Libellule de Popy - Il était une fois l'Espace / Once upon a time... Space

Libellule, Popy, 1981 Singapore

From all the cartoon we watched on TV in the 80ies, this one (Il était une fois l'Espace / Once upon a time... space) was maybe one of the Frenchiest of all - even though it was created in Japan. All the mecha (= including this spaceship) was the creation of French illustrator Manchu, His very realistic approach to design was something no one had seen yet in a cartoon. But this is also why, about 30 years later, these same designs do not look outdated at all.

Sci-Fy artwork by Manchu 

He was also at the drawing board for Ulysse's 31 "Odysseus" spaceship...

Inicial sketch by Manchu for the Odysseus