Editing Jean Giraud (section)

====Marvel Comics (1984–1989)====
{{blockquote|quote=There were thousands of professionals who knew my work. That has always amazed me every time I entered some graphics, or animation studio, at Marvel or even at [[George Lucas]]'. Mentioning the name Jean Giraud did not cause any of the present pencillers, colorists or storyboard artists to even bat an eye. Yet, whenever I introduced myself as "Mœbius", all of them jumped up to shake my hand. It was incredible!|source=Giraud, Cagnes-sur-Mer 1988, on his notoriety as "Mœbius" in the United States.<ref name="Sad69-71">[[#Sources|Sadoul, 1991, pp. 69–71]]</ref>}}

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| image2 = Cover image of 1987 U.S. edition of Moebius - The Airtight Garage, published by Epic.jpg | alt2 = | width2 = | caption2 =
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| footer = Mœbius cover for the 1998 edition of ''[[Silver Surfer]]: Parable'' on the left, and the Mœbius cover of the 1987 US Epic edition of ''The Airtight Garage'' on the right.
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After having arrived in California, Giraud's wife Claudine set up Giraud's third publishing house Starwatcher Graphics in 1985,<ref name="corporation">{{cite web|url=https://bestbusinessca.com/company/C1292766/starwatcher-graphics-inc.html|title=Starwatcher Graphics, Inc.|website=Bestbusinessca.com}}</ref> essentially the US branch of Gentiane/Aedena with the same goals, resulting in the release of, among others, the extremely limited art portfolio ''La Cité de Feu'', a collaborative art project of Giraud with [[Geoff Darrow]] (see ''[[#Dark Horse|below]]''). However, due to their unfamiliarity with the American publishing world, the company did not do well, and in an effort to remedy the situation Claudine hired the French/American editor couple [[Jean-Marc Lofficier|Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier]], whom she had met at the summer 1985 [[San Diego ComicCon]],<ref>[[#Sources|Ledoux, 1993, p. 59]]</ref> as translators and editors-in-chief for Starwatcher, also becoming shareholders in the company.<ref name="Sad69-71"/> Already veterans of the US publishing world (''and'' Mœbius fans), it was the Lofficier couple that managed to convince editor-in-chief [[Archie Goodwin (comics)|Archie Goodwin]] of [[Marvel Comics]] to publish most of Moebius' hitherto produced work on a wider scale in the US—in contrast with the ''Heavy Metal'' niche market releases by HM Communications in the late 1970s—in graphic novel format trade editions, under its [[Epic Comics|Epic]] imprint from 1987 to 1994. These incidentally, included three of Mœbius' latter-day art books, as well as the majority of his ''Blueberry'' Western comic.<ref>{{cite journal|last=O'Neill|first=Patrick Daniel|title=The Wild [French] West|journal=[[Comics Scene]]|issue=9|pages= 8–12, 68|location=Mt. Morris|publisher=Starlog Group, Inc.|date=1989}}</ref>

It was for the Marvel/Epic publication effort that it was decided to dispense with the "Jean [Gir]aud"/"Mœbius" dichotomy—until then strictly adhered-to by the artist—as both the artist's given name and his ''Blueberry'' creation were all but unknown in the English speaking world. This was contrary to his reputation as "Mœbius", already acquired in the ''Heavy Metal'' days, and from then on used for ''all'' his work in the English speaking world (and Japan), though the dichotomy remained elsewhere, including native France.<ref name="marvelage">{{cite journal|last=Lofficier|first=R.J.M.|author-link=Jean-Marc Lofficier|title=Before Nick Fury, There was ... Lieutenant Blueberry|journal=[[Marvel Age]]|issue=79|location=New York City|publisher=[[Marvel Comics]]|date=October 1989}}</ref>

