Growing up in Fiji, the number one comic back in the 80s and early 90s was The Phantom. It was so popular that it was even printed locally, translated to Fijian. The Ghost Who Walks! There's some so so writing, but far as building a mythos, I freaking loved it as a kid. It's a cultural thing too I think. The Phantom was written a little simpler and with English being a 2nd or even third language here in Fiji and the region, it was a lot easier for us to read. Batman and The Phantom were my favourite heroes for a very long time as a little boy in Fiji. It was looking for those old Phantom comics that I got into the pulp comics and that in turn guided me to stuff like EC and early horror comics, which became my obsession. Stuff like Lucky Luke, Astrix, Tin Tin and Big Ben Bolt were huge here too. In fact, aside from Batman comics, which some how were every where as a kid, a lot of the other heroes didn't become big here until the 90s.
Met Jean Giraud at a comics shop in Beaverton, Ore. around the time of this interview. I believe the store was owned by Mike Richardson of Dark Horse. Giraud was sitting at a table drawing. I recognized him immediately but couldn't fathom what he was doing in suburban Portland. I introduced myself and. I couldn't quite make out what he said, but he was very nice. I realized I had no idea what to say to him other than, "I love your work." There were a couple of awkward seconds, then I said, "Nice to meetcha."
Pegasus Books in Beaverton! My local shop during junior high/high school in the mid-late 80s. Indeed owned by Mike Richardson, and the birthplace of Dark Horse Comics!
I love what you guys said about the "dopamine rush" of posting your stuff online and how that might lead to less innovation in comics. I see that and I relate to that myself in the comics I make and read. You could say the opposite too - artists that are chasing that small rush might find themselves content, leaving the pathways open for true innovators who can avoid the "likes and retweets" addiction.
And to be clear -- I don't believe there's only one way to make comics. Great comics come out of social media posting as well as people who do not engage with social media. There are a lot of potential rabbit holes and traps one can fall into. The dopamine rush has good and bad qualities. It can be exciting to regularly update and feel that sense of accomplishment - that could be very helpful to some artists. It can also be misleading and myopic, again that depends on the artist and it could vary for even the same person given the way people change and develop. - Jim
@@CartoonistKayfabe Absolutely Jim, I think that was clear in the discussion. It's a big idea! I think about all the creators of the early 2000's who were spurred forward on the strength of that social media interaction and are now some of the cornerstone creators of the medium.
I very much appreciate that you guys make continual reference to the BUSINESS of comics, and how it influences content. The "starving artiste" as lonely cartoonist slaving away in semi-obscurity was not a viable business model until it found a champion in Gary Groth and TCJ, in the Eighties. Earlier comic book creators, repeatedly called out by Groth and Kane for "hackwork" may once have been enthusiastic teenagers interested in genre work, but as time went on, they became family men, responsible for mortgages and groceries, and the speed at which they produced commercial product was necessary for survival. Until the arrival of Groth and his magazine, very few American artists had the freedom or wherewithal to create solo masterpieces in the medium, and due to the competition at the newsstand, such works would've been drowned amidst the glut vying for shelf space. Only when GG put his money where his mouth was, and Fantagraphics began encouraging such work, could such a project expect to keep an artist in the relative comfort required to create and compose.
I must admit that Moebius is probably my favorite comics creator/artist of all time! Though I love many, many others too. What he does is incredible, period. Over the years everyone, comics fan or not, I've ever introduced his work to has become a fan of his too! Great show, guys! Keep up the good work.
You asked for suggestions for future TCJ overviews: I'm eagerly awaiting The Comics Journal #53 interview with Harlan Ellison. I know I've heard you two mention that it was going to covered in the future. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Norwegian here. Some of my first exposure to comics was through American newspaper strips reprinted as monthly magazines. Beetle Bailey, Calvin and Hobbes, Gary Larson, Ernie by bud grace, they all had their own magazine. The format was so popular that comic strips became the norm in Norwegian comics. It went on to spawn a handful of successful Norwegian cartoonists in the 00s who ended up with their own newspaper strips and monthly magazines. I never really thought about how weird this practice was until way later.
