I would highly appreciate if you would help me identify a comic / graphic novel I read as a child.
I remember very little, but here it goes:
I read it around 2000, but it definitely could have been published earlier.
It was not very thick, usual large format (A4+), hard covers.
Although I read it as a child, I suppose it was targeted at a bit more mature audience.
It was sort of steampunk'ish / sci-fii 'ish. I could be wrong, but the story centered around an inventor (I remember a lot of gadgets), could have been time travel or space travel related.
The story had a surreal, dreamlike quality ("its all a dream", "its all just memories" etc).
More or less realistic style in grim earth tones.
The backgrounds were similar as in Dali's The Persistence of Memory.
For some reason MTV's Aeon Flux and Terry Gilliam's 12 Monkeys are the closest mental associations I have.
I think its also worth mentioning I'm from Eastern Europe, so, although I strongly doubt it, it could be an example of Soviet graphic novels. But I have a feeling it could be originally French as well.
I hope someone recalls what I am looking for.
Pic unrelated