Enki BILAL Colonial drama Indian ink and gouache for plate 8 of this story included in Mémoires d'outre-espace, published in 1978 by Dargaud. Pre-published in the newspaper Pilote hors-série n°44 bis spécial science-fiction, January 1978. Signed "E Bilal" in the last panel. Inset 43 x 33 cm A remarkable and important plate, it belongs to a period of transition and heralds what Enki Bilal's style will be from now on: the graphics have freed themselves from the influence of Moebius, and the colours - an essential element, the very beautiful dark red and light green - are those that we will find again, a few months later, in La Foire aux Immortels (this story will start in the magazine Pilote in January 1980), when Alcide Nikopol lands in a Paris shrouded in fog and dust and run by an autocratic governor. In this short story, the Earthlings, led by a President who was no stranger to the French at the end of the 1970s (the "F" covering his ears is a reminder of his Elysian origins), have defeated the red aliens: this is no ordinary science-fiction story; it is full of humour, and should be seen in the context of the times. In La Foire aux Immortels, this VGE-like character is Jean-Ferdinand Choublanc's "minister of financial coordination". He also appears in Moebius's Ktulu, a story published in Métal Hurlant in 1978. Very good condition Enki BILAL