Posts from — May 2009

It is so very hard to find alternatives to the deluge of comics that come from the U.S.A. It’s not that I don’t like them, I do it’s just that I also like the different sensibility that comes from Europe primarily, for me, French language ones. So the purpose of my following posts will be a primer to lift the awareness of French language comics with Australian readers or indeed any other English speakers and to show the vast talent of European comic book artists.

I’m going to start with Moebius not because he is the greatest but because I like his art work and the way he can float between styles.

During his career, long long career, he has produced graphics under three different names.

Moebius, Gir and Jean Giraud.

You have probably been exposed to his work through these films,

• Alien (1979)
• The Time Masters (1982)
• Tron (1982)
• Masters of the Universe (1987)
• Willow (1988)
• The Abyss (1989)
• The Fifth Element (1997)

and not realised that he had created these comics amongst many others.

• Blueberry” (29 volumes, English translation, 1965 - ), “artist”
• Jim Cutlass (7 volumes, 1979 - 1999), “artist”
• XIII (volume 18, “La Version irlandaise” in 2007), “artist”

As Moebius

• Les Yeux du Chat (1978), “artist”
• Tueur de monde (1979), “writer & artist”
• l’Incal” (”The Incal”, 6 volumes, English translation, 1981-1988), “artist”
• The Long Tomorrow (Originally in English, 1989), “artist”
• Les Vacances du Major (1992), “writer & artist”
• Les Histoires de Monsieur Mouche (1994), “artist”
• Little Nemo(1994), “writer”

To kick this off here is a documentary produced by Avanti Media Productions featuring comments by Stan Lee and others.

One of my favourite comic book series is Une aventure de John Difool. This is the source that director Luc Besson borrowed heavily from to make one of my also favourite (coincidently) movies The Fifth Element.

One of the creators of John Difool and the L’Incal series was Jodorowsky, a great visual director took the production to court however it was thrown out. The action was complicated in part I believe because Mœbius had worked on the film with Besson.

Jodorowsky almost made DUNE . He assembled an impressive crew to realise Dune before the budget blew out Jean Giraud, Chris Foss, HR Giger, Dan O’Bannon, Pink Floyd and Salvador Dali. When Dune was canned he incorporated many of the ideas that he had for the movie into the comic book series he wrote with comic book artist Mœbius.

In this post I plan to introduce the series to those who have not encountered it and hopefully increase readership of European comics.

I have the six volumes below to share with you.

The INCAL (Jodorowsky & Moebius)
• Tome 1 - L’Incal noir Volume 1 - The Black Incal
• Tome 2 - L’Incal lumière Volume 2 - The light Incal
• Tome 3 - Ce qui est en bas Volume 3 - What is the bottom
• Tome 4 - Ce qui est en haut Volume 4 - What is up
• Tome 5 - La cinquième essence 1 - Galaxie qui songe Volume 5 - The fifth essence 1 - Galaxie who dream
• Tome 6 - La cinquième essence 2 - La planète Difool Volume 6 - The fifth essence 2 - The planet Difool

Volume One

THE ADVENTURES OF JOHN DIFOOL

BRIEF SYNOPSIS
The future of the universe lies on the shoulders of one John Difool, a R class detective, a character of dubious integrity. He is joined by seven others and after locating Animah they travel to a temple in another dimension where in the heart of a forest of crystal, he recreates the Incal around Solune.
He is then entrusted with a mission, he must join with the Queen of the photo-bergs to save the world!

JOHN DIFOOL ANTI-HERO AND BUM
John Difool is a bum, a self absorbed character who spends most of his time trying to avoid responsibility. He appears childish and whimsical but his behavior is often reprehensible and he appears cowardly in spite of the urgings of a higher voice, I’Incal. You don’t feel that you should buy a used car off him let alone trust the fate of the universe to him. He is always tempted to go to the dark side, but when motivated by fear or by love he can commits acts of bravery.
Serendipity though is always on his side and amazingly he always manages to overcome even the worst of situations. At the end of the cycle, he also escapes the collective sacrifice that leads to the victory over the Incal Ténèbre. He is a bum but he is lucky, he is the perfect anti-hero.
The Tarot deck is the inspiration for L’Incal and John Difool, who strikes a resemblance to Crispin Glover, is modeled on the major arcane card The Fool, zero, the card represents folly mania, extravagance, frenzy, betrayal and carelessness.

DEEPO
Deepo, the instrument of comic situations is the companion of John Difool, a large seagull like bird who gained the gift of speech after he “swallowed” the Incal light . Deepo is a capricious creature with attitude he saves Difool at least twice. He bears some resentment to Difool, yeah some!.

TO BE CONTINUED.

I’m early, I think but I’m passing erstwhile young men with plastic bags hurrying from Kings comics chattering away comparing their coveted preferences in hand as they head to the next venue, Comic Kingdom.

They were earlier. I hope the queue isn’t going to be to long.

They’ll be disappointed, Comic Kingdom is disorganized and half the staff don’t even know its Free comic book day.
Don’t worry I’m on my way to Kinokuniya, Mecca for many in Sydney.

We didn’t have Shatner, or anyone else. We should have had Hugh Jackman after all he is Aussie but we did have the irrepressibly enthusiastic W. Chew “chewie” Chan Comics Consultant at Kinokuniya. This is a job of passion for Chewie; he is a comic book artist and story boarder in his other life and working on a secret project for Dr. D Studios, Dr George Miller’s newish production company. Both Chewie and I worked in the art department on Dr. George Millers Happy Feet. He’s done a little bit of work here and there for Marvel

At the top of the stairs,  I fire up my brand new camcorder and head for Chewie. He’s promised to wear a dress. It’s a must see.

I pass a mouse scampering around the crowd darting in and out patting books back into shelves. The crowd thickens and I see Chewie behind the counter handing out free comics. The camera is rolling but I’m being bumped and hope the anti-shake button also has an anti-bump feature.

Chewie is to busy to stop for a coffee so we grab a few words on the run and he shows us his legs. Very nice for a bloke.

Nice legs

I grab a copy of John Stanley’s flip book Nancy and Melvin the Monster I want Owly but miss out. I luvs it.

The staff at Kinokuniya are, as usual, incredibly enthusiastic and helpful. Give them a koala bear stamp. An added bonus is the Kino Zine Fair.

Around a dozen comikers are manning the tables. Shannon Browning from Stab comics, Owen Nicholls, Storm Publishing, Dave Shilman, Dave McGuiness, Jason Franks, Black Glass Press, Little Hammer as well as Hayase .

It is good to see Aussie artists out and about. Finding local comics easily is not easy. Nobody stocks local work. These guys manage to keep the passion going in spite of the lack of opportunity for a wider audience for their work. We chat about the future of their work and the possibility of the internet. I buy a handful of local work including Robotoon, Woodville, Mission and Jaeger then succumb to finally buying a copy of Watchmen.

I have a book on hold I go to get it and mouse girl scampers into the backroom. “Is it My Bookie Wook?” she calls out. Yahuh, yes I laugh she hands it to me ever so gently.

Time to go home and read the spoils of the day.