standing comic book series in France. Moebius is best known for  "Blueberry" and the (French) Magazine and (US) movie  _Heavy Metal (1981)_ (qv). Mezieres is best known for the "Valerian"  series. Both series are still in production today. Mobeius and  Mezieres, who attended art school together but had never  collaborated on a project until _Fifth Element, The (1997)_ (qv),  started renderings for the film in the early 90s and are  responsible for the majority of the over all look of the film,  including the vehicles, spacecrafts, buildings, human characters and  aliens.