Moebius

News is coming that Jean Henri Gaston Giraud, better known to many fans as Moebius, has passed away.

I first encountered his artwork in college in the American-published version of Heavy Metal (Metal Hurlant). He worked on a never-produced version of Dune (a portfolio of his work that that version of the film can be found here), worked on Alien and other productions that came to pass, produced one of my favorite (never finished, alas, to my view) graphic serials, The Airtight Garage and much more.

I very recently bought a republished version of his Incal strips.

I admire many artists, but he is one of my all-time favorites.

Moebius, I salute you with my pen. Many thanks for hours of entertainment and education.

A Tumblr dedicated to his artwork.

Addendum: Irene Gallo (Art Director at Tor Books) has this tribute. A video sampling of his work. Bleeding Cool's obituary. RFI's obituary. The Long Tomorrow, a comic by Moebius. A listing of works. A BBC video about him. Drawing with Moebius and others. ***Dave notes the passing. Gavin J. Rothery talks about Moebius. io9's take. Illustrator John Picacio shares his (most excellent) thoughts. Palette Swap on the passing. The Locus obituary. Classic 1987 Comics Journal Interview. The Unspeakable Vault of Doom's tribute.

And over on Twitter, Neil Gaiman says: "RIP Jean Giraud who wrote and drew as Moebius. His art inspired me when I was 14, & his stories did too, because I didn't understand them. In Endless Nights, Death in Venice was written for Moebius to draw. He was too sick, so I wrote the last Destiny story for him, & hoped." (Expanded thoughts by Neil Gaiman can be found here.)