We sit down with Jean-Pierre Dionnet, one of the founding fathers of the mega-influential French comic anthology Metal Hurlant to discuss making a magazine with no money, what Mœbius would think of artificial intelligence, and why he looks back on his time with the publication with pain rather than nostalgia.
On the influence of Metal Hurlant
Metal Hurlant wasn’t a rebellion. Most of us, and I’m talking about the first masters—Mœbius, Philippe Druillet, and I—were working at Pilote, and they had a lot of artists and writers—so many that we could not do all that we wanted to do. So we decided not to be radical. We just wanted to try something new. We just wanted freedom.
The success of the magazine was a big surprise for me. It was a big surprise to a lot of people. I remember calling George Lucas. We wanted a foreword for a book by Druillet, and we called him. He said, ‘I’m deep in production on a movie right now, but if it’s for you I’ll do it.’ The movie was A New Hope. We were an influence for him. I spoke to Denis Villeneuve, and he said, ‘When I talk to Americans like Steven Spielberg, they tell me they have you in their genes.’ We influenced everyone. In their contracts they couldn’t say that they were emulating a French magazine called Metal Hurlant.
It wasn’t just America. In Australia, Alex Proyas was influenced by us. In England: Christopher Nolan. Canada: Villeneuve. Michael Mann wanted to adapt Exterminator 17. They all say they come from Metal Hurlant. When Oliver Stone was writing his adaptation of Conan The Barbarian, he said to me, ‘I came from you.’
On making Metal Hurlant
We were doomed from day one, because we started with no money at all. And when I say no money, I mean no money. We had problems immediately. I always pay the artists. We became successful, but it was a little too late, and the hole became bigger and bigger. I never told the artists, Mœbius or Druillet, that we were broke. Because for an artist to be able to work, you can’t tell them that the magazine is on the verge of dying. I kept it for myself to protect them. By issue 100, I was fighting every day to keep the magazine alive. At issue 120, I left—it was too much. I moved on to TV production, and worked on a French show called Sex Machine, about Black music. James Brown let us use the name. We were the first to put Michael Jackson and Prince videos on French TV. I had a good time there. We had sexy girls there. They weren’t nude, but you could see their breasts. We would do gags. It was very successful. On French TV at 10PM, it was either that or documentary films about animals.
Mœbius always told me that even if Metal Hurlant made money, I would not have stayed there. I loved to travel too much. I fell in love with other places like China and Japan. I loved the musicianship in Japan. I became very close friends with Joe Hisaishi. I was the first to get Hayao Miyazaki and Takeshi Kitano out of Japan. It was tricky with Miyazaki. He sold me the rights to his first movie—Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, itself influenced by Metal Hurlant—but he forgot to tell me that the rights didn’t belong entirely to him. He had a partner who had the majority. So I sold it to Fox. Suddenly, Disney bought it from the majority holder. It became me against Fox against Disney against Miyazaki.
“Mœbius would be very interested in AI, because he would see it as a new tool. Of course, most of what I see of AI is poor imitations of great artists, by bad, uninspired artists. But maybe it can be a tool for those who are very open-minded and creative. New artists will come with new tools and discover new things that we can’t yet imagine. I’m not scared of AI.”
On AI and the next generation of artists
I worked with the new Metal Hurlant, but I just did one story— it’s a different magazine now, with different people. It wasn’t my thing anymore. When I started Metal, I was making, in my opinion, the best decisions for the magazine. When I came back, they asked me to give them some control. They didn’t understand how I was, but that’s my fault. I’ve never been the most intelligent, but I have good instincts. In the 1970s, I would take on artists that I knew weren’t good enough, but that they would be someday. When it came to the new Metal Hurlant, they didn’t understand that—they’re a different generation. How can you explain instinct? It’s impossible. There’s no logical way to explain it. I have a magic eye. At the same time, they were totally fascinated by my era of Metal Hurlant. But we can’t do something that looks like the first Metal Hurlant. It’s too late—we did it! You must do something else! I did a 17-page story—they said, ‘Yes, it looks good, but why are you telling the story from three points of view?’ I told them, ‘Because when I write the story, I start from the beginning, and then I wait to find the ending.’ I cannot tell a story where I know the ending. You find it on the way.
It’s a different world, and a dangerous world for artists. Most of them work from their computers, with a beautiful backlight, and the ability to change the tone to suit their beautiful ideas. But when you print it, you see that it’s not that beautiful. Now, the French books, the graphic novels, they sell, but the magazines sell less and less. That’s the problem everywhere. I am a hater, but I am a hater of haters. People take one look and decide they don’t like artists now. But you have to give them time to grow, to evolve. All of this internet stuff is toxic. The people who write there are just angry people. We are very slowly approaching the end of a world—not the world. We shall not see the end of the world, just a changing world. We will move to other planets, and the Earth will become a museum. I’d love that. I’d love to imagine that Earth shall be a huge museum, and other planets should pay to see ‘good old Earth.’ It will not be the real Earth, but the one that once existed.
Mœbius would be very interested in AI, because he would see it as a new tool. Of course, most of what I see of AI is poor imitations of great artists, by bad, uninspired artists. But maybe it can be a tool for those who are very open-minded and creative. New artists will come with new tools and discover new things that we can’t yet imagine. I’m not scared of AI.
“I look back on the original Metal Hurlant with pain, not nostalgia. Because we are only three left out of six of the original team. Mœbius died only 13 years ago. The last time he came to have dinner at my place. It was Mœbius and his wife, and me and my wife. I’ve realised, now, that my generation is slowly disappearing. I will be 80 soon. We are physically less on the eye, we are a little less bright. But we must look at the time we have. I used to be a big collector of artwork. I’ve sold most of them. I do not care about those material things anymore. Things are just things. We all pass through this at some point. But still, when I read some of the old Metal Hurlant’s, I think, ‘WOW, that’s good!’”
On mortality
I look back on the original Metal Hurlant with pain, not nostalgia. Because we are only three left out of six of the original team. Mœbius died only 13 years ago. The last time he came to have dinner at my place. It was Mœbius and his wife, and me and my wife. I’ve realised, now, that my generation is slowly disappearing. I will be 80 soon. We are physically less on the eye, we are a little less bright. But we must look at the time we have. I used to be a big collector of artwork. I’ve sold most of them. I do not care about those material things anymore. Things are just things. We all pass through this at some point. But still, when I read some of the old Metal Hurlant’s, I think, ‘WOW, that’s good!’
We created our own universe. It wasn’t an economical universe. It’s a fantasy world. A make-believe world. Me? I live in a star, a star that doesn’t exist, a part of the fantasy of sometime and something else. But I think, somewhere else, over the rainbow, there is another fantasy waiting for me.
