Metal Hurlant

Utopia has been chased by sentient beings since the beginning of time. But what is it? Where is it? When? How?

This installment of Humanoids’ celebrated genre anthology explores “heaven on earth” (and beyond), and the systems that have made it impossible, illusory, or brief, warping it into its darker dystopian mirror…

Inside this 272-page tome: Interviews with filmmaker, documentarian, and “cult” expert Jodi Wille (The Source Family, Welcome Space Brothers), and utopian sci-fi master Kim Stanley Robinson (The Mars Trilogy, Ministry for the Future); a brief glimpse of French legend Tardi, and the complete Polonius, his rare, depraved 44-page work with writer Picaret; and 23 visions of utopias lost and found from the talented creators of comics past, present, and future.

Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (French: [?i?o]; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius (/'mo?bi?s/;[1] French: [møbjys]) for his fantasy/science-fiction work, and to a slightly lesser extent as Gir (French: [?i?]), which he used for the Blueberry series and his other Western-themed work. Esteemed by Federico Fellini, Stan Lee, and Hayao Miyazaki, among others,[2] he has been described as the most influential bande dessinée artist after Hergé.[3]

His most famous body of work as Gir concerns the Blueberry series, created with writer Jean-Michel Charlier, featuring one of the first antiheroes in Western comics, and which is particularly valued in continental Europe. As Mœbius, he achieved worldwide renown (in this case in the English-speaking nations and Japan, as well – where his work as Gir had not done well), by creating a wide range of science-fiction and fantasy comics in a highly imaginative, surreal, almost abstract style. These works include Arzach and the Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius. He also collaborated with avant garde filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky for an unproduced adaptation of Dune and the comic-book series The Incal.

Mœbius also contributed storyboards and concept designs to numerous science-fiction and fantasy films, such as Alien, Tron, The Fifth Element, and The Abyss. Blueberry was adapted for the screen in 2004 by French director Jan Kounen

Jean-Pierre Dionnet is a French comics writer. He was born in Paris on November 25th, 1947, at a time when there was still rationing in the capital, so he spent the first five years of his life in central France. He fell behind in school and focused solely on his goal of working in comics. While pursuing his dream of becoming a scriptwriter, he worked as a broker on the weekend, and he was also a bookstore clerk at the first rendition of Futuropolis. Jean-Pierre Dionnet started his career as a comics writer in Pilote in 1971. His first comics work was writing short stories for such artists as Jacques Tardi and Jean Solé. In 1974, he wrote Tiriel for Raymond Poïvet and joined the editorial team of L'Écho des Savanes, where he continued to write on the side. A year later, he founded the magazine Métal Hurlant, along with Bernard Farkas, Philippe Druillet, and Moebius. He remained editor-in-chief of the magazine until 1985. Alongside his editorial activities, Dionnet remained active as a scriptwriter, creating stories for Jean-Claude Gal (Les Armées du Conquérant, Arn) and Enki Bilal (Exterminateur 17). Jean-Pierre Dionnet has also been active in the television world, though at the age of 60 he decided to leave the industry to devote himself once more to scriptwriting. His ensuing work includes a sweeping series about the history of America between 1929 and 2147, in a parallel world where the gods live alongside humans: Des Dieux et des hommes (Dargaud; Of Gods and Men, Europe Comics), in collaboration with Laurent Theureau, Roberto Baldazzini, and Moebius.

Philippe Druillet was born in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France, but spent his youth in Spain, returning to France in 1952 after the death of his father. A science fiction and comics fan, Druillet worked as a photographer after graduating from high school, drawing only for his own pleasure.

His first published series was his version of Michael Moorcock's Elric stories in a short-lived magazine. His first book, Le Mystère des abîmes (The Mystery of the Abyss), appeared in 1966.[1] It introduced his recurring hero Lone Sloane and played on science-fiction themes partially inspired by his favourite writers, H. P. Lovecraft and A.E. van Vogt. Later, Druillet created book covers for new editions of Lovecraft's work, as well as numerous movie posters.

After Druillet became a regular contributor to the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote in 1970, his Lone Sloane saga grew steadily more flamboyant as he pursued innovative new imagery, including bold page designs and computer-generated images. His backdrops of gigantic structures inspired by Art Nouveau, indigenous architecture, and Gothic cathedrals earned him the nickname of "space architect". Six tales about Sloane's exploits were collected in Les six voyages de Lone Sloane in 1972, hailed by many as his masterpiece, and Sloane was again the hero of the graphic novel Délirius (1973), written by Jacques Lob. In 1973, Druillet also produced the Moorcock's Elric-inspired Yragaël for Pilote, and Vuzz for the magazine Phénix.

In 1975, Druillet joined Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Bernard Farkas, and Moebius to form the publishing house Les Humanoïdes Associés and the magazine Métal Hurlant.[1] This was to be a vehicle for his finest stories, and showcased a steady evolution in his graphical skills. His series Lone Sloane and Vuzz continued, and other stories of this period include La Nuit, and Nosferatu. In 1980, Druillet produced Salammbô, a comic book trilogy based upon Flaubert's proto–heroic fantasy novel Salammbô.

Outside his work as a cartoonist and illustrator, Druillet has also been active in architecture, rock opera, painting, sculpture, and digital art. He worked as a designer on the film Sorcerer, directed by William Friedkin in 1976. He collaborated on Rolf Liebermann's Wagner Space Opera in the Opera de Paris in the late 1970s to early 1980s, and founded the Space Art Création in 1984.[1] More recently, he created the artwork and designed large parts of the background of the 2005 TV miniseries remake Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings).