"I’m an artist, I do comic strips, and my main preoccupation is doing drawings."

Two days ago, at the age of 73, Jean "Moebius" Giraud died. The world is poorer, dimmer for it. It's a devastating loss.

Even if you're not aware of the man and his work, you've at least felt his influence in comics, movies, and videogames. Moebius single-handedly redefined science fiction art, and inspired many artists and creators, including, but not limited to, Ridley Scott, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki, Brandon Graham, Paul Pope, Geof Darrow, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, and Jim Lee.

The man was a giant, a legend, and it's staggering to think about the massive body of work he left behind. What's even more staggering is that, even in his old age, Moebius could still draw better than most artists half his age, and was producing still greater work. Unlike a lot of artists and creators, the talent of Moebius never wavered. He was one of the greatest living artists, and his work will continue to inspire others for generations to come.

The internet is flooded with obituaries and tributes to the man, most of which are much more eloquently written than what I'm trying to type out here. I spent all day Saturday reading them, watching videos of him drawing, documentaries on his work, and flipping through my collection of his comics. I was incredibly lucky last summer to find all six volumes of his work that Epic Comics had published back in the late 80's and did not hesitate to buy them all at once, and I flipped through them all yesterday. I found my copy of the Fifth Element on DVD because I knew he was interviewed in one of the special features. I watched Blade Runner with Ridley Scott's commentary because I knew how big of an influence his comic the Long Tomorrow played on the look of that film. I just drank in as much as I could about him and his art.

And I cried. I've never cried over someone's death before, but my respect and admiration for Moebius is just so great, and I can't think of a single artist involved in sci fi or comics who wouldn't say the same.

You've seen this little tribute I did before, probably, but it's worth posting again:
 And here's an attempt I made in December at copying a panel from his comic Marie Dakar, published in Dark Horse Presents:
 

Like I said, we've lost a giant. The world will not be the same without him. My mind is still reeling from it.

Thanks for the amazing art, the great comics, the inspiration, for everything. Godspeed, Jean.

"At one point I truly believed that I could be a prophet, a saint, whose medium was drawing. But no, I’ve become…well, now I’m a 67-year-old man. And I’ll die in some truly banal manner, the same way I live. But I still draw, I put all of my energy into my drawings, to make them vibrate. I would like people to say, “oh, he’s really bizarre, but he’s there all the same.” That’s all."