Hey guys, there’s an equally important reason to take a second look at this issue of TCJ, and that’s the interviews with Alan Moore and Frank Miller regarding censorship and DC’s proposed ratings system at the time. They’re fascinating to compare and contrast and it’s a helluva snapshot; Moore really proves he’s thought through his motivations and he and Gary really challenge eachother. Or at least I found it riveting. :). Miller’s interview by contrast (in my opinion) is a fascinating disaster. Gary really seemed to rattle him during this interview, at one point Miller says he’s going to get a drink of water and just walks away from his phone for a while. Miller and TCJ didn’t speak again for ten years afterwards, and to his credit Miller brings it up, referring to some ‘crabby exchanges’. This interview was that exchange.
The Phantom did have great art, at least in the daily strips I'm reading from the 60's featured in the current Comics Revue Presents issues. Yes, the stories are hopelessly hokey, but he art conveys so much concise action in four panel strips that they are still compelling to me. Of course the whole idea of the Phantom is a unintended joke but it's still cool, junky reading. Moebius is probably my comix God though. I truly feel unworthy when I'm even holding his books. He was touched by the divine.
It's so interesting to hear that Moebius was so savvy when it came to the business of comics, cause I heard someone say he was living in his head so much he barely knew what money was!
When talking about it being 'behind on Europe', it's perhaps also important to understand that - to Europeans at least - the tradition of what the French call 'Bandes Dessinees'; which is the hard-cover, A4 large scale editions, is perceived as an entirely different format and language of working than the American monthly 'comic book'. While often used interchangeably when talking internationally, here in the Netherlands for example we call an American monthly zine-type of work a 'comic' or 'strip', but a European hardcover A4 that holds a complete story is a 'stripboek' (as in: book). Europe also used to have the more monthly (cheaper) publications during the earlier years (during and after the war). But it was primarily the French scene that eventually developed it to where these are more book-type of publications with a complete story each, which significantly bumps up the writing, but also the artwork because the artists have more time to create them. If you walk into a comic store here, 80% of what you see are hardcover, largescale books similar to TinTin. And softcover, thin monthly publications perhaps cover 20% (unless it is a store that specializes in having a big back-catalog of US-comics). Within that realm you're also able to recognize (roughly) several styles that are kind of connected (loosely) to the nationalities: there's the French/Belgium kind of scene, from which not jus TinTin, but also Moebius/Giraud, Ledroit, Mézières, Uderzo & Goscinny (Asterix), Enki Bilal and (one of my personal favorites) Ledroit are originating. Though all very distinct styles of working, you can feel them coming from a similar area. (it's no accident that French musicians Daft Punk would fit neatly into a Moebius-strip). Whereas the British artists (as another example) often have an entirely different feel with artists like Simon Bisley, Don Lawrence, Jamie Hewlett, Brian Bolland and Glenn Fabry. Another interesting area would be Spain/Portugal. I'm generalizing ofcourse, for each country will certainly also have artists that - by now - have adopted a more 'USA-comic' style of working. I tend to compare it like this: a US comic book feels like reading a Michael Bay action-movie, where a Bandes-Dessinees like Moebius is more of an arthouse movie. Both are nice, but require a very different effort from both the creators and the readers.
Hey! Ed! I love your Cryptokeeper EC splash page! The title lettering looks great without the hold lines. Crypto’s pose is super solid, too; his feet and hands are subtle and studied. Also, I admire your conversation and discussions of influences, and sharing the context of when Giraud was in his career and what domestic comics’ market was compared to European. Excellent discourse. Jim and Ed, your enthusiasm is infectious, and pushes me to be a better ambassador of comics. I’ve been discussing that on twitter as @Artmonkeys and @A_Larger_World
As far as TCJ interviews go, there was a really great one with Kurt Busiek, called "Mining the Mainstream," where Kurt talks about doing compelling work within the more common genres of American comics. There was one with Trondheim that I found really enjoyable. There've been several with underground creators, including Moscoso and Rick Griffin. There was an excellent Chris Ware interview, as well. One issue I'd love to see you guys take a look at is TCJ #99, with the "What's Wrong with the X-Men" cover story. That issue also has a Chaykin, Groth, Kane and Simonson debate on values in comics, and a column on Stan Lee and ethics. If you guys need any specific issues of TCJ, I'd be willing to open those old magazine boxes to see if I have one tucked away.
