Editing Jean Giraud (section)

====Fleurus (1956–1958)====
Tenured at publisher Fleurus from 1956 to 1958 after his first sales, Giraud did so, but concurrently continued to steadfastly create realistically drawn Western comics (alongside several others of a French historical nature) and illustrations for magazine editorials in their magazines ''Fripounet et Marisette'', ''[[Cœurs Vaillants]]'', and ''{{ill|Âmes vaillantes|fr}}'' &ndash; all of them of a strong, edifying nature aimed at France's adolescent youth &ndash; up to a point that his realistically drawn comics had become his mainstay. Among his realistic Westerns was a comic called "''Le roi des bisons''" ("King of the Buffalo" &ndash; has had an English publication<ref name="IntroKing">Giraud, Jean. "Introduction to King of the Buffalo by Jean Giraud". 1989. Moebius 9: Blueberry. Graphitti designs.</ref>), and another called "''Un géant chez lez Hurons''" ("A Giant among the Hurons").<ref>''SCHTROUMPf, Les cahier de la bande dessinee'', issue 25, [[Grenoble]]:[[Glénat Editions]], 1974, pp. 38–39; These two stories were the only serialized ones in any of the Fleurus magazines, running far longer than the 2- to 4-page shorts Giraud usually produced for the magazines. "''Un géant chez lez Hurons''" ran for 19 pages in ''Cœurs Valiants'', issues 30-48, 1957, whereas "''Le roi des bisons''" ran for 10 pages in issues 29-38, 1958.</ref> Actually, several of his Western comics, including "King of the Buffalo", featured the same protagonist Art Howell, and these can be considered as Giraud's ''de facto'' first realistic Western series, as he himself did in effect, since he, save the first one, endowed these stories with the subtitle "''Un aventure d'Art Howell''".<ref>Being all published in ''Cœurs Valiants'', the by Guy Hempay written Art Howell stories included &ndash; besides the by Noël Carré written "''Le roi des bisons''" &ndash; "''Le retour de Spider Web''" (3 pages, issue 49, 1957), "''Stop à la caravane''" (3 pages, issue 4, 1958), "''Pas de dynamite pour le railway''" (3 pages, issue 12, 1958), and "''Le train fou''" (3 pages, issue 38, 1959, also written by Giraud).</ref> For Fleurus, Giraud also illustrated his first three books.<ref name="fleurbooks">Two educational books, "Hommes et cavernes" (1957, {{oclc|300051389}}), "Amérique an mille" (1959, {{oclc|936885225}}, these two co-illustrated with Guy Mouminoux), and one novel for girls, "Sept filles dans la brousse" (1958, {{oclc|759796722}}, sole artist)</ref> Already in this period, his style was heavily influenced by his later mentor, Belgian comic artist [[Jijé|Joseph "Jijé" Gillain]], who at that time was ''the'' major source of inspiration for an entire generation of young, aspiring French comic artists, including Giraud's friend Mézières, interested in doing realistically drawn comics.<ref name="IntroKing"/> How major Jijé's influence was on these young artists, was amply demonstrated by the Fleurus publications these youngsters submitted their work to, as their work strongly resembled each other. For example, two of the books Giraud illustrated for Fleurus, were co-illustrated with [[Guy Mouminoux]], another name of some future renown in the Franco-Belgian comic world, and Giraud's work can only be identified, because he signed his work, whereas Mouminoux did not sign his. While not ample, Giraud's earnings at Fleurus were just enough to allow him &ndash; disenchanted as he was with the courses, prevalent atmosphere, and academic discipline &ndash; to quit his art academy education after only two years, though he came to somewhat regret the decision in later life.<ref>[[#Sources|Sadoul, 1991, pp. 29-30]]</ref>