{{Short description|Science fiction comic story by Dan O'Bannon}} {{for|the 1955 science fiction novel by Leigh Brackett|The Long Tomorrow (novel)}} "'''The Long Tomorrow'''" is the title of a [[science fiction]] comics short story serialized in two segments in the French magazine ''[[Métal Hurlant]]'' in 1976. It was written by American screenwriter [[Dan O'Bannon]], and illustrated by French artist [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]]. It is noted for its influential visual design, which inspired the designs of feature films including ''[[Blade Runner]]'', ''[[Tron]]'', ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'', and ''[[The Abyss]]''. The story was reprinted in Moebius Book Four.
==Background== In his introduction to the French hardcover graphic story collection ''The Long Tomorrow'', [[Jean Giraud|Moebius]] wrote: {{bquote|I drew 'The Long Tomorrow' in 1975, while I worked with [[Alexandro Jodorowsky]] on a film adaption of ''[[Dune (Jodorowsky film)|Dune]]''. Originally [[Douglas Trumbull]] was to do the special effects, but that was not to be so Jodorowsky hired Dan O’Bannon to replace him. Dan came to Paris. Bearded, dressed in a wild style, the typical Californian post-hippie. His real work would begin at the time of shooting, on the models, on the hardware props. As we were still in the stage of preparations and concepts, there was almost nothing to do and he was bored stiff. To kill time, he drew. Dan is best known as a script writer, but is an excellent cartoonist. If he had wished, he could have been a professional graphic artist. One day, he showed me what he was drawing. It was the story board of 'The Long Tomorrow'. A classic police story, but situated in the future. I was enthusiastic. When Europeans try this kind of parody, it is never entirely satisfactory, the French are too French, the Italians are too Italian … so, under my nose was a pastiche that was more original than the originals. A believer in parody, Dan continued that tradition. As the story was very strong, I immediately asked if he would allow me to play around graphically, with complete freedom, without conventional pyrotechnics, to refocus on the floating point of view. Pete Club’s costume, for example, was almost ridiculous, far from the traditional raincoat of [[Humphrey Bogart|Bogart]]. It was the same for most of the visual elements. I scrupulously followed Dan’s story. One day I wish we could publish our two versions side by side. As the strip has pleased everyone, I asked Dan about a sequel, but it did not get his attention, so was simply an adventure I never designed.}}
The storytelling of "The Long Tomorrow" is inspired by [[film noir]] and [[hardboiled]] crime fiction, but the story is set in a distant, [[science fiction]] future, making it one of the first true [[cyberpunk]] stories. Pioneering cyberpunk author [[William Gibson (novelist)|William Gibson]] said of "The Long Tomorrow":<blockquote>"So it's entirely fair to say, and I've said it before, that the way Neuromancer-the-novel 'looks' was influenced in large part by some of the artwork I saw in ''[[Heavy Metal (magazine)|Heavy Metal]]''. I assume that this must also be true of [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[Escape from New York]]'', [[Ridley Scott]]'s ''[[Blade Runner (film)|Blade Runner]]'', and all other artifacts of the style sometimes dubbed 'cyberpunk'. Those French guys, they got their end in early".<ref>{{cite book|author=Pordzik, Ralph|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W3LkLqQLvdcC&q=%22So+it%27s+entirely+fair+to+say%2C+and+I%27ve+said+it+before%2C+that+the+way+Neuromancer-the-novel+%27looks%27+was+influenced+in+large+part+by+some+of+the+artwork+I+saw+in+Heavy+Metal%22&pg=PA281|title=''Futurescapes: Space in Utopian and Science Fiction Discourses''|page=7|publisher=Rodopi|date=2009|isbn = 978-9042026025|via=[[Google Books]]|accessdate=March 6, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=De Haven|first=Tom|title=Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel|last2=Jensen|first2=Bruce|publisher=[[Epic Comics]]|year=1989|isbn=0-87135-574-4|location=New York|pages=4|language=English}}</ref></blockquote>
It was originally serialized in two segments in the French magazine ''[[Metal Hurlant]]'' in 1976 and later by the American magazine ''Heavy Metal'' in Vol. 1 No. 4 and Vol. 1 No. 5, which were published in July and August 1977, respectively. ''The Long Tomorrow'' was published by [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]]'s [[Epic Comics]] imprint in 1987.
==Influence== The comic's artwork was influential on the concept designs used in subsequent science fiction works, including the 1979 film ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'', the 1982 film ''[[Blade Runner (film)|Blade Runner]]'', and the 1989 film ''[[The Abyss]]''.<ref>{{cite web|author=Frauenfelder, Mark|url=https://www.wired.com/1994/01/moebius-2/|title=Moebius|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|date=January 1, 1994|accessdate=March 6, 2020|archivedate=October 14, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014014845/https://www.wired.com/1994/01/moebius-2/}}</ref> ''The Long Tomorrow'' was also loosely adapted as the "Harry Canyon" segment of the animated anthology film ''[[Heavy Metal (film)|Heavy Metal]]'' (1981).
== References == <references />
== External links == * [http://www.heavymetalmagazinefanpage.com/hmlist77.html ''Heavy Metal'' magazine]
{{Jean Giraud}} {{comics-stub}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Long Tomorrow, The}} [[Category:French comic strips]] [[Category:1975 comics debuts]] [[Category:Cyberpunk comics]] [[Category:Neo-noir comics]] [[Category:Science fiction comics]]