The Jodorowsky Library: Book Six

Born February 7th, 1929, in Tocopilla, Chile, of a Jewish Ukrainian immigrant family. Jodorowsky was multi-talented from an early age, becoming skilled in puppetry and mime, in addition to writing, by his late teens. He traveled with a pantomime troupe in the 1950s, and within a couple years had made his way to Paris where he collaborated with the world-renowned mime Marcel Marceau. In the 1960s, Jodorowsky ventured further into the world of theater, creating in Mexico, the Panic Movement. This innovative artistic movement allowed him to creatively participate in over a 100 theater productions. The 1970s saw him transition into the world of film where he quickly put a defining stamp on all his cinematic works. He directed several cult films, namely the infamous "El Topo," a Midnight movie favorite. Shortly thereafter, Jodorowsky became attached to direct the adaptation of the famous Frank Herbert sci-fi epic novel "Dune." At the preparation stage of the film, he brilliantly assembled a team of extremely diverse and gifted artists such as HR Giger, Chris Foss, Dan O'Bannon, and Moebius, all of who would later be hired as concept artists on Ridley Scott's "Alien." The development of "Dune" came to a halt due to financial problems, but Jodorowsky, having been exposed to such immense visual talent, propelled himself into writing graphic novels, pairing up with the artist Moebius. This collaboration resulted in what many consider to be one of the most creative European sci-fi graphic novel series of all time, "The Incal," which went on to sell millions of copies worldwide. Since penning "The Incal," Jodorowsky continued writing top selling comic books with a wide variety of Europe's most talented artists, such as "The White Lama" (with Bess), "The Metabarons" (with Gimenez), "The Technopriests" (with Janjetov), and most recently "Bouncer" (with Boucq). Along with nurturing his many other talents, Jodorowsky remains a unique storyteller whose published contributions have secured his status as one of the world's most prolific graphic novel writers. 1938: Birth of Jean Giraud - who isn't yet either Gir or Moebius - on May 8th in Nogent-sur-Marne. Jean is from the earliest age educated at the very efficient ABC school, whose slogan ("If you know how to write, you know how to draw") appeals to Misses Giraud, the mother. 1954: Jean Giraud enters the Arts Appliques institution. 1955: He illustrates several issues of the publication Fiction. His first comic pages appear in Far-West, Sitting Bull,Fripounet et Marisette, Ames vaillantes, Coeur vaillant and le Journal de l'armee. From 1959 to 1960 he performs his military service in Algeria. 1961: Under the guidance of Jije, the seminal Belgian artist behind such comics as Spirou et Fantasio, Jean Giraud draws part of La Route de Coronado, an episode of the Western series Jerry Spring. 1963: Jije returns the favor two years later by proposing that his protege be the artist on the first volume of a brand-new series, also a Western, and titled Fort Navajo. This Western will soon become known by its more popular title: Blueberry. It is published in the magazine Pilote where Jean-Michel Charlier, the series' writer, is also Editor-In-Chief. At the same time, Jean transforms into Moebius for the first time and for a few short stories in another magazine, Hara Kiri, a monthly satirical publication. 1973: Appearance of the third and last alias of Jean Giraud. He signs Gir in a couple of the Fort Navajo volumes as well as in La Deviation, a story whose theme is more mature and whose graphic rendition is purer, belonging more to the world of Moebius than that of Jean Giraud. However, Jean chooses to put the name Moebius to sleep for a few years, from 1969to 1974, as he participates to a series of Sci-Fi illustrations for Opta, a French publishing house specializing in science fiction and crim