13:45 Although it's true that french comics from that Gillain era were usually credited to a single artist instead of separate credits, there are many more examples beyond Hergé of artists employing assistants. They're just uncredited, or relegated to second signatures on odd pages, so you need to dig a bit more to discover that kind of detail. Gillain has employed a lot of them. Moebius was not the only one at the time they work together as Gillain took a few at a time under his protection, going as far as hosting them home among his family. These circles would create connections that remained important for the following 2 or 3 decades, as these guys would keep in contact through the different magazine that followed. It is interesting to note that both Franquin and Moebius, two main driving forces of XXth century franco-belgian comics, have started as Gillain sidekicks, in two very different art styles that Gillain created, taught and passed over. Franquin then also had numerous assistants in order to fulfill his many contracts (around 10 pages a week) and allowed them more room to breath and more artistic credit. They then all became significant artists on their own series. You should consider doing a few episodes on Franquin by the way. There are plenty of nice books that would allow for amazing episodes. I could recommend, and even provide, to an extent.
Anyone who can draw convincing horses is definitely an accomplished artist! Not only Westerns, but any historical comics of any sort would've had horses featured, if only as a mode of transportation. Any comics which featured military history, from the time of the Egyptians until the beginning of the 20th century would've had horses and any artists wanting to work in the field would've had to be able to draw convincing horses, in motion.
I was a big Moebius fan at this time. I was a young but serious comic reader by 1986, and I remember Moebius's real impact seemed to me to stem from around the memorable establishing pieces of Arzach, and probably The Long Tomorrow to a fair degree as well, both of which sort of blew people's minds of what comics could be... and then continued to gain notability with his imagery from the Incal and Airtight Garage. The unfinished Aedena series it inspired moments as well, even if not entirely successful overall. But frankly, it was single images from Moebius that sold themselves into people's memories, even it was images taken out of context of comic stories. Even Parable, which isn't a great piece of writing, is visually powerful thanks almost entirely to Moebius to make it something. Any single panel of Moebius's work could hold its own story, because it is so imaginative and well defined in its feeling.
Cool video. Moebius is a brilliant visual artist, though his stories always left me a bit cold. Also worth noting: Cartoonist Kayfabe does a drive-by assassination on The Phantom! A different opinion....the first four years of The Phantom in the 1930s (what I've read thus far) was quite good and I'd recommend it highly. The writer, Lee Falk, wrote theater and directed movies as well as wrote strips, and the dialogue and dry humor in this adventure strip feels sharper and more adult (like Howard Hawks movies) than what I've read in things like Terry and the Pirates, Little Orphan Annie, Johnny Hazard, etc. Perhaps since Falk wasn't a writer/artist, this strip is looked at differently, but I found that early Phantom far more enjoyably plotted and paced and scripted than most adventure strips from that era, excepting Prince Valiant, Buzz Sawyer, and Dick Tracy, and I believe The Phantom also was the first to showcase a costumed crime fighter in comics.
Great video, i love Giraud. Because of Heavy Metal and his influence in cinema he is more known in America. For me when I was a kid it was Vance, Van Hamme and Hermann the three Gods of Comics. The comic Jeremiah by Hermann especially I feel you guys would enjoy.
You did it again! You made me google. I knew I'd heard of Brick Bradford but couldn't remember where. It was probably from stories that appeared as backups in the KING Features comic books The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, which were published in the mid-Sixties.
Interesting that you mention The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, and the level of quality therein. Some of the first comics that I had were those KING Comics three-packs, from the mid-Sixties, which Granny was happy to buy me, since it would get me out of her hair for the entire afternoon, and because she recognized the heroes from the funny pages. As a kid, I immediately recognized the difference in quality between those Phantom and Mandrake issues, and the wonderful, superlative Flash Gordon issues, especially the ones with art by Al Williamson. They'd even hide the Mandrake issues in the middle of the three-pack, so your disappointment would be delayed until you got home. Caniff, as ever, remains the gold standard for adventure strips, influencing everyone, from contemporaries like Raymond and Foster, to later practitioners like Noel Sickles and Frank Robbins, and just about anyone who was born after 1920, and grew up during the ensuing decades, from Kirby to Moebius.
Ed the character that you called out from the Beetle Bailey magazine might've been Thun'da (King of the Congo) created by Frank Frazetta, which sometimes had art and covers by such artists as Bob Powell.
