Jean Giraud

At the age of 15, Jean Giraud enrolled in the School of Applied Arts; it was during this period that his great passion for science fiction was born. In 1956, his first illustrations and comic strips appeared in magazines such as Far West, Fripounet, Marisette, Âmes vaillantes and Cœurs vaillants. Then, after being drafted, Giraud served in the military in Germany and Algeria. He met Jijé and became his student in 1958. Shortly thereafter, Jijé entrusted him with drawing several pages for Jerry Spring : La Route de Coronado (Jerry Spring: The Coronado Trail), published in the magazine Spirou. 

In 1963, the magazine Hara-Kiri published the first pages by a young unknown artist, Moebius - one of Giraud’s pseudonyms. That same year, in the October issue of Pilote, he created the series Fort Navajo alongside Jean-Michel Charlier, writing under the pen name Gir. Blueberry was born. The first volume of The Adventures of Blueberry was published in 1965. At the same time, Gir produced numerous science-fiction illustrations. The following year, La Mine de l'allemand perdu (The Lost German's Mine) appeared in Pilote, followed by Spectre aux balles d'or (The Ghost with the Golden Bullets). 

In 1973, as the success of Blueberry continued to grow, Giraud returned to the name Moebius to create stories in a completely different style. It was this same Moebius who contributed to L'Écho des savanes. The publication of Moebius’s Le Bandard fou (The Horny Goof, Les Éditions du fromage, 1974) coincided with that of the album Ballade pour un cercueil  (Ballad for a Coffin, Dargaud, 1974) by Giraud and Charlier, a volume featuring a lengthy biography of Blueberry. In 1975, following a dispute with his publisher, Giraud stopped drawing Blueberry. With Philippe Druillet, Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Bernard Farkas, Moebius then co-founded the magazine Métal hurlant, which led to the establishment of the publishing house Les Humanoïdes associés. A year later, he published Arzach there. In 1978, Moebius began his collaboration with Alejandro Jodorowsky with the album Les Yeux du chat (The Eyes of the Cat, Les Humanoïdes associés), marking the start of their legendary partnership. In 1979, Giraud created Jim Cutlass with Jean-Michel Charlier. 

In 1980, Nez cassé (Broken Nose, Dargaud) was published, serving as the highly anticipated sequel to Blueberry. A separate, aborted film collaboration between Moebius and Alejandro Jodorowsky ultimately led to the creation of a comic series, Les Aventures de John Difool (Les Humanoïdes associés), a saga better known as L’Incal. Moebius was now just as famous as Giraud. In 1982, Moebius chaired the jury at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. 

In 1983, he moved his studio to Tahiti, before relocating to Los Angeles the following year. Giraud, for his part, received the Grand Prix de la Ville d'Angoulême for Blueberry, was named “Best Graphic Artist” by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, and was awarded the National Order of Merit by François Mitterrand. Starting in 1986, he created Le Cristal Majeur (The Magic Crystal) series with Marc Bati as illustrator, along with the first three volumes of the Altor series; four more albums would follow. In 1988, he illustrated an episode of the legendary Silver Surfer for Marvel, based on a script by Stan Lee—no French author had ever achieved such recognition across the Atlantic! In 1989, Jean-Michel Charlier passed away suddenly. Giraud decided to continue the Blueberry series on his own. From then on, Giraud handled both the script and the artwork and even launched another series, Marshal Blueberry (Dargaud), illustrated by William Vance but written by Giraud himself. 

In 1992, Moebius reunited with Jodorowsky for the trilogy Les cœurs couronnés (The Crowned Hearts, Les Humanoïdes Associés). In 2004, Icare (Kana) was published, a story written by Moebius and illustrated by the acclaimed mangaka Jirō Taniguchi. Giraud then solo-authored the 28th Blueberry volume, Dust (Dargaud, 2005). In 2007, Giraud illustrated La Version irlandaise (The Irish Version, Dargaud), conceived by Jean Van Hamme, which served as volume 18 of the cult series XIII. In 2008, he helped create a new attraction at Futuroscope, La Citadelle du vertige (The Citadel of Vertigo), inspired by the world of Le Garage hermétique (The Airtight Garage). In 2009, Moebius published Arzak l’arpenteur (Arzak: The Surveyor, Moebius Production).  

Jean Giraud also worked extensively in film. In 1979, he designed the costumes for Ridley Scott’s Alien. In 1982, he contributed to René Laloux’s animated film Les Maîtres du temps (Time Masters). In 1985, Moebius worked on the screenplay, concept designs, and costumes for the animated film Little Nemo, directed by William T. Hurtz. Then, in 1987, he contributed conceptual artwork to the American film Willow, directed by Ron Howard. The following year, while working on James Cameron’s film The Abyss, Moebius returned to Paris. In 1997, he designed creature and character concepts for Luc Besson’s Le Cinquième Elément (The Fifth Element).

Jean Giraud died in Paris on March 10, 2012, at the age of 74.