36 EXCURSIONS & EXCAVATIONS in the HERMETIC GARAGE
5: An introduction to Major Fatal (1979)
The only way to stay alive is to stay fresh and have fun doing what you’re doing.
(afterword to “The Horny Goof”, MŒBIUS 0)
On page 13 of Metal Hurlant #41, dated June 1979, the final eight-page episode of Le Garage Hermétique de Jerry Cornelius came to an end. On page 56, the cover of the album MAJOR FATAL was printed as a full page, in black and white. On the inside back cover, its contents were advertised, and readers told that it contained one entirely unpublished page. In addition, prospective buyers were advised that if the album was purchased at one of around a hundred and fifty bookstores on an appended list, they would find in the album a limited edition color poster, featuring Grubert’s first appearance. This was a reprint of “Les Merveilles de l’Univers”, from Pilote #749 (March 14, 1974), where Commandant W. W. Grubert, leader of the Galatée expedition, was accompanied by the artist-reporter Gir. (Both are rather rough-looking characters.)
The album itself was in black and white, and contained six strips featuring Grubert:
pp. 9 - 21: Le Major Fatal (Metal Hurlant #6)
pp.24 - 25: Le Major Grubert - The Forbidden City Rides Again (Fluide Glacial #2)
pp.28 - 33: La Chasse au Français en Vacance (France-Soir, 1974)
pp.36 - 37: La Flore de Paradis 9 (Metal Hurlant #19)
pp.40 - 41: Une Aventure du Major Grubert (Metal Hurlant #2)
pp.44 -141: Le Garage Hermétique de Jerry Cornelius (Metal Hurlant #6-41)
With an illustration from Metal Hurlant #19 (Grubert carrying a box marked Magma) on the facing page, Giraud’s hand-lettered foreword appeared on page 5. I’ve already quoted from it on a couple of occasions, so here it is in full. I know it’s been posted on a couple of French sites, but I’m not sure it’s had a full translation into English. The translation offered here is intended to be functional rather than fully idiomatic, aiming at transparency rather than elegance:
SO A COMiCS ARTiST iS iN SEARCH OF A “HERO”
HOW iS A HERO BORN iN COMiCS ? OR RATHER, HOW iS A “HERO” BORN ? A HERO iS ONLY THE PRiNCiPAL CHARACTER iN A STORY - A TALE COMPRiSiNG A FEW PAGES AND WHOSE UNCERTAiN FATE PERMiTS THE AUTHOR TO EXPRESS AN iDEA, A GAG OR WHATEVER SUiTS THE MOOD OF THE MOMENT ... THiS CHARACTER MAYBE REAPPEARS iN ANOTHER STORY, WEAViNG SUBTLE LiNKS WiTH THE FiRST, THEN iN A THiRD, PERHAPS. OTHERS FOLLOW - HERE HE’S BECOME A “HERO”... USUALLY, HOWEVER, THE HERO DOESN’T OCCUPY THE TALE... HE LAUNCHES DiRECTLY INTO THE GREAT “TO BE CONTiNUED” ADVENTURE, PERFECTiNG HiS iDENTiTY AT FiRST UNSTEADiLY iN A SERiES OF PAGES, UNTiL FULLY GROWN.
THE DELiVERY OF THE HERO iS OFTEN LABORiOUS AND THiS iS NATURAL BECAUSE HE iS THE iDENTiFYiNG EXPRESSiON OF THE CREATOR, AND THE MORE THE LATTER STRAiNS AND PUSHES, THE MORE THE CHiLD GROWS LARGE AND iNJURES HiS “MOTHER”.
SOMETiMES, HOWEVER, THE CHiLD ARRiVES PAiNLESSLY, ALMOST UNNOTiCED BY THE COMiC STRiP ARTiST... iN ONE SiNGLE STROKE, HE’S THERE, TiNY, HUNGRY, ALiVE!
iT’S A LiTTLE LiKE THiS WiTH MAJOR GRUBERT - HE SLiPPED ONE DAY iNTO A PSEUDO-REPORT ON THE MARVELS OF THE UNiVERSE iN “PiLOTE” ... HE WAS THE ARCHETYPE OF THE COMiC STRiP EXPLORER OF MY CHiLDHOOD - iN THE STYLE OF THE SERiES “BRiNG ‘EM BACK ALiVE” AND WHO I HAD THE iDEA OF ASSASSiNATiNG BY RiDiCULE iN THE COURSE OF A LONG, WEARY QUEST ACROSS THE GALAXiES...
THE PROJECT FiZZLED, BUT ONE DAY VANiA BEAUVAiS HAD THE ABSURD iDEA OF ENTRUSTiNG ME WiTH SiX PAGES iN “FRANCE-SOiR” ON THE THEME OF FRENCH VACATiONS AND SPONTANEOUSLY, ALMOST SNEAKiLY, THE MAJOR RESURFACED, THiS TiME WiTHOUT A HELMET BUT AFFLiCTED BY A LAMENTABLE BUSH HAT WiTH A LEOPARD BAND ... HiS COMPANiON WAS, BESiDES, MY LATEST ATTEMPT AT SELF-REPRESENTATiON (iT WAS EASY AT THE TiME BECAUSE OF THE MUSTACHE) ... ALLOWiNG TiME FOR READERS OF “FRANCE-SOiR” TO RECOVER, THE MAJOR REAPPEARED iN A SURREALiST TWO-PAGER iN “FLUiDE GLACiAL”. REACTiONS WERE EQUALLY FLUiD AND GLACiAL - BUT LAUNCHED, FROZEN, COAGULATED, MAJOR GRUBERT EXiSTED! HE WAS A “HERO” iN HiS OWN RiGHT!