The story with Moebius and his family I think it was reprinted in Heavy Metal. The early Heavy Metals seem to be mostly Metal Hurlant reprints with some random talent from the states thrown in. When Techbro tried to suggest to David Choe how his work should look and he wrote it off, that is such a classic moment. I always look to his rebel attitude in that moment. I admire Caniff's work and I love the way he draws women I just couldn't get into reading this stories.
As you guys mention, Westerns were everywhere for an earlier generation. In film, the genre was HUGE in the Fifties, and in TV it was MASSIVE in the early to mid-Sixties. My pop read almost nothing besides Zane Grey novels, whereas granddad read almost nothing besides spicy detective magazines. Each generation has its sub-genre.
"spatiotemporel" (in french) or "spaziotemporale" (in italian) is actually a pretty common term in european sci-fi-slang (often used in exposition scenes or fake scientific speeches), never noticed it's not really used in english :D
Speaking of Kurtzman and Elder, along with MAD magazine, one might also have encountered Little Annie Fanny, which began publication in Playboy in 1962.
Although the cartoonist as sole creator model (as opposed to the American assembly line process) is often what one thinks of when talking about European (or other foreign) comics, a writer and artist team is not altogether unheard-of. Dungeon (Donjon) by Sfarr and Trondheim immediately comes to mind, as well as the many projects of Jodorowsky, such as The Incal, and Metabarons.
Beetle Bailey was also very popular in the Netherlands (as Flippie Fink). I don't know if it still is, but as far as I know it still gets published regularly in the bi-weekly magazine Eppo and I'm puzzled every time I read it. I guess it 's just a matter of tradition, since it was a regular strip in the 60s in the magazine Pep, which became Eppo later. I can't imagine anyone still enjoying it, it's depressingly terrible. And I actually have a soft spot for some of Mort Walker's work (especially if it was drawn by Dik Browne).
In an interview I was watching, Prisoners of Gravity host Rick Green said that Ty Templeton did the Prisoners of Gravity intro.. (*UA-cam “Call Me Chato: Dec.14,2022’)
Hey Ed, love Crypto keeper. Great name. How about you guys focus on Comics Journal 101 interview with Frank Miller , came out Aug 1985 about 7 months before the Dark knight returns was released.
Right? Just picked up the pen two months ago and was like, "I'm going to study Moebius because I want to go minimalist to tell my stories. He knows where to place one rock and one cacti to invoke an entire desert scene." Nope. There's SO MUCH well chosen detail in his work, down to little grains of sand. I'll still study him, but mostly I'll be cribbing from the fly-by-night artists of the 40's who had a limited color palate and no time to draw a brick wall.
Great job guys!! are you familiar with the works of Doug TenNapel? if so would you consider doing something with his books pls keep up the good videos lone wolf & cub forever ese
It's true I own pretty much all of the early Heavy Metal Magazine's and the translations are dogshit but at the same time you would never have seen those ideas in American comics at the time
I f'n loathe the Dune doc!!! It's two hours of a narcissist stunt-casting peppered with brilliant artwork and there's not enough artwork to make up for how insufferable Jodorowsky is.
Now that you mention it, most of the stuff I like and respond to has nothing to do with Jodorowsky himself. I more like the idea of cool stuff coming out of a failed experience, ie: Dan O’Bannon, Giger and Moebius going off to make Alien, etc. -Ed
@@CartoonistKayfabe Agreed! I wanted way more of that and less endless stories of Jodorowsky talking about all the "stars" he was planning on putting in the movie. Hahaha.
Growing up in Fiji, the number one comic back in the 80s and early 90s was The Phantom. It was so popular that it was even printed locally, translated to Fijian. The Ghost Who Walks! There's some so so writing, but far as building a mythos, I freaking loved it as a kid. It's a cultural thing too I think. The Phantom was written a little simpler and with English being a 2nd or even third language here in Fiji and the region, it was a lot easier for us to read.
Batman and The Phantom were my favourite heroes for a very long time as a little boy in Fiji. It was looking for those old Phantom comics that I got into the pulp comics and that in turn guided me to stuff like EC and early horror comics, which became my obsession.
Stuff like Lucky Luke, Astrix, Tin Tin and Big Ben Bolt were huge here too. In fact, aside from Batman comics, which some how were every where as a kid, a lot of the other heroes didn't become big here until the 90s.
