R.I.P. Moebius

I’ve just now learned about the death of the legendary artist, Moebius (1938-2012).  I honestly thought he would live forever.

If you’re not familiar with Moebius’ work, you should get up to speed posthaste.  The Incal, Moebius’ epic collaboration with writer Alejandro Jodorowsky (director of such iconoclastic films as El Topo, The Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre, etc.), is one of the great metaphysical works of fiction produced in the 20^th century.  Moebius’ classic solo work (e.g., The Airtight Garage, Arzach, The Gardens of Aedena, The Long Tomorrow, Pharagonesia, Upon a Star, etc.) has been indescribably influential on generations of filmmakers, novelists, and illustrators all around the world.  Alas, the vast majority of Moebius’ work is out of print in the United States (a dirty shame).  The Incal, however, is scheduled to be republished in a single volume later this year.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this to anybody, but Moebius was one of the main inspirations for the first story of mine that Rudy Rucker published in his webzine, Flurb.  I attempted, in a short story called “Initiation,” to approximate in prose the level of High Strangeness that Moebius could (seemingly without effort) conjure up in mere two-dimensional images.  Whether or not I succeeded, I’ll leave up to you. To read the story, click HERE.