Science Fiction, the Source of my Imagination (Part 1: Discovery of Seminal Works)
When it came to writing this post, I said to myself that I was going to start by listing all the drawn, written or filmed works that have particularly touched me and therefore strongly influenced me. By doing so, I would be able to associate them with particular events or moments in my life. Before I knew it, I found myself compiling a very impressive list of titles.
My first memories date back to reading books by Jules Verne, including ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’, ‘From the Earth to the Moon’, ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’ and ‘The Mysterious Island’. Verne was one of the precursors of the “steampunk*” movement, which I discovered much later through the ‘Wild Wild West’ series.
During my summer holidays in the early ’70s, which I spent with my maternal grandparents, I watched the British series ‘Space: 1999′ with Martin Landau and Barbara Bain on TF1 every Saturday. I also remember the black-and-white series ‘The Twilight Zone’, a real goldmine of fantastic, bizarre, and enigmatic stories, covering most of the themes exploited and later developed by many subsequent SF authors.
I rewatched this series a few years ago and, apart from the slightly outdated side of the sets and costumes, I still enjoyed watching these episodes. During the same period (1970–1975), I saw Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ at the cinema, and on the TV I enjoyed Franklin Schaffner’s ‘Planet of the Apes’, with the fabulous Charlton Heston playing the leading role. These were all so revolutionary to me, triggering my eventual love of SF.
Then, in 1977, came an important crossing of paths with Jean-Paul Thaulez, who had a small bookshop not far from my parents’ house. Through my mother, I was introduced to this multi-talented individual (graphic designer, draughtsman, musician, writer), who was passionate about comics and, crucially… science fiction. I bought my first SF comic books from him, including ‘Les Naufragés du Temps’ by Jean-Claude Forest and Paul Gillon in the two-colour version published by BD Hachette, and ‘Le Vagabond des Limbes’ by Godard and Ribera, which saw Axle Munshine, with his depressing character, haunted by Chimeer, an attractive woman who appears regularly in his dreams. I also acquired ‘Le Dieu Vivant’, the version edited by Rossel with its pink cover, drawn and scripted by the young Comès, as well as the first ‘Valerian’ by Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin. Then came my discovery of the quarterly ‘Métal Hurlant’, published by Humanoïdes Associés, and its extraordinary artists Philippe Druillet, Moebius (alias “GIR” or “Giraud”) with his fantastic ‘Arzach’, Richard Corben, Enki Bilal, Luc & François Schuiten, Forest, Gaza, etc.
Jean-Paul quickly understood my interest in drawing and comics and asked me to lend him a hand, before I began supporting him in his professional work. This is how I ended up doing my first graphic experiments, participating in the creation of layouts for the magazine ‘Spatial’, edited by Michel Deligne, and in the colouring of the erotic-spatial comic book ‘Slot Barr’ by Francisco Solano López. At that time I was having fun reproducing large format illustrations of Philippe Druillet’s ‘Yragaël’. Inspired by this artist, I used the same graphic style to design the poster for the Athénée Provincial de La Louvière’s annual senior ball. It was 1978…
* A literary movement combining the technology and aesthetics of the Victorian era of the 19th century with futuristic elements based on the development of the steam engine at the expense of electricity.
Interview with Olivier Ledroit and Philippe Druillet (in French)
© Glénat – Entretien mené par Laurent Duroche – Mad Movies
