Born February 7th, 1929, in Tocopilla, Chile, of a Jewish Ukrainian
immigrant family. Jodorowsky was multi-talented from an early age,
becoming skilled in puppetry and mime, in addition to writing, by
his late teens. He traveled with a pantomime troupe in the 1950s,
and within a couple years had made his way to Paris where he
collaborated with the world-renowned mime Marcel Marceau. In the
1960s, Jodorowsky ventured further into the world of theater,
creating in Mexico, the Panic Movement. This innovative artistic
movement allowed him to creatively participate in over a 100
theater productions. The 1970s saw him transition into the world of
film where he quickly put a defining stamp on all his cinematic
works. He directed several cult films, namely the infamous "El
Topo," a Midnight movie favorite. Shortly thereafter, Jodorowsky
became attached to direct the adaptation of the famous Frank
Herbert sci-fi epic novel "Dune." At the preparation stage of the
film, he brilliantly assembled a team of extremely diverse and
gifted artists such as HR Giger, Chris Foss, Dan O'Bannon, and
Moebius, all of who would later be hired as concept artists on
Ridley Scott's "Alien." The development of "Dune" came to a halt
due to financial problems, but Jodorowsky, having been exposed to
such immense visual talent, propelled himself into writing graphic
novels, pairing up with the artist Moebius. This collaboration
resulted in what many consider to be one of the most creative
European sci-fi graphic novel series of all time, "The Incal,"
which went on to sell millions of copies worldwide. Since penning
"The Incal," Jodorowsky continued writing top selling comic books
with a wide variety of Europe's most talented artists, such as "The
White Lama" (with Bess), "The Metabarons" (with Gimenez), "The
Technopriests" (with Janjetov), and most recently "Bouncer" (with
Boucq). Along with nurturing his many other talents, Jodorowsky
remains a unique storyteller whose published contributions have
secured his status as one of the world's most prolific graphic
novel writers.
1938: Birth of Jean Giraud – who isn't yet either Gir or Mœbius –
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 Appliqués
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'armée. From 1959 to 1960 he performs his military
service in Algeria. 1961: Under the guidance of Jijé, 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: Jijé returns the favor two years
later by proposing that his protégé 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 Mœbius 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 Déviation, a story whose theme is
more mature and whose graphic rendition is purer, belonging more to
the world of Mœbius than that of Jean Giraud. However, Jean chooses
to put the name Mœbius 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. Mœbius reawakens in 1974. 1975: After having drawn, under
one name or another, Le Bandard fou, Cauchemar blanc and L'Homme
est-il bon?, Mœbius embarks with fellow creators Philippe Druillet,
Jean-Pierre Dionnet and businessman Bernard Farkas aboard the Métal
Hurlant shuttle, which soon spirals into a revolutionary adventure.
There he will publish the firs pages of Arzach, followed by Le
Garage hermétique (The Airtight Garage), two resounding works that
quickly come to rock the entire Franco-Belgian bande dessinée
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 Mœbius is asked to work on
the film's storyboards. The project falls apart but the duo of
Jodorowsky / Mœbius reforms soon after in 1978 for The Eyes of the
Cat, their very first graphic collaboration. 1980: Mœbius 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, Mœbius draws conceptual designs for Ridley Scott's
Alien, followed by the storyboards for Time Masters by René Laloux,
and then Tronfor Walt Disney Studios. 1984: Mœbius 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
Hermétique, 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 Stéphane Cattanéo. It is the story
of an individual who happily runs toward his end. 2004/2005: Paris
hosts the Mœbius -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
Humanoïdes Associés continue their roll out of new editions of the
Mœbius oeuvre by releasing all his major works: L'Homme est-il bon?
Cauchemar Blanc , Le Garage hermétique, Les vacances du Major and
The Incal. 2007: Mœbius 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 Mœbius Productions. From October
2010 to Mars 2011, Paris's Fondation Cartier plays host to a huge
and stunning Mœbius art show titled "Mœbius Transe forme." 2012:
Passing of Jean Giraud, genius and ever-evolving artist who
continually and throughout his career sought to search, explore,
and innovate.
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