In 1989 Jean Giraud, or Moebius as he is universally known in the comix world, accepted an assignment from the Paris office of Young & Rubicam. The client was Maxwell House coffee, and the job called for a series of advertisements that would appear in French magazines. The images correlated roughly to what we would today call “a New Yorker cartoon” but they also overflowed with the exacting, unmistakable, visionary touch of Moebius, collaborator of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and Luc Besson.

Moebius completed six images for Young & Rubicam but only four were actually used in magazines. The theme of the advertisements was “Grain de Folie,” which translates to something like “a touch of madness.” The purpose of the campaign appears to have been to convince French womankind that a coffee during the daytime might be seen as a proper activity or even a reward for completed tasks, as we shall see.

The heroine of the series was “Tatiana,” a self-possessed and fashionable young woman who happens to find herself alone on a deserted jungle island or the like. Rather than display a shred of panic, unflappable Tatiana instead demurely sips her cup of Maxwell House coffee, a cup that invariably is defined as a tiny expanse of white in an otherwise completely yellow image. Tatiana is so utterly capable that even the considerable threats of the jungle are reduced (in the caption, we find) to the everyday trials of suburban domesticity. Or something.

Here are two rather grainy images of the ads more or less in action. Note that you can see a small amount of white space to indicate where the center of the image would be, in the two-page spread of a magazine. (Better images—and translations—are supplied further down, never fear.)
 

 

 
Moebius fans have been aware of these images for quite a while. In 1991, just two years after the campaign, French artist Numa Sadoul included them in a book called Mœbius: Entretiens avec Numa Sadoul. A few years later they were printed in a limited run as Coffee Dreams, the 5th issue of Ashcan Comics, a series dedicated to Moebius rarities.
 

 
That issue, which was limited to just 100 copies, fetches $500 in online auction sites today—which is true of all of the Ashcan Comics that I was able to find.

Here are better-quality pics with proper captions so that you can enjoy the full effect of these indelible Moebius images:
 

Ce petit break fut un soulangement pour Tatiana qui se lassait tant de ces blablas intellos. (The little break was a relief for Tatiana, who was sick and tired of all the intellectual blah-blah.)

 
More Moebius after the jump…

Alain Voss’ famous artwork for the cover of ‘Jardim Elétrico,’ the 1971 album by Brazilian psych-rock trio Os Mutantes
 
Born in France, artist Alain Voss would spend much of his early life in Brazil. Once the violence and repression associated with the Brazillian dictatorship established in 1964 came to a head in the early 1970s, Voss would return to France where he continued to work as an illustrator and painter.

During his long career—which was cut short when Voss passed away at the way-too-young age of 65—his artwork had been used widely by Métal Hurlant, which when translated to English means “Screaming Metal.” Métal Hurlant has been referred to as one of the most influential comics to ever come out of France, and with good reason. Among the collaborators and creative minds behind Métal Hurlant were Mœbius (aka the great Jean Giraud), Italian comic writer and artist Milo Manara, American artist Richard Corben, and French comic artist Philippe Druillet. Writing contributions for the publication came from the likes of Alejandro Jodorowsky and comic book pioneer, writer, artist and painter Chantal Montellier—the first woman to hold the position of editorial cartoonist in France. Together Giraud and Druillet joined forces with author Jean-Pierre Dionnet, and with the help of financial whiz Bernard Farkas, the quad would become known as “Les Humanoides Associés” or the United Humanoids. When Métal Hurlant came to the States thanks to National Lampoon magazine, it morphed into Heavy Metal magazine which it first hit the shelves in April of 1977.

Alain Voss was among Métal Hurlant’s well-chosen, visionary artists. Voss’ work has also appeared on various hard-to-find French record sleeves, as well as a series of Brazilian compilation albums with inspired psychedelic covers from the early 1970s which are quite collectible. I’ve posted an array of Voss’ work including his dubious punk rock character Heilman which you must see to believe. Some of what follows is NSFW.
 

The work of Voss on the cover of Metal Hurlant #29.
 

Cover art by Voss for Métal Hurlant #10, October 1976.
 
