Customer Reviews

Moebius Arzach 1

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I do feel foolish. 300 pages of Moebius is too good to be true. And it was. This is not as I assumed an art compilation of Moebius' most widely known character Arzach: it is in fact a written fictionalised version of what someone imagines Arzach to be. I have not read it - so I do not wish to comment on the quality of the writing. I went through my sci-fi / fantasy stage at puberty, and like puberty, found I grew out of it and it no longer even remotely interests me as a written word genre. I do love Moebius' art though and I doubt I'll grow out of that. This is just a caveat emptor/lector for anyone else assuming they have found a graphic bargain. It may well be an excellent read for all I know. So just so as you know - this is about a dozen Moebius sketches and 300 pages of text.

NOTE: I do not blame either Amazon or the vendor for my error - I should have paid more attention, the fault is mine. Service, as always, was superb.

Moebius (a.k.a. Jean Giraud) is one of the forefront artists of our time, having done extensive work in the comic strip magazines Pilote and Métal Hurlant (known as Heavy Metal in North America), and having lent his artistic style to movies such as Alien, Tron, Willow, The Abyss and The Fifth Element. The artistic style of Blade Runner was modeled after Moebius' work (from a comic book story he illustrated called "The Long Tomorrow"), although he did not do art specifically for this film.

While Moebius Arzach was not written by Moebius, it is based on one of his most famous characters: Arzach from Métal Hurlant. A few of the chapters are also based on an unused screenplay in which Moebius was involved.

The first half of the book reads like a collection of interconnected fairy tales that play out over a number of decades, often with each chapter telling a complete tale. The magical world in which these tales take place has been richly crafted, and the reader can enjoy watching the characters in this world develop from tale to tale.

The second half of the book was a bit silly for my tastes (bringing my overall rating from 5 down to 4 stars). This portion of the book recounts a single tale in which a modern day Los Angeles family (bearing a peculiar resemblance to Moebius' own family) is pulled into Arzach's world.

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone looking for a few satisfying, magical tales. One warning, though. A few violent and graphic scenes make this book inappropriate for young children.

Jean "Moebius" Giraud created a work that transcended the comicstrip medium with Arzach. Known as the artist on the classic western series, "Lieutenant Blueberry", Giraud started experimenting with adult themes in his work, exploring a form of narrative storytelling that he channelled directly from his subconscious. Prior to Arzach there was "The Detour", still signed Gir, and then "The Horny Goof", which preempted "The Airtight Garage". But it was Arzach that had the most profound effect on the comic industry. Silent and enigmatic, it is a collection of sometimes comic, sometimes profound short stories. The artwork owes much to early American pulp work by such greats as Virgil Finley. The landscapes linger like realised dreams.
Arzach has provided me with a lifetime of inspiration in my comic work. It is timeless and it is a masterpiece. If you enjoy sophisticated free-form artwork with adult fantasy and science fiction themes, then Arzach will not disappoint.
Also check out Moebius' "The Long Tomorrow".

Escape to the Land of the Morning of Time and watch the good guys win. Ah, but not just your everyday, average good guys; but the good guys with a twist--a special power here, an ancient memory there.

As I read this fun, so beautifully illustrated novel, I could feel the frustration of the evil ones, and enjoy the triumph of the Arzach and his kind. And when Arzach and his folks intersect with some surprised, um, Californians....well. What fun!

I hope Arzach comes back to us again. Apart from the stories, the artwork is worth studying on its own. And the stories give new meaning to drawings worthwhile in their own right.

Jean Giraud, known as Moebius is one of the foremost expert talents when it comes to the comic medium, born in France and trained at an art institute but well known all over the globe. Perhaps best known for illustrating an Old West comic, Blueberry, he was also drawing and designing costumes and sets to such movies as Alien, Tron, Willow, The Fifth Element and The Abyss. His imaginary worlds and characters are lush and rich, making my brain and eyes fill with glee, and honestly making me want to get up and draw myself. Arzach is not a comic book, but an actual novel, tangling the real world with Moebius's imaginary land of Morning of Time, where the main hero is Arzach himself, a silent and wise warrior flying on a pteron (a pterodactyl like creature) though golden sun rays, rich blue skies over lush green grasses swaying under the creatures wings, which pull any living pray into its green tentacles and devour it. Nothings is as it seems on the strange world filled with deserts and pyramids, forests and dark crystal towers. There are however portals on this land that can transport any creatures to our modern civilization, as something forlorn is brewing in the Morning of Time land and It wants to get out to our side.

