Jean-Claude Mézières
Jean-Claude Mézières | |
---|---|
Born | Paris, France | 23 September 1938
Died | 23 January 2022 Paris, France | (aged 83)
Area(s) | Artist |
Pseudonym(s) | Mézières, Mezi |
Notable works |
|
Awards | Full list |
Jean-Claude Mézières (French:
Returning to France, Mézières teamed up with his childhood friend,
Mézières received international recognition through numerous awards, most notably the 1984 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême.
Biography
Early life and career
Raised in the
In 1953, the fifteen years old Mézières enrolled at the École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers d'art for four years.[3] His class there included two other aspiring artists who would go on to find success in the field of comics – Patrick (Pat) Mallet and Jean "Moebius" Giraud. With Giraud in particular, he developed a life-long friendship due to their shared interest in Westerns and science fiction (both men later worked together as production illustrators on Besson's The Fifth Element).[1] At this time he also rekindled his friendship with Pierre Christin, who was coincidentally attending the high school next door to the Arts Appliqués, the pair bonding over a mutual interest in jazz and cinema.[2][3] While at college, Mézières, like Giraud, published illustrations and strips for publications such as Coeurs Valliants, Fripounet et Marisette and Spirou magazine.[1]
Following art college, Mézières entered
Answering an advertisement in Le Figaro after his discharge from the army, Mézières was employed by the publishing house
Introduced to Benoit Gillain (son of the famous comics artist Jijé) by Giraud, Mézières entered into a partnership with Gillain and they opened a studio in 1963. Working mainly in advertising, Mézières acted as a photographer, model maker and graphic designer. He also assisted Gillain with the setting up of Totale Journal, a publication he would later work for again upon his return from America.[1][2]
Work in the United States
Mézières had been fascinated by the
In 1965, Mézières arranged a working visa through a friend of Jijé's who had a factory in
When winter came and there was no work available on the ranches, he collaborated with Christin on a six-page strip called Le Rhum du Punch, a copy of which he sent to Jean Giraud who was by now writing and illustrating
Mézières' experiences in the United States have provided the inspiration for several magazine articles[6] published in Pilote, Tintin, and GEO magazines as well as two books – Olivier chez les cow-boys (Olivier with the Cowboys), a children's book written by Pierre Christin with photographs and illustrations by Mézières about a visit Christin's son Olivier paid to the ranch Mézières worked on in Utah[7] and Adieu, rêve américain... (Farewell, American dreams...), again written by Christin with photographs and illustrations by Mézières, a nostalgic look back at their time in the United States.[8]
Valérian
On his return from the United States, Mézières visited the offices of Pilote magazine to see
By this time Pierre Christin was dividing his time between Paris and Bordeaux, where he was working on founding the school of journalism at the Institut Universitaire de Technologie (IUT). Meeting up with Mézières one day, Christin suggested that they work on creating a comic strip together. Both had their experiences in the American West to draw upon but felt, thanks to Lucky Luke, Jerry Spring and Blueberry, that the market for Westerns was already crowded. Instead, Christin suggested that they turn their hands to science fiction, a genre that, at that time, was not prevalent in French comics. Although Goscinny was not a science fiction fan, he wanted to promote innovation and originality in Pilote and so commissioned them to produce a strip.[1][2]
Drawing on influences from literary science fiction,
The first Valérian adventure,
Bad Dreams was followed by La Cité des Eaux Mouvantes (The City of Moving Waters) and its sequel Terre en Flammes (Earth in Flames) in 1968 and 1969 respectively.
Valérian is Mézières' best-known work, translated into at least thirteen languages:
Work in film and television
Mézières was always as interested in the cinema as he was in drawing. In 1957, he began work with Jean Giraud on creating an animated Western. Dissatisfied with the results, the project was abandoned after 45 seconds of animation had been completed. The same year he shot a short, ten-minute, 8 mm film, La vie d'un Rêve (Life is a Dream), with Pierre Christin.[3]
The success of Valérian led to Mézières becoming involved in several, mainly science fiction, film and television projects. The first of these was Billet Doux (Love Letter), a 1984 television series starring Pierre Mondy as a comic strip editor for which Mézières mocked up comic book covers and characters.
