Starwatcher

Moebius: Starwatcher (1986)
Éditions Aedena/Dargaud

24.5 x 29.7cm, 104 pages

An androgynous, pointed hat stargazer, sitting with a book of Jack Vance’s Tschaï and holding in their hands a mysterious box… The eponymous Starwatcher is another of Moebius’ iconic creations that has gripped the imagination of comic book readers alike just as Arzach did a decade before.

Moebius: Starwatcher is a magnificent art book collecting Moebius’ oeuvre during the 1980s and also some lesser known works Jean Giraud made during a period he was briefly in Tahiti when part of a commune/cult set up by Jean-Paul Appel-Guéry (to distinguish these works apart from Moebius he usually penned them under “Jean Gir”). Starwatcher was released under Moebius’ newly founded French publishing house Éditions Aedena, named after the The Aedena Cycle (later known as The World of Edena) story arc that Moebius was in the middle of drawing at the time that follows the interstellar journey of repairmen Atan and Stel. Éditions Aedena would later expand its operations into the US market and would rebrand this new anglophone publishing venture as: Starwatcher Graphics.

Starwatcher, book
Signed Starwatcher drawing by Moebius inscribed to a friend from Palo Alto
Starwatcher

Moebius: Starwatcher collects the book La Mémoire du Futur (The Memory of the Future) first published in 1983 under Éditions Gentiane (Jean Giraud’s earlier publishing entity which predominantly published work from his other alter ego “Gir”) as well as gathering together work from his portfolios of the time and is divided into the following sections:

Autobiographie (Autobiography),
La Mémoire du Futur (The Memory of the Future),
Futurs Magiques (Future Magic),
Un Après-Midi a Pharagonescia (An Afternoon in Pharagonesia),
Destin 3 Pour Edena (Destiny 3 for Edena),
Starwatcher.

Starwatcher, Autobiographie
Starwatcher, Autobiographie
Starwatcher, La Mémoire du Futur
Starwatcher, La Mémoire du Futur
Starwatcher, Futurs Magiques
Starwatcher, Futurs Magiques
Starwatcher, Un Après-Midi a Pharagonescia
Starwatcher, Un Après-Midi a Pharagonescia
Starwatcher, Destin 3 Pour Edena
Starwatcher, Destin 3 Pour Edena
Starwatcher, Starwatcher
Starwatcher, Starwatcher III
Starwatcher, Starwatcher I & II
Starwatcher, Cristal Star

Such was the enduring appeal of Moebius’ Starwatcher character that a short 5 and a half minute 3D animated pilot film Starwatcher (1991) was made which had accompanying music written by pioneering Greek composer Vangelis (known for his timeless score to Blade Runner (1982)) for a planned Starwatcher feature length film (years before Pixar would later make that breakthrough with their first 3D animated feature film Toy Story (1995)) and also had Blade Runner’s director Ridley Scott attached to it too. Alas the untimely passing the following year of Alain Guiot the executive producer and founder of Starwatcher’s French production studio Videosystem/Medialab and then it’s subsequent acquisition by Canal+ sadly put an end to the dream project.

Virtual Meltdown

Virtual Meltdown: Images of Moebius (1992)
Graphitti Designs

26.5 x 29.4cm, 179 pages

Virtual Meltdown: Images of Moebius is the tenth and final volume of a limited edition of 1500, signed & numbered hardback collection of beautiful, bound, books published by Graphitti Designs that collects and reprints the acclaimed trade paperbacks that were originally published by Marvel/Epic Comics and is sometimes referred to as Moebius 10.

The front and back covers of Virtual Meltdown feature panels from Moebius’ work Marie Dakar (1991), first published in French bandes dessinées magazine (A Suivre) but sadly for some reason not included in this book. Wrapped in a purple faux leather hardcover with embossed gold foil lettering, Virtual Meltdown is physically larger then the previous Graphitti Designs volumes Moebius 1-9 and is almost the same size as a 12” vinyl LP.

Virtual Meltdown, book
Virtual Meltdown, signed & numbered page
Virtual Meltdown

This volume collects the Moebius Marvel/Epic Comics’ books Chaos and Metallic Memories which is divided into the following chapter headings:

Chaos:
Parapsychology,
Wonders of the Universe,
Stories Inside Something.

Metallic Memories:
Alien Artifacts,
Forbidden Lands,
Screaming Stars,
Erotic Dreams.

Virtual Meltdown, Chaos
Virtual Meltdown, Parapsychology
Virtual Meltdown, Parapsychology
Virtual Meltdown, Wonders of the Universe
Virtual Meltdown, Wonders of the Universe
Virtual Meltdown, Stories Inside Something
Virtual Meltdown, Stories Inside Something
Virtual Meltdown, Metallic Memories
Virtual Meltdown, Alien Artifacts
Virtual Meltdown, Alien Artifacts
Virtual Meltdown, Forbidden Lands
Virtual Meltdown, Forbidden Lands
Virtual Meltdown, Screaming Stars
Virtual Meltdown, Screaming Stars
Virtual Meltdown, Erotic Dreams
Virtual Meltdown, Erotic Dreams

Both the Marvel/Epic Comics paperbacks and the Graphitti Designs hardback books are sadly now long out of print, rare editions that are much sought after today. Amazingly, Graphitti Designs still has copies in stock of Moebius 4-9 (at the time of writing) and is available online through their website here.