Dark Horse Comics’ collection of The Major is the latest release within the Moebius Library. The original series was released between 1997 and 2009 through a number of publishers and marks the first time it has been officially released in English. Translated by Diana Schutz and with lettering by Adam Pruett, Moebius’ Desert B builds and the adventure gets bigger and stranger in a story that would make Terry Gilliam jealous.
Major Grubert lives in a box in the middle of Desert B known as the psychocabin. He talks to Whatson and Senator through a small rectangle cut into the box. These two could give Tom Stoppard’s versions of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern a run for their money in the intelligence department. They ask him things like, “What is it to be Good? What does God do?” While The Major answers them, the conversations lead to some very Pythonesque exchanges. The Major escapes the psychocabin and declares Desert B as his own land. Whatson and Senator push back and tell him it belongs to Moebius. This sends the Major into a meta tailspin, as he believed Moebius to be a myth. If he is real, he is essentially their God. This sets the Major on one last trip to the nebula of the Airtight Garage.
As the story gets deeper, the art gets more abstract and more surreal. The look of the psychocabin starts simple, but like Dr. Who’s Tardis, it’s much bigger and fantastical on the inside. This feels like it is owed to Moebius’ spontaneous and almost improv-like take on the writing of the story. The drawings become more and more detailed as Moebius has a better idea of where this story is going. A quote from Moebius describes his approach as controlled schizophrenia. While most of this comic is colorless, its lack of color gives the story so much more depth. Towards the end of this collection, there is some colored art that looks nice, but it almost feels counter-intuitive, because it diminishes the improv element of the story.
While the back of the book has an appendix for Moebius’ references and intentions, Diana Schutz’s interpretation of The Major does its best to translate a piece of work that may confuse some. That isn’t meant to detract anyone from reading the collection. Not every story needs to fit into a neat box. She does her best to convey Moebius’ fever dream. This isn’t a book for everyone, but it’s definitely one that should be read until the end to make that determination. Don’t let the small panel count per page fool you; what is perceived as a quick read quickly becomes heavy philosophically.
Creative Team: Moebius (writer/artist), Diana Schutz (translator), Adam Pruett (letterer)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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