A two-issue ''[[Silver Surfer]]'' miniseries (later collected as ''Silver Surfer: Parable''), written by [[Stan Lee]] and drawn by Giraud (as Mœbius), was published through Marvel's Epic Comics imprint in 1988 and 1989. According to Giraud, this was his first time working under the [[Marvel method]] instead of from a full script, and he has admitted to being baffled by the fact that he already had a complete story synopsis on his desk only two days after he had met Stan Lee for the first time, having discussed what Giraud had assumed was a mere proposition over lunch.<ref name="DAK64">{{cite journal | last = Lofficier | first = Jean-Marc | author-link = Jean-Marc Lofficier | date = December 1988 | title = Moebius | journal = [[Comics Interview]] | issue = 64 | pages = 24–37 | publisher = [[Fictioneer Books]]}}</ref> This miniseries won the [[Eisner Award]] for best finite/limited series in 1989. Mœbius' version was discussed in the 1995 submarine thriller ''[[Crimson Tide (film)|Crimson Tide]]'' by two sailors pitting his version against those of [[Jack Kirby]], with the main character played by [[Denzel Washington]], emphasizing the Kirby one being the better of the two. Becoming aware of the reference around 1997, Giraud was later told around 2005 by the movie's director [[Tony Scott]], that it was he who had written in the dialog as an homage to the artist on behalf of his brother [[Ridley Scott|Ridley]], a Mœbius admirer, and not (uncredited) script doctor [[Quentin Tarentino]] (known for infusing his works with pop culture references) as he was previously led to believe.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Svane |first=Erik | date=May 1997 |title=Gir/Mœbius |journal={{ill|Swof|fr}} |volume= |issue=24 | location=[[Genève]] |pages=42 | language=fr}}</ref> An amused Giraud quipped, "It's better than a big stature, because in a way, I can not dream of anything better to be immortal [than] being in a movie about submarines!"<ref name="CTN"/><!--at 1:21-->

As a result, from his cooperation with Marvel, Giraud delved deeper into the American superhero mythology and created superhero art stemming from both Marvel and [[DC Comics]], which were sold as art prints, posters or included in calendars, besides becoming featured as comic book covers from both publishers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicsalliance.com/moebius-american-comics-art-gallery|title=Moebius Visions of American Superheroes and Comic Book Icons [Art]|website=ComicsAlliance.com|date=28 June 2011 }}</ref> Even as late as 1997, Giraud had created cover art for two DC comic book outings, ''[[Hardware (comics)|Hardware]]'' (Vol. 1, issue 49, March 1997) and ''[[Static (DC Comics)|Static]]'' (Vol. 1, issue 45, March 1997), after an earlier cover for ''[[Marvel Tales (comics)|Marvel Tales]]'' (Vol. 2, issue 253, September 1991). Another project Giraud embarked upon in his "American period", was for a venture into that other staple of American pop culture, [[trading cards]]. Trading card company Comic Images released a "Mœbius Collector Cards" set in 1993, featuring characters and imagery from all over his Mœbius universe, though his Western work was excluded. None of the images were lifted from already existing work, but were especially created by Giraud the year previously.

Although Giraud had taken up residence in California for five years &ndash; holding a temporary residence (the O-1 "Extraordinary Ability" category,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/law/immigration-law/us-immigration/temporary.html|title=Temporary Residence|website=pwc.com}}</ref> including the "International Artist" status<ref>[[#Sources|Sadoul, 2015, p. 62]]</ref>) visa &ndash; he maintained a transient lifestyle, as his work had him frequently travel to Belgium and native France (maintaining a home in Paris), as well as to Japan, for extended periods of time. His stay in the United States was an inspiration for his aptly called ''Made in L.A.'' art book,<ref name="madela"/> and much of his art he had produced in this period of time, including his super hero art, was reproduced in this, and the follow-up art book ''Fusions'',<ref name="fusion">[https://www.stripinfo.be/reeks/strip/20909_Fusions_1_Fusions "Fusions"] (126 pages, Tournai: Casterman, April 1995, {{ISBN|2203346051}}), stripINFO.be {{in lang|nl}}; includes other language editions.</ref> the latter of which having seen a translation in English by Epic.

Giraud's extended stay in the US, garnered him a 1986 [[Inkpot Award]], an additional 1991 Eisner Award, as well as three [[Harvey Award]]s in the period 1988–1991 for the various graphic novel releases by Marvel. It was in this period that Giraud, who had already picked up Spanish as a second language as a result from his various trips to Mexico and his dealings with Jodorowsky and his retinue, also picked up sufficient language skills to communicate in English.<ref>[[#Sources|Sadoul, 1991, pp. 67-68]]</ref><ref name="CTN"/>