Met Jean Giraud at a comics shop in Beaverton, Ore. around the time of this interview. I believe the store was owned by Mike Richardson of Dark Horse. Giraud was sitting at a table drawing. I recognized him immediately but couldn't fathom what he was doing in suburban Portland. I introduced myself and. I couldn't quite make out what he said, but he was very nice. I realized I had no idea what to say to him other than, "I love your work." There were a couple of awkward seconds, then I said, "Nice to meetcha."
Moebius in Beaverton!? Crazy! LOL!
Pegasus Books in Beaverton! My local shop during junior high/high school in the mid-late 80s. Indeed owned by Mike Richardson, and the birthplace of Dark Horse Comics!
-- you could always say, "Putain, Merde! Moebius et la!" ----
I love what you guys said about the "dopamine rush" of posting your stuff online and how that might lead to less innovation in comics.
I see that and I relate to that myself in the comics I make and read. You could say the opposite too - artists that are chasing that small rush might find themselves content, leaving the pathways open for true innovators who can avoid the "likes and retweets" addiction.
And to be clear -- I don't believe there's only one way to make comics. Great comics come out of social media posting as well as people who do not engage with social media. There are a lot of potential rabbit holes and traps one can fall into. The dopamine rush has good and bad qualities. It can be exciting to regularly update and feel that sense of accomplishment - that could be very helpful to some artists. It can also be misleading and myopic, again that depends on the artist and it could vary for even the same person given the way people change and develop. - Jim
@@CartoonistKayfabe Absolutely Jim, I think that was clear in the discussion. It's a big idea! I think about all the creators of the early 2000's who were spurred forward on the strength of that social media interaction and are now some of the cornerstone creators of the medium.
I very much appreciate that you guys make continual reference to the BUSINESS of comics, and how it influences content. The "starving artiste" as lonely cartoonist slaving away in semi-obscurity was not a viable business model until it found a champion in Gary Groth and TCJ, in the Eighties. Earlier comic book creators, repeatedly called out by Groth and Kane for "hackwork" may once have been enthusiastic teenagers interested in genre work, but as time went on, they became family men, responsible for mortgages and groceries, and the speed at which they produced commercial product was necessary for survival. Until the arrival of Groth and his magazine, very few American artists had the freedom or wherewithal to create solo masterpieces in the medium, and due to the competition at the newsstand, such works would've been drowned amidst the glut vying for shelf space. Only when GG put his money where his mouth was, and Fantagraphics began encouraging such work, could such a project expect to keep an artist in the relative comfort required to create and compose.
I must admit that Moebius is probably my favorite comics creator/artist of all time! Though I love many, many others too. What he does is incredible, period. Over the years everyone, comics fan or not, I've ever introduced his work to has become a fan of his too! Great show, guys! Keep up the good work.
You asked for suggestions for future TCJ overviews: I'm eagerly awaiting The Comics Journal #53 interview with Harlan Ellison. I know I've heard you two mention that it was going to covered in the future. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Always love the conversations that spring from your review of TCJ. Thanks for this
Man, Blueberry might be the best unsung comic ever made. I’ll die on that hill.
It is so odd to see ‘Blueberry’ referred to as “unsung”.
Here in Europe, it is big. Bigly big.
Norwegian here. Some of my first exposure to comics was through American newspaper strips reprinted as monthly magazines. Beetle Bailey, Calvin and Hobbes, Gary Larson, Ernie by bud grace, they all had their own magazine. The format was so popular that comic strips became the norm in Norwegian comics. It went on to spawn a handful of successful Norwegian cartoonists in the 00s who ended up with their own newspaper strips and monthly magazines.
I never really thought about how weird this practice was until way later.
Hey guys, there’s an equally important reason to take a second look at this issue of TCJ, and that’s the interviews with Alan Moore and Frank Miller regarding censorship and DC’s proposed ratings system at the time. They’re fascinating to compare and contrast and it’s a helluva snapshot; Moore really proves he’s thought through his motivations and he and Gary really challenge eachother. Or at least I found it riveting. :).