Our hero is on a mission, as the book starts of a little complicated, due to strange names, but it slowly melts all the stories and characters as there are many, to form what looks like bedtime stories with a twist into a full fledged battle between good and some really nasty rotten evil. Arzach the silent warrior tires to save his land from Sarakin, a blood hungry evil creature beyond damnation who is literally killing everyone in sight and who is extremely darkly written in this beautiful book. The story flows from the beginning, of how the land rose form the boiling sea, as creature good and free got pushed over by malevolent spirits who rule the underworld, which seems to roam free as it pleased, attacking innocents with huge eight legged monkeys, flying salamanders, evil wizards, soldiers and gnomes and carnivorous creatures who each other. This is the land of Kinds and evil barons, red eyes hounds with yellow teeth who hunt the forests at night and spirits who live in the tar and who will cast away any sanity its prey possesses. Pretty much anything imaginable is reality there as Arzach somehow has a crash of cultures when an artist from Los Angeles gets through to his side, and who against all odds tries to fight the battle with him against Sarakin who is the master of conniving and lying, spying and above all focused on destroying Arzach and all the humans.

I had a great time reading into Moebius's world of power struggles and relationships between the good creatures and the magical animals, as some of the pteron flights and fighting sequences were movie like in front of my eyes. I felt as if I was there, flying with Arzach wielding a glimmering sword, conquering the dark plague.

Moebius is a great artist, from drawing serene images to lush and violent and sometimes sexually charged topics as his imagination ends where the sun finally sets. The sun will never set anywhere of course, as he will never stop being one of the most influential and amazing artists of our time. This books plunges into his story and makes me crave more. I hope to read continued stories of Arzach, with his tall hat and fuzzy pom poms, slicing through air on his mighty bird.

Moebius Arzach is a compelling and original work, wonderfully illustrated with huge appeal. I hope to some day read another volume of tales about Arzach, Charlimpota the jovial wizard and the Pterons. One for the keeper shelf.

I love heroic fantasy, especially the works of Jack Vance and Michael Moorcock, and I loved this light-hearted fantasy novel. Its world and characters are somewhat reminiscent of the Belgariad. It's an easy and enjoyable read.

I'm interested in Moebious works. At the first time, I think this item is one of his work. However, it appears that it is a novel based on the graphic novel, which doesn't include many of Moebius's illustrations, only at the beginnings of the chapters.

In terms of its content, I think the book is not as good as I expect. It's a fair fantasy story, having interesting plot. The book tries to illustrate the Arzach's world, which I think the graphic novel can do it better, but less focuses on the characters. It seemingly focuses on backgrounds of the characters and connection between them, rather than leads to emotional involvement. So, when I read it, I got the story, but did not share sympathy with the characters as I should.

In summary, this book is ok to read, but not the must. It is a good complement of the Arzach graphic novels.

I AM REALLY ENJOYING THIS BOOK. I LOVE FANTASIES AND/OR SCIENCE FICTION. VERY IMAGINATIVE NAMES OF CHARACTERS AND PLACES. I LIKE THE CHARACTERS AND SITUATIONS. I RECENTLY OBTAINED THIS BOOK AND AM HALFWAY THROUGH IT. I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO FINISH IT, AND I HOPE THERE WILL BE MORE AFTER THIS.

I'd give this book zero stars if I could.

I grew up reading bad fantasy literature by the pound. My tolerance is remarkably high for this kind of stuff but this book is simply unreadable. Redundant, pretentious prose. I can't even get to the content of the book because the writing is so poor. Here's a typical example...

"The ancient city of Qisque stood on the estuary of the mighty river Arelas, south of the snow-capped land of Qerce, far to the north beyond the fertile plains of Gayoffe and the swampy marshes of Fonville...[the black messengers of Qisque were] the feared envoys of its queen, the lady Maurien, whose beauty was legend and whose wrath was feared from the edge of the Scalding Sea to the mighty peaks of the Avurias"

It gets worse. Terrible imagery, awful metaphors and similes, packed with cliches....

"The mist creature began swaying back and forth, while Sarukin erupted in maniacal, high pitched laughter..."

"He was a man whose skin was burnished, ageless as an old sword that has seen too many battles."

Good lord, man. And get a load of some of the names and titles used in the book...

The Time of the Dark Flame
The Time of Mourning
The Formless Ones
The Desert of Tears
The Morning of Time
The Rock of Everlasting Despair

Totally disappointing book. A few inches above fan fiction. AVOID. Not sure why this book is so highly praised.

Moebius's art is okay though the illustrations look more like accomplished studies than finished illustrations.