Capsule Reviews in the Time of Coronavirus (14)

This is a “review dump” of sorts—several reviews I wrote of various comics and books I’ve read over the past year but sat on as I found the “right” time to post them. Rather than sit on them longer, I decided to finally post them…

Valerian: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 (Kindle edition)
by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières

Back in January, I noted the passing of French bandes-dessinée cartoonist Jean-Claude Mézières who, along with co-creator and writer Pierre Christin, chronicled the adventures of time traveling space cop Valerian and his comely sidekick, Laureline. (The series, also sometimes known as Valerian and Laureline, was brought to the screen in 2017 by director and Valerian fan Luc Busson) The sci-fi fantasy series ran from 1967 to 2010 and was popular and successful in its native France and internationally. Though not as well known in the U.S., it nevertheless has been often cited as an influence on films like Star Wars, Alien and the Fifth Element, particularly in their production design.

I’ve picked up a few of the sporadic graphic album English-language releases of the series over the years, but recently discovered that a complete English-language collection of the series began in 2017, likely initially tied to the film’s release. I picked up the Kindle edition of Volume I, collecting the first four stories. The first, “Bad Dreams,” is an origin of sorts, with Mézières and Christin still finding their way—Valerian travels to 11th century France in search of a rogue time traveler and is rescued along the way by the smart and resourceful Laureline, a French peasant girl. When she discovers his identity as a space traveler, he takes her with him into the future, where she becomes his partner. (She was not created to be a long term character until they wrote the series and realized what they had stumbled upon). In one of the other stories, “Earth in Flames,” they travel to1986 New York City, in the aftermath of a cataclysmic event that has struck earth and created the future Valerian lives in.

The book also includes several nice text pieces in front, including a comprehensive overview and history of the series and an interview with Christin and Mézières by filmmaker Luc Busson.

Valerian is a fun, breezy epic space opera/adventure series with a strong humanist and progressive bent. The Europeans have a great tradition in the genre and are great draftsmen, blending strong illustration technique with a cartoony style, so the series is a sight to behold. Apparently, the collection was completed in seven volumes.

The Tolkien Years of the Brothers Hildebrandt (Kindle edition)
by Greg Hildebrandt and Tim Hildebrandt 

I became a lifelong Lord of the Rings fan when I first read J.R.R. Tolkien’s the Hobbit, followed by the trilogy. I discovered it at the perfect time in my life, when I was around 13 years old as a junior high school student in the first part of the 1970s, just as it first hit the U.S. mainstream zeitgeist.

The Hildebrandt brothers no doubt helped boost the series with their immensely popular calendars of 1976, ‘77 and ‘78. While I don’t recall that I got the calendars myself (I now wonder why I didn’t request them as Christmas presents!), I remember poring over them in bookstores. Together with Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated film, the Hildebrandt brothers’ interpretation of Middle Earth greatly informed the way I envisioned Middle Earth in my own mind. (I have sketchbooks full of Middle Earth drawings influenced both by the Hildebrandts and Bakshi.)

So it was a thrill to discover this book, the Tolkien Years of the Brothers Hildebrandt, that compiles all the pieces from the calendars and offers detailed production notes and personal reminiscences by Greg Hildebrandt, Jr., who as a child watched his father and uncle paint these pieces, often serving as a model for the paintings. The book includes a generous number of rough sketches and their original photo references as well. I was too young to purchase all the calendars, so having all the pieces in this collection bring back wonderful memories of my early love of the series.

King of Spies by Mark Millar and Matteo Scalera
I randomly stumbled across this graphic novel in my local comic-book store, having not been aware of it previously. I found the art and storyline compelling and I wasn’t disappointed—the graphic novel collects the 4-issue arc originally published by Image.

Millar is a popular and prolific comic-book writer—his credits include work on major characters like the X-Men and Superman, and creator-owned work like Kingsman, which of course has been turned into a popular film franchise. (One of his projects influenced the Marvel film, Captain America: Civil War.)

King of Spies follows the last days of a top British spy named Roland King. Upon learning he has six months to live before succumbing to cancer, he decides it’s time to clean up the mess he’s helped make in the world, turning against the people he served and protected working as a willing pawn in their not always pure political ends and agendas. He also seeks redemption for the havoc and pain he’s caused to his family, particularly his ex-wife and estranged son who’s followed in his footsteps and is among those in the intelligence community now working to stop King. One could easily see Sean Connery in this role (or Jeff Bridges, who stars in a new streaming series called the Old Man—though I haven’t seen it yet, it seems to have a similar vibe).

There is great momentum, violence, raw energy, cheekiness and narrative force in the story, in large part thanks to the bravura art and storytelling of artist Matteo Scalera. The story left me pumped and breathless!

In 2017, Netflix bought Millar’s comics universe—but it was still a surprise to see Netflix’s imprint on the spine of the book. I understand it’s under development at Netflix.