Miller’s interview by contrast (in my opinion) is a fascinating disaster. Gary really seemed to rattle him during this interview, at one point Miller says he’s going to get a drink of water and just walks away from his phone for a while. Miller and TCJ didn’t speak again for ten years afterwards, and to his credit Miller brings it up, referring to some ‘crabby exchanges’. This interview was that exchange.
the "spatio-temporal" line comes from Valerian: Spatio-Temporal Agent
Fantastic comic book as well
The Phantom did have great art, at least in the daily strips I'm reading from the 60's featured in the current Comics Revue Presents issues. Yes, the stories are hopelessly hokey, but he art conveys so much concise action in four panel strips that they are still compelling to me. Of course the whole idea of the Phantom is a unintended joke but it's still cool, junky reading. Moebius is probably my comix God though. I truly feel unworthy when I'm even holding his books. He was touched by the divine.
It's so interesting to hear that Moebius was so savvy when it came to the business of comics, cause I heard someone say he was living in his head so much he barely knew what money was!
When talking about it being 'behind on Europe', it's perhaps also important to understand that - to Europeans at least - the tradition of what the French call 'Bandes Dessinees'; which is the hard-cover, A4 large scale editions, is perceived as an entirely different format and language of working than the American monthly 'comic book'. While often used interchangeably when talking internationally, here in the Netherlands for example we call an American monthly zine-type of work a 'comic' or 'strip', but a European hardcover A4 that holds a complete story is a 'stripboek' (as in: book). Europe also used to have the more monthly (cheaper) publications during the earlier years (during and after the war). But it was primarily the French scene that eventually developed it to where these are more book-type of publications with a complete story each, which significantly bumps up the writing, but also the artwork because the artists have more time to create them. If you walk into a comic store here, 80% of what you see are hardcover, largescale books similar to TinTin. And softcover, thin monthly publications perhaps cover 20% (unless it is a store that specializes in having a big back-catalog of US-comics).
Within that realm you're also able to recognize (roughly) several styles that are kind of connected (loosely) to the nationalities: there's the French/Belgium kind of scene, from which not jus TinTin, but also Moebius/Giraud, Ledroit, Mézières, Uderzo & Goscinny (Asterix), Enki Bilal and (one of my personal favorites) Ledroit are originating. Though all very distinct styles of working, you can feel them coming from a similar area. (it's no accident that French musicians Daft Punk would fit neatly into a Moebius-strip). Whereas the British artists (as another example) often have an entirely different feel with artists like Simon Bisley, Don Lawrence, Jamie Hewlett, Brian Bolland and Glenn Fabry. Another interesting area would be Spain/Portugal.
I'm generalizing ofcourse, for each country will certainly also have artists that - by now - have adopted a more 'USA-comic' style of working. I tend to compare it like this: a US comic book feels like reading a Michael Bay action-movie, where a Bandes-Dessinees like Moebius is more of an arthouse movie. Both are nice, but require a very different effort from both the creators and the readers.
Hey! Ed! I love your Cryptokeeper EC splash page! The title lettering looks great without the hold lines. Crypto’s pose is super solid, too; his feet and hands are subtle and studied. Also, I admire your conversation and discussions of influences, and sharing the context of when Giraud was in his career and what domestic comics’ market was compared to European. Excellent discourse. Jim and Ed, your enthusiasm is infectious, and pushes me to be a better ambassador of comics. I’ve been discussing that on twitter as @Artmonkeys and @A_Larger_World
As far as TCJ interviews go, there was a really great one with Kurt Busiek, called "Mining the Mainstream," where Kurt talks about doing compelling work within the more common genres of American comics. There was one with Trondheim that I found really enjoyable. There've been several with underground creators, including Moscoso and Rick Griffin. There was an excellent Chris Ware interview, as well. One issue I'd love to see you guys take a look at is TCJ #99, with the "What's Wrong with the X-Men" cover story. That issue also has a Chaykin, Groth, Kane and Simonson debate on values in comics, and a column on Stan Lee and ethics. If you guys need any specific issues of TCJ, I'd be willing to open those old magazine boxes to see if I have one tucked away.
Every cartoonist from 1950 forward was looking at Milton Caniff.
