Moebius 1: Kita mahnita

The Collected Fantasies of Jean Giraud #0

by Mœbius, Ilija Čanak (translator)

Stripovi čoveka koji je najviše promenio tok kojim će se razvijati deveta umetnost. Poput Majlsa Dejvisa u džezu, Mebijus je takvom silinom potresao konvencionalne forme izražavanja, da se vreme u istoriji stripa meri na pre i posle njegove pojave. Darkwood i Čarobna knjiga započinju sistematsko objavljivanje njegovih stripova!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Comic Book, Art

56 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (pen-name: Mœbius) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer, who worked in the Franco-Belgian bandes dessinées tradition.
Also published as Jean Giraud.

Reviews

[Uroš Đurković]

Teško da se ovde može izbeći asocijacija na Prijapov problem, o kome sam, istini za volju, prvi put saznao nešto više u knjizi Igora Mandića posvećenoj pornografiji. Ipak, svako ko bi pomislio da je Mebijus ovde pokušao da napravi klinačku himnu prijapizmu, nije blizu istini. Ili makar ne suštini: ovo je jedna silovita, zabavna SF humoristička vožnja sa metanarativnim elementima i sa genijalnim crtežom. Bonus je i dosetljiv prevod – lebdeći kamen-mašina je nazvan kuče-kamenče, a avioni su krljošklopi! Ako hoće neko da proba da mi probije lozinku nekog naloga na društvenim mrežama, neka počne od neologizama iz stripa.

A što se samog Mebijusa tiče (jedan od najsrećnije odabranih pseudonima u istoriji umetnosti!), kao što mi je Prijap vezan za Mandića, tako mi je Mebijusova traka vezana za Ešera, za jednu knjigu koju sam listao u stanu svoje tetke, sa Ešerovim reprodukcijama. Bila je smeštena baš blizu Marsupilamija, na francuskom, pa se sećam da sam, kao mali, na pak-papir precrtavao nešto odatle. Čudo kako sećanje oživi, dobije nestašnu razigranost kao Marsupilamijev multifunkcionalni rep.

[Hosein]

خیلی عجیبه، مثل اینه که کل داستان‌های روزنامه‌های زرد رو با هوی متال ترکیب کنین و بعد خوابشو ببینین. داستان اونقدر مشخص نیست چون نویسنده نمیخواد مشخص باشه، حتی طراحی ها خیلی اسکیس مانندن و سریع اجرا شدن، اما مشخصه که یک داستان کامل و باجزئیات در جریانه که ما بخش هایی ازش رو میبینیم و کشف کردن کلش (توی ذهنم) لذت بخش بود.
و یک صفحه در میون تصویر یک مرده که تغییر میکنه و... بهتره خودتون ببینین تا بفهمین. به نظرم خیلی استعاره و تصویر خوبی بود از اینکه هنرمند چه فشاری رو داشته اون موقع تحمل میکرده. فکر کنم توی مستند موبیوس هم به اون دوره اشاره شده بود، واقعا دیدن اون بخش ها خیلی منو توی فکر فرو برد به نسبت کلِ کمیک.

[Simon]

I used to consider this one of Moebius' lesser works but now it's one of my favourites. How many other authors in the science-fiction genre and comic book medium can get an epic metaphysical space opera out of a one-joke sex comedy about a guy who wakes up with an erection he can't get rid of? Which is literally the dictionary definition of a "horny goof" provided in-story. Our hero quickly ends up getting chased across the planet where he lives, by local police (armed with crossbows) and military (in 1950's era fighter jets)... escaping in a pink spaceship modelled on Disney's Dumbo to a space station hidden inside a hollowed out asteroid inhabited by a woman named Madame Kowalski who wants to have sex with him once she hears about his uncontrollable erection.

This asteroid also appears in "The Airtight Garage", Moebius' contribution to the British fantasy author Michael Moorcock's "Eternal Champion" mythos - as does Madame Kowalski who in "The Airtight Garage" appears under the alias Lady Malvina where she is the wife of intergalactic explorer Major Grubert. Also this being written in the mid-1970's, as the story unfolds Moebius throws in oodles of advanced metaphysical philosophising probably thought up under the influence of various hallucinogenic drugs, where the sex comedy plot devices end up being tied into key metaphysical concepts. (the sacred feminine etc) And this course of events leads to an upending of the internal political order of the galactic society.

