Moebius' Masterpiece. Airtight Garage 

The Jerry Cornelius character was originally invented by Michael Moorcock who at one point gave permission for him to be used by any artist or writer who wished to. There was later some dispute over the character, and the right of use was revoked. When Marvel Comics reprinted the series, the name Jerry Cornelius was changed to "Lewis Carnelian". In 2006, on his website, Moorcock himself wrote: " I didn't retroactively withdraw permission. Moebius was a friend of friends of mine when he started and someone (I don't know who) told him I didn't like the strip. I loved the strip, though I'd said it wasn't really Jerry Cornelius. This got taken to mean by someone that I didn't like it and Moebius, whom I came to know later and explain that I hadn't withdrawn permission, took the JC out of the title. He knows now that I liked it and had no problems with it."

He was so daring, versatile and avant-garde. The John Coltrane of comics. The Airtight Garage is almost like a big Jazz improvisation.

I believe Moebius spent some time in the Mexican desert, where his mom lived for a while. He may have gotten high looking at landscapes very similar to those that inspired Herriman.

I was born in 1976, in Portugal but we moved to Spain early during the 80´s. I think the 80´s was a great decade for discovering comics in Spain, it was a cultural explosion after the end of the Franco´s regime. There were a lot of magazines showing old and new stuff of every kind. We had the EC stories, the BD from France and Belgium, european underground, american underground... There were a lot of good comic artists from Spain too, those who worked for warren for example, and a whole new generation full of passion and personality. Manga arrived strongly a little later, early 90´s. We had good publishers of Marvel and DC too... It is crazy when I think nowadays that I was reading so diverse and good stuff all at the same time. What a great education. Of course Moebius was one of those that caught my eye as soon as I saw his work. His influence is so huge that even as a pre-teen I was able to tell that after him everything changed.

If you are new to this story, the plot revolves around two astronauts that discover and alien wreck with a device that can create a pocket universe which the two astronauts set themselves up as demigods.

Could anyone convey weight with fewer lines than Moebius? I still can't wrap my head around it. He's my very favorite.

Would be so cool to have Brandon Graham on the channel. The dude has the skills and knowledge. An interview or a feature video would be amazing!

I really like Arzach from Moebius. It really closes the gap between girauds scifi stuff and western. Just gorgeous

An hour long deep dive into the Airtight Garage? Bring it! This naturally leads to having a look at Jodorowsky, but then THAT leads to the riskiest Kayfabe of them all with Milo Manara. Now that's an episode I'd like to see!

If you want to feature another Manga, Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind, written and drawn by Hayao Miyazaki has Moebius inspired art and a phenomenal story. Much like Akira the movie of Nausiccaa (also called 'Warriors of the Wind in a notorious cut) is only the first 20% of the story and the manga has a thought out ecological message and an epic finale worthy of the best of Miyazakis movies.

Moebius always amazes me. I spend all my money when I was 14 to track down his reprints and the trippy story flow mesmerized me and brought me to the table and pick up the pen and just work from the subconsciousness. Really great you brought him back on the channel. I feel too little know his amazing and groundbreaking works :) Thanks!

I bought this at Eides for 5 bucks and proceeded to hunt down all the other editions. I think the only one I don't have is the goddess, which is really hard to find and goes for crazy money. Moebius was a real life changing influence on me. His unbelievable dexterity with line and color, coupled with just an incredible imagination, quickly made him one of my favorites. I would buy an issue of Heavy Metal if it had a two or three page installment of the airtight garage. You guys really have great taste in artists. Thanks!

I bought this when it came out. The only one i didnt get was Vol 7. I met him at Atlanta Fantasy Fair in 87 or 88. I got him to sign my Vol 1 and he remarked it with an Arzach.

Jean Giraud (Moebius) was call the two-headed artist ( l'artiste bicéphale). He's one of my favorite french comic book artist.

I love clear line art.

