moebius art show titled "Moebius Transe forme." 2012:
Passing of Jean Giraud, genius and ever-evolving artist who
continually and throughout his career sought to search, explore,
and innovate.
"It's one of the great comics team-ups." * Rolling Stone
*
"The Incal is entrancing...It crackles with invention: if you like
your sci-fi, you'll love this." * The Guardian *
"If there is one phrase you could assign to The Incal as a
summary of it's brilliance "like nothing else" is the most pure and
accurate description I could think of." * Nothing But Comics *
"The Incal isn't a book you just read. It's a science
fiction book you experience. A true classic in every sense of the
world. It's ingenious." * Forces of Geek *
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