In October 1985, Mézières was contacted by the German director
In December 1991, Mézières was approached by director Luc Besson, a lifelong fan of Valérian, who wanted Mézières to work on designs for a science fiction film called Zaltman Bléros. Along with his old friend Jean Giraud, who had also been approached by Besson, he began work producing concepts of buildings and vehicles for the futuristic New York depicted in the script. Interested by the flying taxi cabs that appeared in some of the drawings, Besson asked Mézières to draw more taxis and also a flying police car. By the start of 1993, production had stalled and Besson moved to the United States to work on the film
Other works
At the same time as he was working on Valérian and various film and television projects, Mézières also worked extensively producing illustrations and comic strips for magazines and newspapers such as Pilote,
Mézières was also involved at one point in giving hands-on courses on the production of comic strips at the
He collaborated with Pierre Christin on a number of non-Valérian projects. The first of these was Lady Polaris in 1987, an illustrated novel about the mysterious disappearance of a cargo vessel, the Lady Polaris. The narrative comprises various documents related to the lost ship: comic strips, log books, even an investigative journalism account by a fictionalised Mézières and Christin. The action takes place against the backdrop of many of the great seaports of Europe. Mézières undertook considerable research in putting together this book, visiting the ports of Liverpool, Copenhagen, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Lübeck, Bordeaux, Bilbao and Genoa.[16][18]
Another collaboration with Christin was Canal Choc, a series of four albums about a television news team investigating strange phenomena. Mézières did not draw these albums but supervised a team of artists including Philippe Aymond and Hugues Labiano.[1]
In 2001, Mézières was approached by the city of
Death
Mézières died on 23 January 2022, at the age of 83.[20][21]
Legacy
Mézières' arrival on the French comics scene with Valérian was contemporaneous with the debuts of other notable French science-fiction strips including
Outside of comics, Mézières' art has been especially influential on science fiction and fantasy film. In particular, several commentators, such as Kim Thompson,[24] Jean-Philippe Guerand[25] and the newspaper Libération,[26] have noted certain similarities between the Valérian albums and the Star Wars film series. Both series are noted for the "lived-in" look given to their various settings and for the diverse alien creatures they feature. Mézières' response upon seeing Star Wars was that he was "dazzled, jealous... and furious!".[27] As a riposte, he produced an illustration for Pilote magazine in 1983 depicting the Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa meeting Valérian and Laureline in a bar surrounded by a bestiary of alien creatures typical of that seen in both series. "Fancy meeting you here!" says Leia. "Oh, we've been hanging around here for a long time!" retorts Laureline.[28] Mézières has since been informed that Doug Chiang, design director on The Phantom Menace, kept a set of Valérian albums and Les Extras de Mézières in his library.[1]
Mézières also noticed similarities between some of the sets in the 1982 film
Awards
- 1984: Winner, Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, the most prestigious award given at the annual Angoulême International Comics Festival[29]
- 1987: Winner, with Pierre Christin, European Science Fiction Society award for Valérian[30]
- 1992: Special mention by the jury, with Pierre Christin, Prix Jeunesse 9–12 ans (Youth Prize 9–12 years), at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, for Les Habitants du Ciel, an encyclopaedia of the alien creatures that have appeared in the Valérian series[31]
- 1995: Nominated, with Pierre Christin, for the Haxtur Award for Best Short Comic Strip, at the Salón Internacional del Cómic del Principado de Asturias (International Comics Convention of the Principality of Asturia, Spain), for the Valérian album The Circles of Power[32]
- 1997: Winner, with Pierre Christin, Hostages of the Ultralum[33]
- 2018: Max & Moritz Prize from Comic-Salon Erlangen (Germany) for Special Prize for outstanding life's work[34]
Selected publications
- The Valérian and Laureline (1967–2019) – drawn by Mézières, written by Pierre Christin. The classic comic strip series depicting the adventures of spatio-temporal agent Valérian and his feisty redhead companion, Laureline, as they travel through space and time is Mézières' most widely known and best-selling work. With the exception of the short stories originally published in the digest-sized Super Pocket Pilote spin-off publication of Pilote, all albums have been translated into English.
- Mon Amérique à moi (My Very Own America) (1974) – an 8-page autobiographical strip, first published in Pilote, recounting Mézières' time in America in the mid-1960s.
- An English translation was published in black and white in 1996 as a part of European Readings of American Popular Culture an academic publication edited by John Dean and Jean-Paul Gabillet. ISBN 9780313294297
- An English translation was published in black and white in 1996 as a part of European Readings of American Popular Culture an academic publication edited by John Dean and Jean-Paul Gabillet.
- Mezi avant Mézières (1981) – a collection of Mézières' early work for magazines such as Pilote.