Think Moebius was the first artist to really captivate me and draw me in when I was all of 13/14yrs old. Just such a talent. Got me hooked on Heavy Metal

Happy to say I’ve had this edition in my collection for years

I just found out Moebius this year through The Incal (my new personal favorite graphic novel). His art is so creative, unique and absolutely stunning. I'm brazilian, and there are very few works of hum available. It is pretty much The Incal and that's It. I'm dying to get more.

One of my favorite vids for a while. Moebius. Psychedelics. Bring it on!

29:32 The woman's space dress is awesome it pulls your eye into the darkness then the space we see in the panels around it and after it also pulls your eye into the darkness. Amazing IMO

Really surprised you guys didn’t mention Bilal or Serpieri as deeply influenced by Moebius as well. To say nothing of some of the more modern guys. At 17:00, the top panel is reff’ed from a known photo of Patti Smith. At 39:00, I think the two Blueberry style pages may have been actual Blueberry pages which were rejected and repurposed for Hermétique.

I have always been a fan of his artworks, very nice style and color palette

Moebius is a genius !

Thanks, guys! Ten years after Arzach ,Marvel/Epic putout these beautiful volumes which was in the late 80’s/mid 90’s to me was like getting hit by lightning! Got me to start drawing again! Welcome back,Jim! Also Tom definitely coined a cool phrase “Build your wings on the way down!” Lol! More Moebius please! Keep reading and making comix!

Together with Arzach Le Garage ermetique is to me the real masterpiece of Moebius. This comic also shows quite all his possibilities as an artist outside the Blueberry style. So if one wants to know Moebius this is surely a book to look at. There ìs cartoon, grotesque and realistic approach in clear line and with style also inspired by engraving which is the classic Moebius style. Lots of reference to history of comic book, from Herriman to McCay, Lee Falk, Raymond, Hergè, Eisner... plus alot of references about esoteric things he learned from Jodorowsky, references to Zen (the archer) and to Castaneda books about sciamanism (the Nagual), This comic contains many many things, plus is wonderfully drawn with that artistic approach of doing 2 pages per month without looking back to what he drew in the past episode. Only a master could do this and end up however, with a comic which makes some sense (but you understand this after many times you read it). BTW this work and Moebius art in general actually influenced a whole lot of artists.: Otomo, Manara, Taniguchi, Gimenez, Ladronn, Boucq, Miller with Ronin, Simonson, Quietly, even Ron Lim for Silver Surfer, i think and alot more. He instead i think was mainly infuenced from Crumb, Finlay, McCay, Herriman, Herge' some Frazetta, Raymond, Foster, Caniff, and i think he looked also in some Corben and lots of traditional fine art, painting art, traditional american illustration...

Man you are so right, i've always said that the Garage was a masterpiece and Mœbius best work, it puts him at the level of Windsor McCay and Richard Corben

I "met" Moebius twice.... the first time, i felt stupid, the second time, it was his turn... I was 14 the first time, he was at a festival in Solies Pont, a town in the south of France... i wanted him to sign the Incal, but when i was in line to make him sign it, i realized that i had forgotten the Incal albums at home... there was a used comics/graphic novels salesman just next to the line, so i took the first Moebius/Giraud album i found and bought it... when i arrived in front of Moebius, i realized i had just bought an album of "the youth of Lt Blueberry", a character created by Jean Giraud/Moebius, but he was not the author of this precise album... so, it was a bad start... then i arrived before him, i was shy... i hand it my album for him to sign... he asks "for?"... so i mumble "i'd like you to sign it..." he responds "yeah, i know, but for who?"... i mumble "for me.."... he smiled "okay... but what's your name?"... i felt stupid...but i have a nice drawing of a portrait of Blueberry with my name on it... i think one day i should remove it from the album since it's not one of his own, and frame it... 5 or 6 years later, i was in Angouleme for the festival, and i was waiting for another artist (Olivier Boiscommun), and next to him, Jean Giraud Moebius arrives, and installs his stuffs on the table... people recognize him and start to make a line.... he was arranging his pencils and everything, and before he "receives" the first guy in line, Olivier Boiscommun asks him "oh so you are here today, i thought you were scheduled tomorrow"... Moebius gets up, goes to the planning that was on the wall behind him... he says "oh yes you are right, i'm not supposed to be here today", he puts his pencils back in his pencilcase, and leaves the building without signing anything... That was my little story with this genius...

