The Emperors Throne, Jean Giraud – Moebius, Dune, Paris, 1975
Chris remembers Jean Giraud
It’s with very great sadness that I learn today of a dear and very
old friend Jean Giraud aka Mœbius’s death.
It seems only a few years ago that we collaborated under the tutorship
of Alejandro Jodorowsky on the initial version of Dune in Paris.
Many many happy memories come flooding back of our time together.
It is fair to say that the firm basis of our relationship was a mutual
admiration of each others work.
As you will see from the above illustration Jean had a quirky sense of
humour which struck a chord with me. Alejando’s esoteric direction only
served to unite me and Jean on what we felt was a crazy career through
chaos for two Samurai artists.
I fortunately spoke at length with Jean last year and the years just
fell away. He was bright and cheerful and talked enthusiastically of
his various projects.
My memories of living in Paris during the Dune episode are dominated by
Jean’s helpfulness and dedicated care in introducing me to his circle of
friends. I shall miss him greatly.
Like his creation Blueberry, I like to think of Jean now riding westward
into the setting sun.’
Chris Foss, Guernsey, 10th March 2012
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The story of the sketch
Alejandro Jodorowsky had asked Jean Giraud to create a throne
for the Emperor which went through several iterations, he’s added
the loo chain as an inside joke with Chris about the challenge.
Jean dedicated the sketch to Chris:
Pour Christopher My meilleur English Camarade!…
To Christopher My best English Comrade!…
Decades later when Chris was rummaging for artwork for Hardware
he rediscovered this treasured piece of Jean’s artwork which he’d been
‘keeping safe’ tucked away in the studio for 35 years and which Jean
kindly allowed us to use in the book to illustrate his foreword.
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