Much more after the jump…

 
In 1975 the cartoonist Jean Giraud, a.k.a. Moebius, was in Paris collaborating with Alejandro Jodorowsky on the never-completed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, a project that at various times involved H.R. Giger, Mick Jagger, Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, Udo Kier, Gong, and Pink Floyd. Dan O’Bannon, who had previously co-written John Carpenter’s first feature Dark Star and would later write the screenplay for Alien, was summoned to the French capital to work on the Herbert adaptation. Moebius and O’Bannon hit it off and in short order O’Bannon had proposed and also drawn a brief comic (let’s call it a short story) called “The Long Tomorrow” that would later be published with art by Moebius—interestingly, Moebius has stated that O’Bannon’s original art was skilled enough that he (Moebius) wanted to do a side-by-side edition of the story, but he could never get O’Bannon interested in the idea. Here is Giraud’s account, taken from his introduction to the work:
 

I drew “The Long Tomorrow” in 1975, while I worked with Alexandro Jodorowsky on a film adaption of “Dune”. Originally Douglas Trumbull was to do the special effects, but that was not to be, so Jodorowsky hired Dan O’Bannon to replace him. Dan came to Paris. Bearded, dressed in a wild style, the typical Californian post-hippie. His real work would begin at the time of shooting, on the models, on the hardware props. As we were still in the stage of preparations and concepts, there was almost nothing to do and he was bored stiff. To kill time, he drew. Dan is best known as a script writer, but is an excellent cartoonist. If he had wished, he could have been a professional graphic artist. One day, he showed me what he was drawing. It was the story board of “The Long Tomorrow”. A classic police story, but situated in the future. I was enthusiastic. When Europeans try this kind of parody, it is never entirely satisfactory, the French are too French, the Italians are too Italian … so, under my nose was a pastiche that was more original than the originals. A believer in parody, Dan continued that tradition.

 
“The Long Tomorrow” is unmistakably a noir set in the future, much as Blade Runner would prove to be. The protagonist of O’Bannon’s story is one Pete Club, a “confidential nose” who is tasked by a femme fatale named Dolly Vook Von Katterbar to secure a strongbox that is languishing in a public locker in a dangerous part of town. Before long, the case expands to include a shape-shifting Arcturian spy and (of all things) the president’s brain, which Club observes is smaller than expected. 

Ridley Scott has asserted that Moebius and O’Bannon’s little tale had a sizable impact on the development of Blade Runner. In 1982, the same year that Blade Runner was released (and garnered disappointing box office), Ridley Scott mentioned to Harlan Kennedy his high opinion of Moebius and O’Bannon:
 

Yes, Mobius, I think, is marvelous––probably the best comic-strip artist in the world. We had him working a little bit on Alien, and I tried to get him involved in Blade Runner. I’d love to do a complete film with him, but I always catch him on the wrong foot. My concept of Blade Runner linked up to a comic strip I’d seen him do a long time ago; it was called “The Long Tomorrow,” and I think Dan O’Bannon wrote it. His work on that was marvelous, because he created a tangible future. If the future is one you can see and touch, it makes you a little uneasier, because you feel it’s just round the corner.

 
Below we have some selected images from “The Long Tomorrow,” but if you want to read the whole thing (it’s fun!), then you should drop by the website of a certain passionate Star Wars fan from Brazil and read it.
 

 
More after the jump…......
 

The Coordinator
 
Jean Henri Gaston Giraud, or Moebius, is one of the great visionary cartoonists of our time. He cofounded the influential magazine Métal hurlant in 1975, which was the venue for his fantastic stories Arzach (which used no words at all) and The Airtight Garage. Moebius famously teamed up with Alexander Jodorowsky for the L’Incal series as well as the much-lamented movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, but it never came to pass.

In 1993 a company called Comic Images put out a gorgeous series called “Moebius Collector Cards,” of which there were about 100. We’ve selected a few for you below, but you can see the entire set at catawiki.
 

