Moebius - Aedena Cycle 5pts

Jean Giraud wrote this iconic story while traveling the world. The author’s notes at the end talk about how he, a Frenchman, traveled to Japan, which shows in some of the manga style onomatopoeia in katakana in the seventh issue. He wrote the fifth book in English as his first published in that language. Some of the language barriers of volume one show characters communicating in a variety of languages, and I think his international exposure likely inspired that; many don’t even use roman characters, which reflects aspects of some real-world languages, even though some in the story were made up for alien planets.

This world began with a car advertisement collaboration but evolved into something much bigger. Each volume in this collection focuses on something different but has a somewhat overarching narrative that follows the main characters Stel and Atana. It’s a very almost psychedelic world that incorporates elements of psychology, spirituality, and fantasy. The story takes off after the protagonists discover a mysterious pyramid that takes them to other worlds. In volume five, there’s a big emphasis on health and nutrition, which became a focus in the artist’s real-world life. Futuristic people had to readjust to living in a natural state before they face off a diseased dreamworld in volume seven. While somewhat strange, the Aedena Cycle of Moebius, including Upon a Star, The Gardens of Aedena, and The Goddess, was a very interesting narrative with a very striking visual style composed of simple lines and bright colors.

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