There are likewise lots of interesting worldbuilding touches, like how Souldai (the planet where the protagonist lives) being a desert environment whose architecture + fashion styles are vaguely modelled on North African aesthetics, most of the transport being either giant flightless birds and reptiles used as beasts or burdens, or old cars from the 1950's. (this makes me wonder if part of the plot is meant as political satire of France's colonial adventures in Africa, something that might go over my head in a way it doesn't with French readers) Whereas Madame Kowalski's space station and her entourage's fashion sense is inspired by late 19th century Art Nouveau styles filtered through the glam rock and disco subcultures popular around the time it was published. Or how Souldai's society consists of all men hatched from a monstrous egglaying creature as a humanoid equivalent to a queen ant, making the Horny Goof's interest in reproducing the old-fashioned way with Madame Kowalski a threat to the established social order. Let alone how the story frequently zig-zags across parallel universes that interact in ways Moebius never explains in detail but just expects the reader to figure out.

Put it bluntly: I don't think a science-fiction comic book can get more only-in-the-1970's than this, and that is exactly why I love "The Horny Goof".

[Maja Shinigami]

I don't know, boobs distracted me from the plot.

[Eternauta]

Κορυφαίο album, από τα πρώτα που κυκλοφόρησε ο Jean Giraud ως Moebius.
100% παρανοϊκή, πανσεξουαλική και ανατρεπτική η ομώνυμη ιστορία αποτελεί από μόνη της απόδειξη ότι τα κόμικς είναι ξεχωριστό και αυτόνομο είδος τέχνης και όχι απλά μια αφηγηματική τεχνική. Σε ένα μελλοντικό κόσμο όπου η σεξουαλικότητα είναι ελεγχόμενη, περιοδική και εμπορεύσιμη ένας ξεσάλωτος επιβήτορας με μη ελεγχόμενη στύση αποτελεί δημόσιο κίνδυνο για τις αρχές αλλά και περιζήτητο κελεπούρι για όσους εξερευνούν τις μη-αναπαραγωγικές πτυχές της γενετήσιας πράξης!
Απο τις ψυχεδελικές και κωμικές ασπρόμαυρες σελίδες παρελαύνουν ο Τζάμπο το ελεφαντάκι, οι γνωστοί γκαντέμηδες πειρατές του Asterix αλλά και φιγούρες που θα επανέλθουν αργότερα στις πιο γνωστές ιστορίες του Moebius.
Οι υπόλοιπες τρεις βινιέτες μακράν του να αποτελούν fillers αναδεικνύουν την μεγαλοφυΐα του Moebius ο οποίος σε τρεις - τέσσερις σιωπηλές σελίδες μπορούσε να δημιουργήσει ένταση, να διατυπώσει αινίγματα και εν τέλει να εξαναγκάσει τον αναγνώστη να παραδοθεί στη νομοτέλεια της αστείρευτης φαντασίας του.

[Jonathan]

French cartoonists be horny

[Adnan Mahmutovic]

This old story, funny, and sweet, but not brilliant. The drawings, however are 6-star.

[Gerardo]

In un altro mondo, esiste una razza aliena in cui i maschi sono dotati di un poderoso fallo il quale va in erezione in determinati periodi, nei quali i maschi si accoppiano con la femmina, di enormi e disgustose dimensioni. A causa del potere matriarcale di questa società, i maschi sono costretti a molte restrizioni sessuali.

Anche se molto buffi, questi alieni sono ricercati per via delle dimensioni del loro pene. Questa è la storia di uno di loro, che va in erezione in un periodo anomalo e per questo viene chiamato 'fallico folle'.

La storia è un fantasioso racconto di un fuga affinché una donna possa godere delle meraviglie di questa specie.

Il racconto, molto divertente, è la rappresentazione delle mille fughe e mille lotte che siamo costretti a compiere per combattere contro i tabù sessuali, che 'castrano' le nostre 'doti' per via di un certo pregiudizio bigotto contro il piacere.

[Jeff]

This volume contains some of Jean Giraud's early free-form work, heavily inspired by the American underground comics movement of late 1960's and early 1970's. In between the works themselves are several commentaries from the artist recalling the circumstances in which he originally wrote the pieces.

