Moebius (Jean Giraud)

Jean Henri Giraud, better known as Moebius, was born in 1938 in the suburbs of Paris. He’s been using the Moebius pseudonym since 1963, when he wanted to draw a distinction between his work in fantasy and science fiction and other works. Giraud started art school at the age of 16, and by 18, he was drawing a comic strip called "Frank et Jeremie" for FAR WEST magazine.

In 1962, Moebius teamed up with writer, Jean-Michel Charlier and started up a comic strip called FORT NAVAJO for PILOTE magazine. It was greatly acclaimed and continued uninterrupted for the next 12 years. Lieutenant Blueberry became its most popular character, and his adventures in the spin-off, BLUEBERRY are Moebius' best known work in France. In Europe, comics are considered high art and France has even issued postage stamps in his honor.

Moebius did strips from 1963 to 1964 in a magazine called HARA-KIRI and then disappeared for many years. Then in 1975, he co-created a magazine entitled METAL HURLANT. In 1981, he started his immensely popular INCAL series with Alejandro Jodorowsky. ARZACH and the serial, THE AIRTIGHT GARAGE, also had their origins in METAL HURLANT.

In 1988, Moebius drew a two-part SILVER SURFER limited series with writer, Stan Lee. Moebius’ vision of The Surfer was ridiculed in the film CRIMSON TIDE by the character of Lt. Commander Ron Hunter, played by Denzel Washington, in a scene written by a then unknown, Quentin Tarantino. In contrast, Moebius achieved a monumental screen triumph with his design work on the 1997 film, THE FIFTH ELEMENT.