Valerian & Laureline Vol 1 and 2 are part of Kindle Unlimited, so I checked them out to see whether the amount of hype attribute to them is justified. First of all, compared to other comics from the same era like Tintin or Flash Gordon, the art is fantastic: detailed and pretty, full of imagination and color.
The story and universe unfortunately, are rather blah. There's a galactic empire, and Valerian is a pretty awful character, making no plans and frequently falling into one trap after another as a way to move the plot along. That's not so very different from Tintin, but I guess when you encountered Tintin as a kid you're much more forgiving than when you encounter similar material as an adult.
It's easy reading and fun entertainment, but I'm not sure it deserves to be ranked up there with the classics. And of course, modern writers like Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore have long surpassed the best of these old works.
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