In general, these selections don't rank anywhere close to Giraud's best work, but he was such a talented artist that even his early and minor work holds interest, especially as a reflection to compare against the more mature work that would flow form his pen in later years.

[Damon]

This took forever for me to track down, but luckily, when I finally did, I'd read almost everything in it before. (A consistent problem with Moebius stuff, but what can you do?) It's a nice presentation, though, with some "commentary" about the stories and a few pieces I hadn't seen that I'm unlikely to come across elsewhere...

[StrictlySequential ArtNarrative]

Spanish Norma Edition

The narrative is too asinine- even a grownboy like me couldn't see it silly enough for any chuckle-up. Especially because there was a constant state of confusion -certainly intentionally- perpetrated and it works too well. I understood very little and endured frustration. Maybe it was significantly lost in translation but I doubt it.

Every left side of the whole story's span of open pages is this man->blob animation that's dumb and gross. Disgust would normally be whatever but here it pervaded the entirety of the right side -for the most part- as well!

The composition of his bizzarities -man, place and thing- is glorious and expertly rendered but I rarely knew what I was looking at or why so it resultantly dulled in charm.

[Rick Ray]

Very early, and much less refined Moebius work, but interesting stuff nonetheless. There were five stories collected in here: "The Horny Goof", "Deima", "You're The Object Of This And That", "Harzack" and "The Invaders". The last two are almost too brief to meaningfully discuss, but it is worth noting how varied Giraud's artstyle was early on.

The bulk of this volume contains the rather nonsensical story "The Horny Goof", which features a man with a rather large member going about his day. It's a rather confusing story and feels very stream of consciousness in its storytelling approach. There is a lot of lowbrow sexual humor throughout, but most of "The Horny Goof" exists to craft atmosphere and have Giraud draw cool stuff. It reads like a sex comedy taking place in a Star Wars or Dune like setting, allowing Giraud to really flex his artistic chops without having to think too hard on how the narrative comes together.

"Deima" and "You're The Object Of This And That" are similarly high concept metaphysical sci-fi/fantasy tales, but feature some rather disparate plot beats that also seem a bit stream of consciousness to me. They are similarly unrefined artistically, though still striking to look at nonetheless.

This won't be anyone's favorite Moebius pieces, but even a legend's early works can be informative of the trajectory of their career and the talent was clearly apparent in spades here. Had a good time with this.

[Zioluc]

Una madeleine. Da bambino avevo a casa una copia di questa storia in lingua originale (francese), arrivata da chissà dove. Non avevo l'età per capire bene né il francese né la storia piena di riferimenti sessuali, ma la rilessi decine di volte trovandola sia epica che (ovviamente) pruriginosa.
Ritrovata oggi è per me ingiudicabile dato il carico di ricordi che si porta appresso, ma se il segno magistrale di Moebius resta ovviamente uno dei punti di forza, posso ora apprezzare anche la sua ironia, finalmente senza più misteri: i quali però conferivano alla storia molto più interesse e fascino.

[João]

The title's story full of its Freudian symbolism and irreverent gags is pretty crazy (in the good sense), but the other works are very peripheral within Moebius' universe... despite the (mostly consistent) great art, of course.

[Fugo Feedback]

Me gustó más la historia de las páginas impares pero la narrativa de las pares, aunque el final par palidece y se vuelve algo obvio si lo comparamos con el final impar.

[Filip Mladenovic]

Uvrnuto i zabavno.

[Clodjee]

Le Bandard Fou est la toute première histoire de SF de Moebius (avant Arzach, Le Garage hermétique et même avant la création de Métal Hurlant). Elle introduit et annonce fort bien ce que sera son style drôle et très imaginatif (déjanté comme ils disent). Son dessin noir et blanc utilise un trait simple mais qui offre tout de même des illustrations détaillées et très texturées — qui sont toutefois d’une qualité variable d’une planche à l’autre. On y retrouve des caméo de l’éléphant Dumbo, des pirates de Astérix, des citations célèbres comme “Merde alors, mon conditionnement fout le camp!”, les premières apparitions de dame Kowalsky et de Fleur (le premier niveau du Garage Hermétique — avec la mention des “générateurs à effet Gruber”). C’est donc une oeuvre séminale de Moebius car on y voit déjà la genèse du Garage Hermétique et même des Aventures de John Difool (L’Incal). Une très bonne lecture, surtout pour les amateurs de Moebius.