Never a bad time to absorb some Moebius. Thanks for this fellas, great stuff.

What an awesome experience. Thanks for the video. My favorite work of Moebius now. I'll always be more of a Kirby, Ditko and Heck guy, but this was a masterpiece. I'd love to have seen his take on a few iconic mainstream US superhero comics. I can see his version of FF#1 or Doom Patrol's origin being an amazing piece.

Oh man his mooebius is beautiful art the color palette is great thank you guys for sharing

As my avatar tells you i'm a fan of Jean Giraud Moebius since the early 70's . I never missed a Métal Hurlant issue back in the day and i have very fond memories of this period of my life. I have a very worn out black and white version of the airtight garage. I cherish it! The story is weird and fantastic and fun. Mexican mushrooms were maybe involved!

Great vid guys. Growing up in France I remember seeing Moebius’s books in shops. I was a little too young for them but the art def left an impression. I learned alot about Comic art from this vid. I can tell you’re both very knowledgeable and passionate about this art form.

Moebius has talked about his history with drugs, in many of his interviews.. He was introduced to marijuana, when he visited his Mother in Mexico, in 1957.. When he returned to Mexico as a 24 year-old, he experimented with mushrooms and peyote.. Everyone assumes he must've dropped a lot of acid, based on the imagery in his comics work?.. And though he admits to trying acid a few times, he decided it wasn't for him, because it was "a man-made substance.. chemical, rather than organic and natural.." By the time his work appeared in HEAVY METAL, he had all but quit drugs completely. Moebius has said that he was always in pursuit of a "higher state of consciousness.." And that drugs, in his experience, can only lead to a "descent.."

Those high perspective panels are what really stand out for me in mœbius' work 18:16 just phenomenal!

Thanks for going over "Airtight Garage" - it was hugely influential on teenage me.

Had to (finally) pull the plug on this, even though it was expensive. i did see it in Heavy Metal back in the day, but never got the Epic collected editions before this.

This was a very generous look into something that had piqued my interest in a while. Thank you.

16:09 The Phantom was actually the most popular superhero in Sweden. Over here he is super iconic.

THE WORLD OF EDENA from Darkhorse is an amazing English language release (along with The Art Of Edena).

The Bakalite looks like the Grinch. :D

Moebius has said in an interview that when he stayed in Mexico with his mother he was taking LSD and was amazed by the desert landscapes and his hallucinations.

@16:55 ... I swear that first panel showing the pilot face in close-up is a drawing of Patti Smith. Those lips, especially. Anyone?

Thanks for posting this. It's one of the books I've always wanted a copy of. I actually had it in my hands in AK Books in Edinburgh many moons ago, had intended to go back for it and I've regretted not doing so all these years. Hope there's a reprint at some point. Oddly, I would like a B&W version (although this colour version does look great).

This is amazing. I had not seen this before and I love it. Holy cow!

Someone who is continuing this style of work in a different veign but masterly, is Kilian Eng (DWDesign). You should definitely do an episode on his work, he deserves it.

For your learning and questions, yes Moebius had been a good smoker of weed, until the 90ies, and he said he improvised the Airtight Garage- Le Garage Hermétique while he was stoned. :) This is a Psychedelic-surrealistic-Salvador Dali-Lewis Carrol post-modern Masterpiece

hiroshi yoshida→Mobius→Katsuhiro Otomo History of inspiration

"'cause once you're dead who cares" "I'm thinking about the unselfish part' in a nutshell, lol

My biggest inspiration. I loved Blueberry too.

awesome episode. you two rock.

Ed & Jim, you guys should discuss Moeb’s last comics such as 40 Days in Desert B, Le Fauna de Mars, etc.. those are mindblowing.

