I'll be the first to admit that I can write stuff that's serious and intense at times. Therefore, on Fridays I'll be featuring something more lighthearted, fun or creative, so we can all end the week on a high note. Have a great weekend!
Comic books are a huge business in North America, just take a quick look at the Marvel empire to gauge the extent of that culture. Europe also has a very strong graphic novel tradition covering all genres and ages. While the European comics are by and large aimed at families with children, there is a whole sub-genre of adult books that are as fascinating as they are creative.
Moebius, one of the most prominent artists in the genre was an instrumental part in developing that genre in the 60s and 70s, creating psychedelic-induced trippy universes that would take you on a journey from which you would come back subtly, but noticeably transformed.
While his medium was the graphic novel, but he was an influence well beyond that and influenced a lot of 70s and 80s sci-fi movies and even worked as a concept artist on some of those (Alien, The 5th Element).
His style was unique and instantly recognizable and gave him the ability to convey emotions and movement via simple, yet intricate line drawings, all of the above enhanced by a cinematic approach to colour. No wonder he was so influenced by the likes of Sergio Leone, and in many ways, managed to translate the spaghetti-western aesthetic into 2 dimensions.
If you know him, revisiting his oeuvre is a trip down memory lane and if you don't, you will not regret diving into it.