THE ARTIST
Jean Giraud, psychedelic fantasy and surrealism.
Jean Giraud, better known by his pen name Moebius, remains one of the most influential
cartoonists of all time whose signature blend of psychedelic fantasy and surrealism formed the
aesthetic blueprint of modern
sci-fi.
Working in the Franco-Belgian style of bandes dessinées, popularised by The Adventures of
Tintin and Asterix, Giraud’s
seminal contributions ushered in a new age for comics and the visual arts generally.
After he died in 2012, Jean Giraud was mourned by the likes of Ridley Scott, Hayao Miyazaki,
George
Lucas and Stan Lee,
whose respective careers had all been touched by the French artist’s work. Giraud’s signature
style
has become so widely
imitated that signs of its influence are virtually impossible to distinguish from the norm.
As Ridley Scott noted in 2010, “You see his influence everywhere, it runs
through
so
much
you can’t
get away from it.”
