New reprints of Valerian – The Complete Collection by Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin are coming your way from Cinebook this month – specifically, Volumes Four and Five.

For those of you who may not yet know this absolutely fantastic series, Valerian & Laureline first appeared in magazine Pilote in 1967. Originally titled Valerian – Spatio-Temporal Agent, it quickly added the name of its heroine to its official title, a move that was just one of the groundbreaking aspects of the series. At the time, giving a female character who’d started as a sidekick equal billing was … unusual!

As time went by, Laureline even became arguably the leader of the pair, though never at the expense of Valerian’s place in the stories. Her personality – more carefree, more rebellious – may have fitted better with the authors’ own opinions … Their scripts were notable for their strong humanism and left-leaning views, and like all good science-fiction always does, held a mirror to the problems and failures of our time.

They were also known for their humour and inventiveness, and Christin’s complex stories were perfectly complemented by Mézières’ astonishing art. The artist’s talent for illustrating the wonders of space and the diversity of life encountered by Valerian and Laureline on their travels – not to mention various eras of Human history and the many action sequences that keep the adventures exciting and gripping – can never be overstated.

The series received many awards, including the prestigious Grand Prix de la Ville d’Angoulême, considered by many as the Oscar for comics, but the greatest recognition came from its enduring appeal with readers even now, nearly 60 years later, and above all the influence it had on science-fiction as a whole, in comics and beyond – the mark it left on Star Wars is undeniable, for example.

The authors had met in a cellar as children, sheltering from air raids during World War Two. They both went to live in the United States for a while, meeting again as they played cowboy and lived their American dreams. Their comic partnership started there and never stopped.

A film, Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets, directed by Luc Besson, was released in 2017. Cinebook originally published most of the Valerian stories as individual albums from 2010 onwards.

Jean-Claude Mézières left us in January 2022. Pierre Christin last month – a wonderful tribute here to him from Dean Simons, over on The Comics Journal.

“They were both gentlemen of deep culture and boundless curiosity, kind and friendly,” say the Cinebook team. “Of the original creative team of Valerian & Laureline, only colourist Evelyne Tranlé, Mézières’ sister, is still with us. But their creation will long outlive them, and it has been our honour to make it available to English-language readers everywhere.”

If you haven’t given Valerian a try yet, well, what are you waiting for? Here’s a “Complete Collection” guide…

Valerian – The Complete Collection Volume One
ISBN: 978-1849183529 | Buy it direct from Cinebook | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

This first volume of the collection contains books 1 and 2 of the series: The City of Shifting Waters – in its original two-part, 9 pages longer format – and The Empire of a Thousand Planets. It also includes book 0, Bad Dreams, translated into English for the first time: the very first adventures of our two heroes, published after City and retroactively numbered. Finally, linking the volumes of this collection together, a long, exclusive interview with the authors and director Luc Besson is illustrated with new art as well as numerous sketches, studies and photographs from the latter’s upcoming big-screen adaptation.

Valerian – The Complete Collection Volume Two
ISBN: 978-1849183567 | Buy it direct from Cinebook | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

Includes volumes 3 to 5: The Land Without Stars, Welcome to Alflolol and Birds of the Master – three stories that introduce the societal criticism aspect of the series. Battle of the sexes, totalitarianism and extreme productivism are lambasted, but never at the expense of fantasy or of the action. And as they travel from world to distant world, Laureline becomes a truly equal partner, far from the stereotypical female sidekick roles of the time. Finally, the second part of the exclusive interview with the authors and director Luc Besson is followed by an in-depth portrait of Pierre Christin, the writer.

Valerian – The Complete Collection Volume Three
ISBN: 978-1849183574 | Buy it direct from Cinebook | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

This third book of the collected edition contains volumes 6 to 8: Ambassador of the Shadows – the story that directly inspired Luc Besson’s film – On the False Earths and Heroes of the Equinox. Over the course of these titles, among the finest in the series, Laureline takes her rightful place as the brains of the outfit, while Valerian fully embraces his role as anti-hero: always brave, but often a bit out of his depth. You will also find the end of the interview with Luc Besson and the authors, and an in-depth portrait of Jean-Claude Mézières, the artist.

Valerian – The Complete Collection Volume Four
ISBN: 978-1849183918 | Buy it direct from Cinebook | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

This volume contains books 9 to 12 – two unmissable two-parters that represent a turning point in the story of our agents, and which are widely considered by critics and readers alike to be the pinnacle of the series. Characterised by a return to 20th century Earth, these two stories are suffused with incredible melancholy and poetic charm, and force Valerian, the action man, to face his limitations. As the real date neared 1986, final year of our world according to the authors, Pierre Christin reconciled fiction and reality with consummate skill and daring, sweeping aside the status quo and sending his heroes down a completely new path. This book is introduced by several articles of the recently departed Stan Barets.

Valerian – The Complete Collection Volume Five
ISBN: 978-1849184007 | Buy it direct from Cinebook | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

Collects books 13 to 15, and our heroes’ life has been irretrievably changed with the disappearance of future Earth and Galaxity. Lacking work, they become freelance spies in the 80s in On the Frontiers. Lacking money, they’re reluctant arms dealers in The Living Weapons. Lacking options, they turn investigators slash bait on corrupt Rubanis in The Circles of Power. The apparent descent into hell of the two former agents is the chance for the authors to study the ambiguities of our world, either directly or through the lens of alien civilisations; along with the ambiguity – pragmatism versus heroism – of the titular character, saved from a fall from grace by his ever irreproachable partner.

Valerian – The Complete Collection Volume Six
ISBN: 978-1849184113 | Buy it direct from Cinebook | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

With volumes 16 to 18 collected here, we find Valerian and Laureline suddenly rich beyond their wildest dreams, and this new situation brings the differences in their personalities in stark contrast: where Laureline remains true to herself and her love of life, Valerian finds himself idle and disoriented. Fortunately, when the former is kidnapped in Hostages of Ultralum, the son of Galaxity earns back his status as a hero and saviour. In the direct sequel, Orphan of the Stars, the united couple faces adversity and the hardships of parenthood (even temporary) together. Finally, In Uncertain Timesbrings them back on the trail of the vanished future Earth, paving the way for the last cycle and the saga’s conclusion. With, as always, essays by Stan Barets, here on the alien cast of the series and the authors’ various creations for the year 2000.

Valerian – The Complete Collection Volume Seven
ISBN: 978-1849184168 | Buy it direct from Cinebook | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

The last volume of this magnificent collection, which includes the final three books of the main saga, bringing to a close the adventures of Valerian, Laureline and the vanished Earth in style.

Mézières and Christin have done something that almost no one had done before: after 43 years at the helm, they decided of their own accord to conclude the adventures of their heroes. The three titles in this volume (At the Edge of the Great Void, The Order of the Stones and The Time Opener) bring things full circle and establish the definitive end of the story. No need for tears, though. As the extras explain, the very nature of their universe – full of time travel and the occasional paradox – leaves the door wide open to new possibilities: anthologies of flashbacks, one-shots by other creators, and adaptations in different media, such as … cinema!

Web Links

• downthetubes: A Checklist to the Graphic Novel Series
A guide to Cinebook’s first editions of Valerian and Laureline, spanning 23 individual albums

• Valerian books and more at Cinebook – Catalogue List

• The Comics Journal: Pierre Christin, 1938-2024 – a tribute by Dean Simons – which includes many further useful links

• More about Valerian in French on the Dargaud web site

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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