13:45 Although it's true that french comics from that Gillain era were usually credited to a single artist instead of separate credits, there are many more examples beyond Hergé of artists employing assistants. They're just uncredited, or relegated to second signatures on odd pages, so you need to dig a bit more to discover that kind of detail. Gillain has employed a lot of them. Moebius was not the only one at the time they work together as Gillain took a few at a time under his protection, going as far as hosting them home among his family. These circles would create connections that remained important for the following 2 or 3 decades, as these guys would keep in contact through the different magazine that followed. It is interesting to note that both Franquin and Moebius, two main driving forces of XXth century franco-belgian comics, have started as Gillain sidekicks, in two very different art styles that Gillain created, taught and passed over. Franquin then also had numerous assistants in order to fulfill his many contracts (around 10 pages a week) and allowed them more room to breath and more artistic credit. They then all became significant artists on their own series. You should consider doing a few episodes on Franquin by the way. There are plenty of nice books that would allow for amazing episodes. I could recommend, and even provide, to an extent.
Anyone who can draw convincing horses is definitely an accomplished artist! Not only Westerns, but any historical comics of any sort would've had horses featured, if only as a mode of transportation. Any comics which featured military history, from the time of the Egyptians until the beginning of the 20th century would've had horses and any artists wanting to work in the field would've had to be able to draw convincing horses, in motion.
I was a big Moebius fan at this time. I was a young but serious comic reader by 1986, and I remember Moebius's real impact seemed to me to stem from around the memorable establishing pieces of Arzach, and probably The Long Tomorrow to a fair degree as well, both of which sort of blew people's minds of what comics could be... and then continued to gain notability with his imagery from the Incal and Airtight Garage. The unfinished Aedena series it inspired moments as well, even if not entirely successful overall. But frankly, it was single images from Moebius that sold themselves into people's memories, even it was images taken out of context of comic stories. Even Parable, which isn't a great piece of writing, is visually powerful thanks almost entirely to Moebius to make it something. Any single panel of Moebius's work could hold its own story, because it is so imaginative and well defined in its feeling.
even with English not being his main language, this Moebius interview is the rosetta stone for one major point in the artist's career.
Cool video. Moebius is a brilliant visual artist, though his stories always left me a bit cold.
Also worth noting: Cartoonist Kayfabe does a drive-by assassination on The Phantom!
A different opinion....the first four years of The Phantom in the 1930s (what I've read thus far) was quite good and I'd recommend it highly. The writer, Lee Falk, wrote theater and directed movies as well as wrote strips, and the dialogue and dry humor in this adventure strip feels sharper and more adult (like Howard Hawks movies) than what I've read in things like Terry and the Pirates, Little Orphan Annie, Johnny Hazard, etc.
Perhaps since Falk wasn't a writer/artist, this strip is looked at differently, but I found that early Phantom far more enjoyably plotted and paced and scripted than most adventure strips from that era, excepting Prince Valiant, Buzz Sawyer, and Dick Tracy, and I believe The Phantom also was the first to showcase a costumed crime fighter in comics.
Great video, i love Giraud. Because of Heavy Metal and his influence in cinema he is more known in America. For me when I was a kid it was Vance, Van Hamme and Hermann the three Gods of Comics. The comic Jeremiah by Hermann especially I feel you guys would enjoy.
You did it again! You made me google. I knew I'd heard of Brick Bradford but couldn't remember where. It was probably from stories that appeared as backups in the KING Features comic books The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, which were published in the mid-Sixties.
I think there is missing some Richard Corben video, guys.!!! Congratulations for the channel anyways, always very enlightenment....
Would love to see a moebius streak of videos from kayfabe
Interesting that you mention The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, and the level of quality therein. Some of the first comics that I had were those KING Comics three-packs, from the mid-Sixties, which Granny was happy to buy me, since it would get me out of her hair for the entire afternoon, and because she recognized the heroes from the funny pages. As a kid, I immediately recognized the difference in quality between those Phantom and Mandrake issues, and the wonderful, superlative Flash Gordon issues, especially the ones with art by Al Williamson. They'd even hide the Mandrake issues in the middle of the three-pack, so your disappointment would be delayed until you got home.
Caniff, as ever, remains the gold standard for adventure strips, influencing everyone, from contemporaries like Raymond and Foster, to later practitioners like Noel Sickles and Frank Robbins, and just about anyone who was born after 1920, and grew up during the ensuing decades, from Kirby to Moebius.
Ed the character that you called out from the Beetle Bailey magazine might've been Thun'da (King of the Congo) created by Frank Frazetta, which sometimes had art and covers by such artists as Bob Powell.
The story with Moebius and his family I think it was reprinted in Heavy Metal. The early Heavy Metals seem to be mostly Metal Hurlant reprints with some random talent from the states thrown in.
