Hardly an artist on Facebook or anywhere else today isn’t talking about the influence of Moebius on comics, and sci-fi and fantasy art. French artist Jean Giraud, who went by the moniker Moebius and created innovative designs for movies and comic books alike for more than 50 years, passed away this weekend at the age of 73.
Moebius became famous in France early in his career for his Western anti-hero Blueberry. He went on to being awarded the Eisner Award for his work on Silver Surfer with Stan Lee.
His futuristic designs for the films Alien, Tron, The Fifth Element, Willow, Dune and The Abyss allowed his work to reach an even wider audience. Ridley Scott credited his contribution to The Long Tomorrow to inspire the look of Blade Runner and master anime artist Hayao Miyazaki said his work influenced his work Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
His influence on Miyazaki is unmistakable. Check out this piece by Moebius, which looks like it could be found in any number of Miyazaki’s anime films:
His cocenpt art for the original Tron was innovative as seen in his solar sail:
… as well as his image of Tron himself:
His concept art for The Fifth Element helped define the look of the future, merging elements of past and present, for director Luc Besson, and his aerial Chinese junk boat made it near verbatim to the screen:
His imagery for Alien merged science fiction and horror:
His fantasy influence can be seen in his art for George Lucas’s film Willow:
Ultimately his comic book fans will remember his work for Marvel Comics, and his legacy from that work will continue to inspire legions of comic book artists young and old and designers of the look of the future:
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com
I will always remember him primarily for his contributions to “Heavy Metal” magazine. His artwork was some of the coolest, hippest and most eye-catching of all (even when the stories themselves weren’t). My spine always tingled when a new issue came out with a Moebius cover.
Rest in peace, good sir!