Sexual Sorceress
 

“Sir”
 
More Moebius after the jump…

 
A very fine documentary on legendary artist Jean Giraud (Moebius) featuring interviews with film makers Alejandro Jodorowsky and Dan O’Bannon as well as artists Philippe Druillet, Jim Lee (“X-Men”), Mike Mignola (“Hellboy”), H.R. Giger and Stan Lee.

Director Hasko Baumann seamlessly integrates Giraud’s illustrations into the movie as Giraud himself provides illuminating narration.

Includes a segment on the epically frustrating attempt by Jodorowsky to bring Dune to the big screen as he, Giraud, Giger and O’Bannon envisioned it.
 

 
Last Saturday saw the passing of the legendary French comic book artist Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius. A simply stunning artist, apart from being huge in the world of comics, Moebius’ influence extended to the spheres of science fiction, record sleeves, animation and films. He drew storyboards for both Alien and Tron, created character and set designs for Jodorowsky’s aborted Dune project (among numerous collaborations with the director), and unsuccessfully sued Luc Besson for what he claimed was The Fifth Element‘s infringement of his own work with Jodorowsky on The Incal.

If there is any illustrator working in comics today worthy of inheriting Moebius’ mantle, it’s Scottish artist Frank Quitely (All Star Superman, Batman and Robin, We3, The Authoirty.) Quitely cites Moebius as one of his favourite artists, and his influence in clear in both the crisp line work and the command of form. I asked Frank to share a few words celebrating the work of this great artist and to choose some of his favourite Moebius illustrations:
 

 
“Moebius was an inspired artist, whose life’s works have inspired others, artist and non-artists alike. He was uncommonly good at drawing, and he used this skill to share his internal world with others.”
 

 
“Everything that makes his designs, comic covers, illustrations and individual drawings and paintings beautiful, striking, well composed and effectively realized, is also employed in his strip-work. The ability to make not just a collection of wonderful images, but to make those images work together in sequence, is a whole other art-form in itself, and Moebius excelled as much in the fluidity of his storytelling as he did in the brilliance of his linework.

There’s real beauty in his work. It’s quite a rare thing for an artist to be able to translate so much of the scale and grandeur and detail of their own imaginings into simple, elegant lines that can be so easily shared with others. There’s an underlying essence that’s apparent to varying degrees in everything that he drew, supporting the assertion that what he drew was coming from his very core.”
 

 
“His sheer mastery of his art (and the craft of that art) has really enriched the lives of countless people around the world and across the years, and that same body of work that he’s left behind will continue enriching lives forever.”
 
You can see some of Frank Quitely’s own art here, and Moebius’ official site (in French) is here. The book The Art Of Moebius also come highly recommended.
 

 
Many thanks to Vincent Deighan!

 
After some time spent with DC’s Vertigo imprint and then Devil’s Due, Fabrice Giger’s fabled Humanoids Publishing house (who’ve put out work by the likes of such prestigious creators as Moebius, Yves Chaland, Igor Baranko, Bilal, Pierre Christin,  Philippe Druillet, Milo Manara and others) is back in action with what looks to be a high gloss publication of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Moebius’s 1970s series, The Incal.

The Incal came as a result of the proposed Jodorowsky-directed film version of Frank Herbert’s Dune (which was to have starred Orson Welles, Mick Jagger and Salvador Dali, with music by Pink Floyd) biting the dust. Rather than lose all of their great ideas, the disappointed duo turned out The Incal comics series instead.

Long out of print in this country, the November republication of The Incal series in English comes at the same time as the book’s publication in French. Past Jodorowsky/Humanoids collaborations, such as the incredible Techno Priests series, have been beautiful objects to behold, so I’ve got high hopes for The Incal, which will come in its own custom slip case.
 

 
Humanoids Publishing blog

Via Arthur

An exhibit opening soon at London’s Drawing Room art gallery displays the materials produced for Alejandro Jodorowsky’s sadly never-produced version of Frank Herbert’s Dune novels:

This exhibition includes production drawings made by Moebius, H.R Giger and Chris Foss alongside commissioned work made in response by three international contemporary artists Steven Claydon, Matthew Day Jackson and Vidya Gastaldon.

Following the release of his mystical Western ?