Voir mon commentaire complet sur https://clodjee-blog.com/2019/04/19/l...

[Durval Menezes]

Early stories from the legendary Metal Hurlant / Heavy Metal author, Jean Giraud aka Moebius. The main story is very well drawn, albeit the argument/plot is crazy and difficult to follow. The other stories, in my opinion, are not so good.

I found it interesting that, in the "story notes" between the main and other stories, the author mentions (as inspiration for one of the latter) book writer Philip José Farmer and specially his Riverworld series as one of his favorite author. I've been reading PJF forever, and never seen the connection (which I still don't see, but oh well...)

[Kevin MacDonald]

Moebius’ very early work is enjoyable and lays groundwork for the type of Euro sci-fi he’d become largely known for. His style speaks volumes even in smaller stories. Despite comparisons to American underpins comics of the 70s, these stories (especially the titular Horny Goof) are very much the work of a French comic artist and the beginning of a beautiful career. I enjoyed reading Moebius’ own thoughts on these stories and how he relates themes of sex and violence to both the writer and the reader.

[Tristan]

I am surprised to find this work of Moebius on kindle unlimited! Where else but in 1970s France would one find a space opera emerging from a running gag about priapism? This is as anarchic and taboo busting as it gets. It’s been decades since I last read this, but multiple readings bring a four star score even though this is not one of Moebius’s best. This story is notable as setting down the recurring elements that will be developed in Le Garage Hermetique.

[FungiM]

Moebius had two distinct sides: one was a playful, joker-like persona who enjoyed creating vignettes with dark and uncomfortable humor, while the other was more spiritual and complex. These stories belong to the first side and are a product of his context; they need to be understood in that way in order to fully appreciate their humor. On the other hand, the drawing is highly detailed and full of life, which is truly characteristic of the author.

[Elvis Cosovic]

A collection of slightly amusing tales packaged into random, juvenile and self-conscious story telling quirks. I've only read a couple of stories by Moebius, but it seems to me that the only good thing about his stuff is the art and some story telling mechanics ( I hope I am wrong!); we'll see how he fares when I finish some of his other collections.

[Oneirosophos]

Ό,τι χειρότερο μπορεί να διαβάσει κανείς από το εκπληκτικό μολύβι του Moebius.

[Seven Pesos]

Boner. Penis. Big Johnson. Homo Erectus. Much better in color than in B&W. I really liked it.

[Zach]

Wild, awesome art; same goes for the stories. I will review in more detail when I reread it.

[Luke Stevens]

Penispenispenispenisdickdickdickdickballsballsballspussy

[Daniel Tol]

3,5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Wildly imaginative and incredibly horny. I liked it!

[Vink]

Odličan Mebijus. Prevod kida.

[Yvette]

Moebius 所有故事开始的地方

[Alexander Lisovsky]

The Horny Goof, незапланированный приквел к "Герметическому гаражу" - удивительная в своей откровенности, и даже пошлости, но вместе с тем очаровательная, с типично Мёбиусовской ловкостью и безумием рассказанная история.

В послесловии сам автор пишет, что многие рассматривают The Detour (1973) началом творчества Мёбиуса, но та новелла была подписана "Gir" и представляла собой скорее манифест свободному, ничем и никем не скованному творчеству. The Horny Goof (1974) же является как раз первым продуктом этого манифеста, предтечей "Арзака" и "гаража" (будучи замысловатой смесью фантастики, юмора и намеренно таинственных сюжетных ходов), а также первой историей Мёбиуса "для взрослых". Далее автор красиво рассуждает, что такое "для взрослых", не берусь пересказывать, смотрите сами (а конкретно про секс и насилие - на другой странице).

После унылой попытки переложить "гараж" в русло супергеройской периодики (другим автором) особенно остро чувствуется прелесть сюрреалистичного повествования Мёбиуса, где все силы бросаются на то, чтобы вызвать у читателя в первую очередь определённые эмоции и образы, а уж сюжетная канва лишь удерживает страницы вместе, чтобы не рассыпались.

Ну и великолепный арт!

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