Moebius 7 (Epic) - The Godess [CBR]

Jean-Marc lofficier's introduction:

"THE MIRROR CRACKED

— The Goddess, the third chapter in Moebius’ Aedena Cycie, was written and drawn in Paris and in Los Angeles, between the fall of 1988 and the spring of 1989.
Upon A Star was the search for the promise of a utopia. The Gardens of Aedena was a manifesto for a spiritual way of reconciling man to that utopia, especially through food and his attitude towvards it. Now, in The Goddess, a new mirror of reality filtered by the artist’s mind, we discover that revolution, breaking down the old world’s order, may be the only road to that utopia.
Although Moebius remained generally faithful to his master plan, it is tempting to see The Goddess as an apt, symbolic anticipation of the events that were to shake Europe during the latter part of 1989.
The underground civilization of the Nest, where all citizens are forced to wear faceless masks (which, in a definitely Orwellian twist, are called “faces), and which is ruled by an all-powerful father who knows what’s best for his children, seems a reasonably good allegory of Ceaucescu’s Romania, the Soviet Union, China, or any of the other Eastern European countries which lived in the shackles of communism.
The regime blames the dreaded nose fever, which even "faces" cannot contain, on the outside world, like "bourgeois liberalism,” but it is in reality the product of an inner sickness, caused by the very decay of the Nest’s institutions, in this case: the endless cloning of the Paternum. When the citizens lose faith in their «god», and discover that he cannot even guarantee their welfare, they revolt.
Again, Moebius’ allegory appears to be a blueprint of the various revolts which shook the world during 1989. Even the very "Goddess" uncannily anticipates the doomed Chinese students’ “Goddess of Democracy”
But where the Goddess was crushed by Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square, Moebius’ Goddess goes on to liberate her people. The question now remains, in Aedena as on our planet: what will the people do with their freedom now that they have it?"

Moebius' afterword:

"I drew The Goddess in late 1988, early 1989. It took me about four or five months to complete the story. I started on it in France, then I came to the United States in January ‘89, and finished it in California. You can tell the place where I stopped, because I changed pens. My last “French” page is page 50; on page 51, my lines become thinner more detailed.
Also, originally, my intention had been to finish the story with Atana’s disappearance, but it was Jean-Marc Loffiicier who told me that, in his opinion, the story needed a bigger payoff. So, we began discussing the ending. Like most authors, I like to have sympathetic listeners to whom I can tell my stories. His remarks made their way through my mind and, as a result, I added about twenty pages to reveal the identity of the Paternum and show his overthrow.
Since my last book in the series, The Gardens of Aedena I have undergone not as much a philosophical evolution as a variety of new life expeniences. These changes that have occurred in my life have found their way into my story. One could remark that my stories often say everything about myseif without revealing anything.
The Goddess grew in length and relevance as some of the preoccupations that had always been part of its inspiration started taking a greater importance in my life. It represents the maturing of concepts that had been seminally present in my work of the last few years. For example, the longnosed inhabitants of the Nest(which was itself a much smaller place to begin with) already appeared in a short story entitied To See Naples, which I drew in 1987.
To me, these characters symbolize persons cut off from their environment, both physically and spiritually. The deliberate formality with which they speak, their masks, are like impenetrable shells behind which they hide. It is like certain types of neuroses that we develop during chiidhood, where false layers of personality are created to cover ali systems of communication with the outside world.
The coloring of The Goddess was done not on blue lines as usual, but directly on black-line prints of the original art. At first, I thought it would be a good idea, but now I find the result a little disappointing, in spite of Florence Breton’s marvelous work. My black lines have tumed gray and are a little washed out by the colors and the intensity of the black lettening, which was supenimposed later."