Moebius is Dead / John Powers

Moebius is Dead

A Brief Tribute to Jean Giraud

John Powers

When I was in grade school I fell in love with the comic book art of Moebius. I was sad to hear he died. As an artist myself, I think a lot about my first loves; Moebius was one of them. When I talk with parents who have children who like to draw and are curious how to foster their “talent”, I tell them to find art the boy or girl will enjoy copying. I usually suggest Calvin and Hobbes, because Bill Watterson’s drawings are actually very advanced, with sketchy traces of cross-sectional contour and other old master devices for describing 3D forms and spaces. For the children of my friends and acquaintances, Watterson is a safe bet; the subject mater is tame, no one is going to get mad at me. No one is getting fucked by a dog-headed villain or dropped from a thousand-foot drop and shot at for sport.

The Long Tomorrow (with Dan O’Bannon, stories), 1975

Luckily for me, that is exactly the sort of subject matter I cut my teeth on as a young artist. I discovered Moebius for myself. Like Watterson, there was always enough of a trace of how Moebius made his drawings left behind in his comics, that I could decode them. As an aspiring artist I wasn’t interested in the final product (although I love the naked women, the bloody madness and fantastic aspect of it all). I wanted to unravel the garment and examine the weave. Moebius was a skilled and confident enough artist to leave me dangling threads to tug on. I still recommend his comics to older kids—in their late teens, twenties, thirties, and forties....

I remember being particularly obsessed with the centre concept drawing of the villain for Tron.