It is with sadness that we post news of the death of Jean Henri Gaston Giraud who passed away at the weekend after a long illness, aged 74.

Giraud was a French comics artist, working in the tradition of bandes dessinées (drawn strips), and earned worldwide fame, predominantly under the pseudonym Mœbius. Esteemed by Federico Fellini, Stan Lee, and French politicians Jack Lang and François Mitterand, among others, he was one of the few francophone comic strip artists to receive international acclaim.

Among his most famous works is the Western comic series Blueberry which he co-created with writer Jean-Michel Charlier, one of the first Western anti-heroes to appear in comics. He also created a wide range of science fiction and fantasy comics. Under the guise of Moebius, Giraud contributed storyboards and concept designs to numerous science fiction and fantasy films, including Alien, Willow, Tron (1982), and The Fifth Element.