I absolutely love the work of Jean Giraud, who is easily one of the greatest living French illustrators and I'm pretty keen to get my hands on a copy of the complete Arzak.
Arzak is a wordless narrative that was published in several volumes during the 70's.
The protagonist moves across a vast empty landscape in a lonely future and the use of vibrant colour and space is really unique.
The main thing I really wanted to mention which is startling to me as a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's work is the resemblance between Arzak's bird and Nausicaa's Mehve, the machine she flies. I'm sure it's undeniable from the images I've posted alongside my writing here. I'm aware that Giraud and Miyazaki are friends. Did he take his inspiration from Arzak? Also, if I'm examining Nausicaa as a whole, the style, the insects and the 'organic dystopian future' apparent in the film does seem akin to the French science fiction often shown in Heavy Metal magazine and the other works of Giraud. I dunno, it's hypothesis. But if anyone wants to reassure me that they've noticed the same thing an email would be great.
On a side note I also love Panzer Dragoon, and Giraud designed the concept art for the original game which blew my mind when I was 11.
Arzak
Nausicaa
The original Panzer Dragoon. Don't get me started on Azel (the third game in the series), it's easily one of the best games ever made.What an absolute legend.
