Griffes D’Ange (1994) / Angel Claws (2013)
Les Humanoïdes Associés/Humanoids
30 x 40cm, 72 pages
Moebius not only pushed the gamuts of bandes dessinées in his prodigious creative tenure but also explored dreams and erotic expression as early as La Bandard Fou in 1974 and later for a new monthly comics magazine (A Suivre) (meaning To Be Continued). For the (A Suivre) special Hors Série (Out of Series) themed issue: Silence, On Rêve (Silence, We Dream) released in 1991, Moebius produced a short 8 page comic on the subject of dreams called Marie Dakar told through the dreams of a couple in bed. Panels from Marie Dakar would later resurface a year later in Virtual Meltdown, for example if you look at page 6 of Marie Dakar, the bottom panels grace the front and back covers of Virtual Meltdown. On page 7 of Marie Dakar you can see a clear influence in style to Moebius’ later work in 40 Days Dans Le Désert “B”.
Further into Silence, On Rêve there is a 5 page section called “Rêves par la Bande” (Dreams by the Gang) featuring some of Moebius’ more wetter dreams on the erotic spectrum.
In 1992 Moebius released an erotic portfolio called Histoire d’X (History of X) of a signed & numbered limited edition of 500 that further delved into erotic themes and would later with recurring collaborator Alejandro Jodorowsky be repurposed and extended further to spawn the erotic tale Griffes D’Ange (Angel Claws). Griffes D’Ange is an erotically charged story of a young woman exploring her sexuality told through the explicit imagery of Moebius and mature language of Jodorowsky.
The cover for the Griffes D’Ange limited numbered edition of 800 book features a drawing by Moebius of a lady with their semi-nude back to the viewer that upon closer inspection one will notice that the lady’s back is slightly bloodied. This cover image was inspired by an iconic fashion photograph called Mainbocher Corset captured by German photographer Horst P. Horst in Paris, 1939.