Moebius Comes To America

Let’s visit the photo archives again, shall we?

Years ago, I had the occasion to journey to a comic book store in the Bay Area - somewhere around one of the cities near San Francisco. I had been attending a convention near the San Francisco Airport. After the show was over, I had some time to kill and some friends drove me out to a comic book store where Jean Giraud (aka Moebius!) was putting in an appearance. How could I resist that?

I don’t remember why Moebius was in town. He wasn’t at the convention, which was a Star*Reach event for retailers and publishers only. I just know that he was there - the creator of Lt. Blueberry, The Airtight Garage and dozens of other great things. And, fortunately, I had my camera with me, my then-trusty 35mm decidedly non-digital Pentax. I stood in line, I shook his hand, and he signed a giant poster for me (as he did for everyone else in line.) Here are a couple of shots from that day. My memory is that this is Comics & Comix in Palo Alto, but if anyone can confirm or correct that, the world would be a better place for all of us.

And yes, I realize the photos are better than the story, but look over there: It’s Moebius!

[Artwork: Photo of Jean Giraud/Moebius. Photo © Tom K. Mason]

Forgotten Comics: Howard Chaykin’s Cody Starbuck

Mike Friedrich was one of the talents of the 1970s and 1980s who changed the comic book business for the better. Dean Mullaney, Phil Seuling, Bud Plant and several others belong on that list as well as several people I’m forgetting. Mike started out as a comic book fan, became a freelance writer for DC and Marvel, transitioned to publishing with his own company (Star*Reach) and later became an agent, turning Star*Reach into an agency representing artists and writers. As a freelancer, he knew well the contracts (and contractual problems) at the major companies. As a publisher he provided an alternative venue for creators to pursue projects DC and Marvel either didn’t want or wouldn’t let the creators own. That may not sound like a big deal, but back in the day if you wanted to tell stories outside of the standard Marvel-DC superhero template, or found yourself on the outs with those two companies, you had almost no alternatives until Star*Reach and Eclipse came along.

When Friedrich became an agent he was able to turn his experience loose on behalf of other creators to negotiate better deals. I’ve read comics Mike wrote, I’ve read comics that he published, and a couple of times I’ve been across the virtual negotiating table from him. [I won’t name names, but at the initial Ultraverse Founders conference in Scottsdale AZ, he quite rightly had his client wait in the hall while he finished negotiating via phone his client’s UV contract. My job at the time was to nod sycophantically and supervise the snack trays for the conference; Dave Olbrich did the actual nuts and bolts negotiating.]

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