When Techbro tried to suggest to David Choe how his work should look and he wrote it off, that is such a classic moment. I always look to his rebel attitude in that moment. I admire Caniff's work and I love the way he draws women I just couldn't get into reading this stories.
As you guys mention, Westerns were everywhere for an earlier generation. In film, the genre was HUGE in the Fifties, and in TV it was MASSIVE in the early to mid-Sixties. My pop read almost nothing besides Zane Grey novels, whereas granddad read almost nothing besides spicy detective magazines. Each generation has its sub-genre.
The once great comic HEAVYMETAL introduced me to his work,I like very much
"spatiotemporel" (in french) or "spaziotemporale" (in italian) is actually a pretty common term in european sci-fi-slang (often used in exposition scenes or fake scientific speeches), never noticed it's not really used in english :D
In the process of watching all of the Read Moore Comics videos....Guess I can take a break from Miracleman for a little Moebius!
Some times a little Moebius goes a long way!
Speaking of Kurtzman and Elder, along with MAD magazine, one might also have encountered Little Annie Fanny, which began publication in Playboy in 1962.
Joseph Gillain is better known as Jijé, the creator of the western series "Jerry Spring".
I finished Dune the novel just recently and it was weird how much of it kind of didn't land for me. But I'm looking forward to watching the movie
Awesome video guys!
Although the cartoonist as sole creator model (as opposed to the American assembly line process) is often what one thinks of when talking about European (or other foreign) comics, a writer and artist team is not altogether unheard-of. Dungeon (Donjon) by Sfarr and Trondheim immediately comes to mind, as well as the many projects of Jodorowsky, such as The Incal, and Metabarons.
Beetle Bailey was also very popular in the Netherlands (as Flippie Fink). I don't know if it still is, but as far as I know it still gets published regularly in the bi-weekly magazine Eppo and I'm puzzled every time I read it. I guess it 's just a matter of tradition, since it was a regular strip in the 60s in the magazine Pep, which became Eppo later. I can't imagine anyone still enjoying it, it's depressingly terrible. And I actually have a soft spot for some of Mort Walker's work (especially if it was drawn by Dik Browne).
Mobieus is one of my favorite creators
Love these conversations. Thanks for making these. You guys ever watch Prisoners of Gravity??? Moebius did the intro any way much love, Peace.
In an interview I was watching, Prisoners of Gravity host Rick Green said that Ty Templeton did the Prisoners of Gravity intro.. (*UA-cam “Call Me Chato: Dec.14,2022’)
Edit: he said Season 1 intro.. (*so, original intro)
Hey Ed, love Crypto keeper. Great name.
How about you guys focus on Comics Journal 101 interview with Frank Miller , came out Aug 1985 about 7 months before the Dark knight returns was released.
Love the content!
Oh man please do a Samurai Penguin review!
Sometimes I try to draw like moebius (does’nt matter wich ‘moebius style’) but it‘s impossible
Right? Just picked up the pen two months ago and was like, "I'm going to study Moebius because I want to go minimalist to tell my stories. He knows where to place one rock and one cacti to invoke an entire desert scene." Nope. There's SO MUCH well chosen detail in his work, down to little grains of sand. I'll still study him, but mostly I'll be cribbing from the fly-by-night artists of the 40's who had a limited color palate and no time to draw a brick wall.
What was the name of the design book for school?
Kind of off topic, but it this how TCJ is presented if you subscribe to the database online?
Great job guys!!
are you familiar with the works of Doug TenNapel? if so
would you consider doing something with his books pls
keep up the good videos
lone wolf & cub forever ese
They made a Valerian movie
It's true I own pretty much all of the early Heavy Metal Magazine's and the translations are dogshit but at the same time you would never have seen those ideas in American comics at the time
I f'n loathe the Dune doc!!! It's two hours of a narcissist stunt-casting peppered with brilliant artwork and there's not enough artwork to make up for how insufferable Jodorowsky is.
Now that you mention it, most of the stuff I like and respond to has nothing to do with Jodorowsky himself. I more like the idea of cool stuff coming out of a failed experience, ie: Dan O’Bannon, Giger and Moebius going off to make Alien, etc. -Ed
@@CartoonistKayfabe Agreed! I wanted way more of that and less endless stories of Jodorowsky talking about all the "stars" he was planning on putting in the movie. Hahaha.