French comic book artist Moebius dies

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Moebius, the French comic-book artist whose spectacular science fantasy-based work wrought its magic on Hollywood classics such as Alien and Tron, has died after a long illness. He was 73. “He died this morning following a long illness,” a friend and colleague said on Saturday.
Such was the appeal of Moebius — or Jean Henri Gaston Giraud — that he won a devoted following as far afield as Japan and the United States, countries working in radically different comic-book traditions.
“The whole profession is in shock, totally devastated, even if we knew that he was seriously ill,” Gilles Ratier, head of France’s Association of Comic-Book Critics, said. Giraud published his first drawings in 1957 and found fame with the western character Lieutenant Blueberry in 1963. The lean, mean gunslinger was to become one of the most iconic figures in French comic-book history. He adopted the pseudonym Moebius for his illustrations in science fiction books and magazines. But he also worked under other pseudonyms, including Gir, Giraud and Moeb. But as Moebius, he said, he operated on a whole different level. “When I am in the skin of Moebius, I draw in a state of trance, I try to escape from my ‘ego’,” he said in 2010. In 1975, Moebius was one of the co-founders of Metal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), a spectacular blend of visually arresting comic-book art that was heavily inspired by the counter-culture vibe from across the Atlantic.
The magazine’s blend of science fiction, epic fantasy and politically incorrect humour, which featured in a 1981 animated film of the same name, provided the perfect platform for Moebius’ far-out creations.