I will admit that any beginning is a slow start and this is no exception - but you can see there are great things to come which I am thoroughly looking forward to exploring as it would seem this was one of those stories where their influence goes much further than you can possible imagine (rather like the work Mobius). There are many references to the tales of Valerian and Laureline - in this book there are parallels drawn to Star Wars and of course Luc Bessons film the fifth element draws very heavily from the visuals too (not surprising as they consulted on that film too). The series ran till 2010 and was collected originally in 22 books (of which are now being released again in this complete collection). However even after the first 3 adventures you can see how the characters and the story (along with the quality of the artwork) evolved and improved. (This collected edition contains the first 1/3 of an interview with the creators along with Luc Besson in celebration of the release of the film based on the same stories). The comic strip was started in the late 60s and by the authors own admission it was not very good. However I can see where the love of these characters and their adventures come from. I will admit that I wasn't sure what I was letting myself in for - since the first story is really a back story of how the partnership was formed which reading the notes were not published in the original order.

Well I finally got my hands on it, and I must admit I really have enjoyed the first three stories in the adventures of Valerian and Laureline. Because it's a groundbreaking comic from the 60s, I gave it 3 stars. I read this after the movie and I think I'll stick to the movie. The movie made everything so much better by leaps and bounds. I don't see much connection from what I just read to the movie. I actually thought the movie was entertaining and spectacular. There are 3 stories here and they really don't relate much to each other. It does set a tone well and is visually appealing.

(see how it ruined season 3 of the Flash). Back to the future did it well and now it's become a silly device everyone uses to bad effect. There is a lot of time travel and I'm not a fan of time travel. I think this was probably cutting edge for the 60s, yet now it feels very childish. They are both set in space, that's about it. In the preface, it speaks to the fact that Star Wars took this as inspiration - I don't see it really. This is a collected comic from the late 60s and beyond.

Valerian by Pierre Christin