- Mézières et Christin avec... (1983) – compilation of early work, including the first publication of the Valérian story Bad Dreams in an album as well as Mon Amérique à moi and the strips Mézières produced for Métal Hurlant. ISBN 9782205025132
- Lady Polaris (1987) – an illustrated novel written by Pierre Christin, set against the backdrop of the great seaports of Europe, about the mysterious sinking of the cargo vessel, the Lady Polaris. ISBN 2862602035
- Les Extras de Mézières (Mézières' Extras) (1995) – a miscellaneous collection of works Mézières produced in the 1980s and early 1990s. Includes examples of Mézières' advertising work as well as concept designs for film projects. ISBN 978-2205044430
- Les Extras de Mézières No. 2: Mon Cinquieme Element (Mézières' Extras No. 2: My Fifth Element) (1998) – a collection of the concept drawings Mézières produced for the film The Fifth Element. ISBN 978-2205047516
- Adieu rêve américain (Farewell American Dreams) – part of the Correspondences de Pierre Christin series. Mézières and Christin reminisce about their American adventures. ISBN 978-2205049046
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Maltret, Olivier (August 2001). "Dossier Mezieres". Les Dossiers de la Bande Dessinée (DBD) (12): 1–40. Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
- ^ ISSN 0194-7869.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Première période (avant 1967)". Tout (ou presque) sur Jean-Claude Mézières... Archived from the original on 20 September 2005. Retrieved 20 September 2006.
- ^ ]
- ISBN 0-313-29429-1. Archived from the originalon 10 February 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2006.
- ^ Mézières, Jean-Claude. "Western". Le site officiel de Jean-Claude Mézières (in French). Archived from the original on 29 October 2005. Retrieved 23 September 2006.
- ^ Mezieres, Jean-Claude; Christin, Pierre (1969). Olivier chez les cow-boys (in French). Paris: Dargaud. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 23 September 2006.
- ISBN 2-205-04904-6.
- ^ Pomerleau, Luc (May 1989). "Pierre Christin and Enki Bilal, Called to Comics". The Comics Journal (129): 62–67. Archived from the original on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 21 July 2009.
- ^ a b c "Le journal Pilote et les publications Dargaud par année" (in French). Retrieved 24 September 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Perez, Pepo (February 2002). "Tierra de Gigantes". U (23). Archived from the original on 23 May 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2006.
- ^ Andrevon, Jean-Pierre (December 1971). "L'Empire des Mille Planètes". Fiction (216). Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2006.
- ^ a b Andrevon, Jean-Pierre (December 1970). "La Cité des eaux mouvantes". Fiction (204). Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2006.
- ^ "Valerian eri kielillä - Valérian in different languages". Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2006.
- ^ "Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline – Official website". Dargaud. Archived from the original on 1 November 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
- ^ ISBN 2-205-04443-5.
- ISBN 2-205-04751-5.
- ISBN 2-86260-203-5.
- ^ Mézières, Jean-Claude. "Le chemin des étoiles à Lille 2004 !". Le site officiel de Jean-Claude Mézières (in French). Archived from the original on 15 December 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2006.
- ^ "Jean-Claude Mézières nous a quittés..." Dargaud (in French). Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ^ "Décès de Jean-Claude Mézières, cocréateur de la BD "Valérian et Laureline"". Radio Télévision Suisse (in French). 23 January 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
- ISBN 0-9740711-8-8.
- ISBN 1-84513-068-5.
- ISBN 0-7434-8674-9.
- ^ Geurand, Jean-Phillipe (November 1999). "Noirs dessins". Le Nouveau Cinéma. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
- ^ F.A. (13 October 1999). "Sur les traces de Valerian et consorts". Liberation. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2006.
- ^ "Troisième période (1980–1984)". Tout (ou presque) sur Jean-Claude Mézières... Archived from the original on 2 October 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2006.
- ^ Mézières, Jean-Claude; Tierney, D. (1 October 1983). "Le retour du Jedi: c'est de la B.D". Pilote (M113).
- ^ "List of Grand Prix award winners". Official Website of the Angoulême International Comics Festival. Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2006.
- ^ "ESFS Awards 1987-89". Official Website of the European Science Fiction Society. Retrieved 17 September 2006.
- ^ "Le Palmarès 1992". ToutEnBD (in French). Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2007.
- ^ "Haxtur Award Nominees 1995". Official Site of the Haxtur Awards. Archived from the original on 10 May 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
- ^ "Bandes dessinées et Prix Tournesol". Les Verts (Official site of the French Green Party). Archived from the original on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2006.
- ^ Leblanc, Léopoldine (5 June 2018). "Riad Sattouf et Jean-Claude Mézières lauréats des Max und Moritz 2018". LivresHebdo (in French). Retrieved 25 January 2022.
External links
- Jean-Claude Mézières official site
- Mézières biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia