Moebius is a beast, plain and simple. He's influenced so many people it's ridiculous. I remember ten or eleven years ago when I was first getting into comics as a young teenager, I saw Ladrönn's promotional images for Hip Flask and was blown away. At the time I hadn't seen what I'll inadequately call the "Euro Sci-Fi" style, even though now I can tell that Ladrönn had clearly seen Moebius (which doesn't detract from him at all, and he might show up in one of these some day). I don't know if Moebius was the one to really create the style, but at this point it's immaterial; it's his style.
Sadly, while Moebius' influence might spread the world over, his work is hard to come by in English. Various companies have started publishing ventures to get his work into the US as far back as the 1970s (I wonder if you can find this stuff in the UK), but the majority of it commands high prices, though some of it is cheaper depending on the book. Thankfully Humanoids, the publisher that is synonymous with most of his work in France, is now directly publishing stories in America for what is the first time since their short partnership with DC in the early 2000s and two Moebius books have already been released.
Fortunately, I have the internet and silent stories to placate me for now. Major props go to Grantbridge Street & other misadventures, where you can find not only Moebius but all kinds of other awesome comic gems. The images that I use in this post came from there. So for the inaugural edition I'm going to look at an Arzak story that appeared first in english in Heavy Metal #3. From what I've found, there are four short Arzak stories that are explained by some as delving into the dreams or subconscious. If you're thinking, "oh great, has there ever been a more boring cop-out or pretentious story mechanism than dreams?", you're not alone. Don't worry though, because if these are Moebius' dreams, we should all want to get inside his head.
Page 1. Not a lot to say here, but I think overall the colors are excellent. The warm earthy yellows and light browns come across as perfectly natural.
Page 2. What really strikes me here is the back of the scarf in the second panel. The way it rests as the car stops instantly caught my eye because of how well pronounced it is. Moebius might be known for the fantastic, but he can get down with the technical just as well.
Page 3. More on color. The figure pops so well when he enters in panel 1 when removed from the heavy light outside. I also like how the interior of the hallway somewhat mimics his green and purple scheme. It's almost like he's emanating outwards (is he?). And in panel 2, look at the juxtaposition of the figure on the foreground on the left and the pipes or hoses running out of the structure in the background. Everything else is diminished and the reader sees a sense of awe through the figure, even if the figure doesn't necessarily show any.
Page 4. The figure in panel 1 is a level of detail that is exemplary. Detail is something that I think is unique to an artist. The best artists can control it and make it work no matter if their work is "detailed" (Geoff Darrow, Frank Quitely) or not (Eddie Campbell comes to mind, though I could be completely off base there, though it's immaterial, because he's a master). With the inferior artists it overcomes any sense of style and is simply detail (David Finch and Alex Ross are two examples that while different, are still quite similar). Panel 2 is the greatest naked flying kick ever. I also like how the besides the two moving figures, the background doesn't change between panels 2 and 3, but the perspective moves slightly upwards two dimensionally, possibly to represent the arc of our goggled friend after he's been kicked. Also, the spherical object in mid-air in panels 2 and 3? I was fixated on that when I first looked at this page. At first I thought the person (thing?) sitting down was tossing it, but now I'm not sure. It really doesn't matter, because this is Moebius throwing in these small incidental details that help to fill out something as outwardly simple as the whole story. It sounds stupid to call it making the story more realistic or to claim world building, so I won't. It's just Moebius.
Page 5. Look at the angle Moebius shows when dude hits the ground in the first panel. I get the (probably) unjustified feeling that if this were drawn stateside, the figure would just fall over dramatically on his face. But how he slides and hangs on to the case? Is the case so heavy its dragging him, or is he just hanging onto it above all else? All I know is I really like that angle.
Page 6. Oh look the horde has finally awoken and...nothing. He just calmly enters and Moebius pulls the rug.
Page 7. Well here's Arzak. Once again, I dig the little details. The footprints in the ground in panel 2 where Arzak has been just pacing in the same circle, with the dust cloud added for good measure. And that face in panel 3. That's a gritty veteran's face if I ever saw one. "Well there ain't any new shit for me anymore, ain't no problem I can't fix, and nothing a little squintin' can't account for." Moebius also gets to draw a cool sci-fi apparatus that requires two hands, so even Viv Savage can use it.
Page 8. That middle panel is pure satisfaction that doesn't require some elaborate reaction. "It's done like I knew it would be, problems solved until the next one shows up." The briefcase is put back on the rear of the car and we're done. The side of the car we only see in this panel contains the best type of restrained madness.
