Valerian: The Complete Collection , Volume 1

Reading these for the first time though I've been aware of these stories for many years. I'm struck by how relevant and topical these stories remain to our times and can clearly see the influence on so many Sci-Fi Space Opera franchises that we know and love. This is true Science Fiction, dealing with important issues, but with fun and adventure. For contemporary comic readers, the art feels almost amateurish but is also incredibly realistic and detailed. The stories and characters feel so familiar because they have influenced so many popular franchises. If you can put yourself in the shoes of a reader in the 1960s, you can imagine how mind-blowing some of this was. Important and highly recommended for fans of science fiction and popular culture.

Haven’t seen the film yet, but figured on reading the French comics series. Lots of fantastic ideas, even some crazy ones. The artwork is similar to Moebius and Jack Davis. The series is a lot of fun. Be looking forward to more volumes to come. Strongly recommended.

There are three stories in this volume. Each one better than the last. Overall the books are growing on me but I definitely hope that the depth of the characters and the quality of storytelling both improve as these volumes continue. As a comic reader I definitely tend to come for the art and stay for the story... The art in this book is appealing and the story hasn't caused me to abandon it yet, I've bought and am waiting to receive the second volume... so, so far so good I guess. Here is what works, in my opinion. The panels are nicely rendered; the backgrounds and settings in particular are attractive. It's a fun, creative story setting. The characters are done in a cool cartoon style, different than much of what's popular these days. Some interesting and non-Kirby, non-Manga special effects. And what I think doesn't works too well: It is a little too fast-paced, skips from event to event with a hand wave. There has been pretty much zero character development. the story starts out with quite a bit more "tell" than "show". Panel flow is unintuitive in some cases, but there are little arrows to guide you in these cases. I haven't bothered with any of the front matter, but there is a bunch of additional stuff, interviews and things. Maybe I'll read and review those at some later point.

I finally bought the complete collection in hardbound. I think it's well worth it to buy this for serious collectors. There is some extra material included. One of those collections you can still read in dozens of years, classics, the series started in the 1960's and lasted 40 years.

I've always been a fan of the Valerian comics and I was delighted to see this come out as a complete collection. You are not saving a lot of money compared to buying them on their own but I like the fact that the books are bound together. The first book also has a few intro articles about the background plus a some artwork. Definitely worth it for fans and collectors.

Love it.

I wanted to assure readers that "Valerian et Laureline (english version) - Tome 1 - Valerian - The complete collection (French Edition) Kindle Edition" is actually the English language edition, not the French edition. The title and description left me wondering. This volume includes three stories; the later two are sold separately as "The City of Shifting Waters" and "The Empire of a Thousand Planets". It is probably sufficient for readers who want to compare the original BD (comic) with the movie "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets". It also includes the first portion of an interview with the authors and Luc Besson who produced, wrote and directed the movie, which continues through the next two volumes. I'm giving this five stars although it's a little rough at first, because it is a solid foundation for what follows.

the cool thing about the gifts you get for people you live with is that you get to enjoy them too ;) this was a gift for my partner - he'd actually wanted to get the individual comics, but there are just so many*, and with some unavailable it was hard to even know where to start. (and pricey, too.) so it made more sense to start with one of the collections instead. initially the price seemed a bit high to me (at time of purchase was around $30), but this is a beautiful book, no doubt about it. i am very impressed with the quality. the pages are all thick, glossy, and full color. it has a good weight to it, just feels nice in the hand. i also like the extras it has in the beginning, some stories and interviews. there's just one thing that bugs me. whoever designed this cover...well, the title on the spine is what i would consider upside down. which is to say, if you put this on a coffee table with the cover side up, the title on the spine is upside down. on the shelf, it reads from the bottom up instead of the top down like every other book we own. it's not a huge deal, but it does irk me. (at first i thought it possible that we got a misprinted one, but the "#1" being printed right side up suggests it was meant to be this way for some reason.) also, amazon sent this in a book mailer. (i know, shocking, right?) but no, hear me out - the reason i don't like these is that the book fits in them exactly, and thus there's no protection inside, so the corners aren't as pristine as i would like. i'd prefer to see this sent wrapped in bubble wrap in a box with air pillows. but again, very minor, and i didn't feel like a replacement would look any better so i didn't request one. *the book came with a little folded insert that shows all the different individual volumes which i believe are like trade paperbacks - 18!

Está precioso y no llegó maltratado. ¡Me encanta!

Interesting and packing stories, which can be found, although refactored, in many movies from Hollywood. The stories are original and the drawings are great, could spend minutes on details of one or another.

Good book, precursor to the Star Wars movies

Excellent comic, really good stories.

I never heard about this series growing up but I'm glad I found it eventually. Love the art style, love the crazy story ideas and the scenery. I am REALLY glad I got the hardcover edition which is perfect for the panel layouts and page structure! Looking forward to getting the next volume!!!