Fantastic journey and review - a suggestion, maybe CK would consider doing an episode exploring the history of Blue Line in comics

I'm not sure what his point was in creating these colonial European characters set in a colonial setting, which seem very "alien." He was working well after the end of colonialism, but it seems that he was fascinated with that world. I believe he also was caught up in the American Old West, which was another colonial "frontier."

I loved the part where he went “it’s moebin time!”

based on Hugo Pratt " les éthiopiques " album Corto Maltess ..

We have to put Jean Giraud back in his time to understand why he resonate with the youth. Jean Giraud began drawing at the same time as the arrival of rock and roll. There is a whole sexualization of society during this period. This is his Blueberry western period, Blueberry is very sexualized compared to the comic book characters of the time. He has the features of Belmondo, who was something like the French Brando. An actor with a significant sexual charge. Then the period with the psychedelic experimentation few years before May 68. Moebius' drawings were in tune with youth and the change of the society. And then the Métal Hurlant period. It precedes all science fiction in cinema and will have a major influence on SF in cinema until today.

It's Moebin time!

I was at the same table with him during an interview, and regarding the hermetic garage, he said it was a time of some drugs.

I see even Voldemort was there back in the day! 🙂

ED AND JIM ARE SO HUMBLE AWESOME GUYS!

The black and white resolution of pictures like the "Stoé Orkéo" page is clearly compromised in the US reprint. I have a black and white French edition from the mid-80s Humanoides "oevres completes" compilation, which is much clearer in the linework. Actually, I don't even have a copy of this in English so I was surprised to see the difference here. I was lucky enough to know a collector when I lived in Normandy in 1989-90, who had some Gir/Moebius originals and they were absolutely spectacular.

Have you already talked about the "Italian Goya" Guido Buzzelli? He was the first author of a graphic novel in 1967: "La Rivolta Dei Racchi" and he also wrote for Métal Hurlant. I think in general the best comics come from Europe, of American I only like Eisner and the pre-Marvel Hickman.

the darkness between the two versions is interesting. The Heavy Metal printings of the Incal in the 80s are darker than the new Humanoids reprintings

I'm sure Ed will mention it again later in the video, but it's absolutely pitiful the small amount of his work (especially this!) that's in print in english. Reasonably priced editions of his works would do steady business year after year.

I have that same book signed and doodled by Jean Giraud himself 😎

Mind-bending!

damn great !

I had the entire Moebius collection of these books. I wish I know what I ended up doing with them :(

Thought that was another “Morbious” review. It’s Morbin time!

Cool

MOEBIN!

LOL @ MODOK's "origin story!"

Read the originals in Heavy Metal when they came out, and bought this colorized ed. when it first was published. It's no accident my avatar is Major Grubert, but I've dropped the "t" as I got tire of fellow Yanks mispronouncing it. 1976 - 1979 The Airtight Garage was published. Let that sink in a moment or two. BTW - "The Horny Goof" has artwork just as spectacular. Worth checking out if you haven't yet. And it all comes together on the asteroid Flower, which is where the Airtight Garage is located.

CHECH OUT WINSOR MCCAY !

nice video guys, tnxs for this upload.....have you ever taken a look at the MOEBIUS 1/2 compilation from GRAPHITTI DESIGNS GRAPHIC NOVEL? in there theres like a hint that Moebius got realy inspired by Robert Crumb. Any way thats only IMHO, cheers.

Is there any way I can buy Airtight Garage cheap?

💙 💙 💙 🤓

I was always puzzled by the awful quality of the colors in the reprints of the original black&white works. The colors he made himself in some early creations (Arzach, short stories like the one inspired by a Rimbaud poetry, etc) or made by others (even the great Yves Chaland, a master of the "ligne claire", a genre inspired by Hergé) were really brilliant. But the colored version of the Garage is really awful. I had the chance to meet him around 2002 (and get a small drawing on my copy of the Major Fatal's original edition) and to ask him about it. It seems that he was not consulted, and didn't like the result at all. His words were something like "The idea was not to produce a tasteful result" (talking about the editor initiative)

morb time?

Great video, but Moebius is famously bad at horses.