THE REST HAPPENS EXCLUSiVELY WiTHiN THE CONFiNES OF METAL ... iT WAS A TiME WHEN i FLUTTERED FROM ONE DRAWiNG TO ANOTHER WiTH THE MOST PERFECT iNSOUCiANCE. I’D BROKEN THE CHAiNS THAT BOUND ME TO BLUEBERRY FOR MORE THAN TWELVE YEARS (THE METAL ADVENTURE WAS iN THE BEGiNNiNG FAiRLY RELAXED, THE MAGAZiNE WAS QUARTERLY, WHiCH WAS A CHANGE FROM THE iNFERNAL RHYTHM OF THE WEEKLY “PiLOTE”), THE SKY WAS BLUE AND STORiES SPURTED FROM THE SMOKE WiTH THE HAPPY “FLOP” OF CHAMPAGNE ... “MAJOR FATAL” DATES FROM THiS PERiOD, ALONG WiTH OTHER PAGES HERE AND THERE...
BUT iT ALL CHANGED VERY QUiCKLY - WORK CAUGHT UP WiTH ME AT THE TURN... BLUEBERRY WiTH HiS GREAT HOOVES AND METAL WHiCH TURNED MONTHLY AND THEN, BESiDES, THERE WAS A NEW DESiRE TO WORK ... THE MAJOR REMAiNED VERY CALM, BiDiNG HiS TiME.
SOMETiMES I’D BROACH THE BEGiNNiNG OF A STORY - ONE PAGE OR TWO, THEN LET iT DROP AND MOVE ON TO SOMETHiNG ELSE - THE WHiMSiCAL WHATEVER ... THAT’S HOW THE FiRST TWO PAGES OF THE “GARAGE HERMETiQUE” WERE BORN ... LiKE A GAME ... i DREW TWO PAGES “AS iF” iT WERE A STORY BUT AT THE SAME TiME WiTH A THEME, A CHARACTER AND A TiTLE SO ABSURD THAT A CONTiNUATiON SEEMED iMPOSSiBLE...
iT’S J. P. DiONNET, EDiTOR-iN-CHiEF OF METAL WHO’S RESPONSiBLE FOR WHAT FOLLOWED, BECAUSE iF HE HADN’T HAD THE PERVERSE iDEA TO HAVE THESE TWO UNHAPPY PAGES iN METAL NO 6, ENGiNEER BARNiER’S DAMAGED CABLEUR WOULD HAVE FOREVER REMAiNED WHAT iT WAS iN REALiTY, A MACHiNE WiTH NO PAST, WiTH NO FUTURE, WiTH NEiTHER TAiL NOR HEAD!...
I’D PUT THE PEN iN GEAR, THE REST HAD TO FOLLOW ... CiRCUMSTANCES LENT THEMSELVES TO iT. I HAD BLUEBERRY TO DO, WHiCH TOOK A LOT OF TiME, AND PLENTY OF OTHER THiNGS, AND STiLL OTHERS, ETC ... SO iT SEEMED GOOD TO HAVE A MiNiMUM PRESENCE OF TWO PAGES iN EACH iSSUE OF METAL...
LE GARAGE HERMÉTIQUE DE JERRY CORNELiUS WAS UNDER WAY, YET iT WAS AGAiN ALMOST iN SPiTE OF ME THAT THE MAJOR MADE HiS APPEARANCE, iN THE THiRD EPiSODE...
SO THE GARAGE iS THE TYPiCAL EXAMPLE OF A COMiC STRiP WITH NO PRE-EXiSTiNG SCRiPT... EACH TiME THE TEMPTATiON TOOK HOLD TO SOLiDiFY THE STORYLiNE, AND SOME OBJECTiVE WAS OUTLiNED, I BROKE EVERYTHiNG AND SET OFF ON A NEW ADVENTURE ... MOREOVER, FROM ONE MONTH TO THE NEXT, I’D FORGET WHAT I’D DRAWN iN THE PREViOUS iNSTALLMENT ... OTHER TiMES, I DiDN’T REMEMBER THE DEADLiNE UNTiL THE LAST MOMENT AND WOULD SEND iN TWO PAGES iMPROViSED iN A NiGHT... WHAT A MARVEL! SO THiS STRiP iS NOT SERiOUS WORK!...
THiS iNTERESTiNG EXPERiENCE iS NOW FiNiSHED ... iN THE END, THE STORY WAS TiED UP iN AN ALMOST CLASSiC FASHiON, AS iN THOSE ALCOHOLiC NOVELS AMERiCA PRODUCED AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR - A HUNDRED PAGES I NOW REGARD A LiTTLE LiKE A DiARY iN CODE, SPANNiNG THREE YEARS OF MY LiFE, AT THE RATE OF TWO PAGES A MONTH - AFTER ALL, I’M NOT SO TALKATiVE AS ALL THAT.
MŒBIUS
P.S. JERRY CORNELiUS iS A CHARACTER CREATED BY THE GREAT MOORCOCK SOME YEARS AGO, WHO HAS WANDERED iNTO VARiOUS STORiES BY DiFFERENT AUTHORS OF THE ENGLiSH NEW WAVE. I SWORE AT THE TiME TO DEDiCATE A STORY TO HiM iN MY TURN ... iT’S DONE.