This is good to know Shax! Corto is on my short list for collecting for awhile now. With finishing up with filling in my sets of Rosa and Barks duck stories this year it is looking good to start up Corto this fall. 

I have to finish up my Usagi Yojimbo reading (playing catch up with that reading club) and then I have to actually get some Corto Books  But I am more than game and let you know when I have them!!!

And my Pogo books (2 more shipping this fall) as well. Trying to take my time and savor the greatness of these really great classic collections as it can be quite easy to consume them much too quickly and end up missing more of the subtleties and nuances. So much more enjoyable when you find special treats and/or artistic moments which otherwise can be passed over in the rush for reading it "all" when the hunger is upon us. Only reader indigestion occurs that way!

Dagnabbit shaxper you started an irritating itch in me for some Corto sweetness. Yesterday afternoon during lunch I was browsing through Amazon, just as an early scouting mission for pricing and cataloging the Corto Maltese books. I began dropping them into my shopping cart for tracking and began digging a bit deeper into used offerings to price compare. I started finding that most of them could be had on the cheap as used from 2018 going backwards from $8-10 (including shipping) through a few places. So I dropped them into the basket as well.

Overnight a fever must have come upon me as I awoke with the damnable itch gnawing away at me all the more intensely. Spent this morning before work looking and deleting in the shopping basket to work away at saving $$'s in creating my list of Corto books. I end up with 7 books already published and 2 pre-ordered in my basket. I was happy and content with my search, then Amazon listed for customers who viewed this item also viewed: what pops up but Valerian  the Complete Collections. They were priced new from around $20-30 which is about the same for the Corto Maltese editions.

Valerian is another on my to buy/read eventually list. Searching I found the 1st 3 volumes used for around $6-8 with shipping included and placed those along with the other Valerian books into my cart for the future. There is that irritable itch yet again nagging away at me as I edit my shopping cart and then I take inventory with prices and savings. The inevitable occurs: through buying used over new as well for pre-ordering 9 Corto books and Valerian 1-3 the savings would be nearly $100. My brain begins doing the math as the annoying voice in the back of the mind begins speaking quietly that I should order NOW rather than later because the used lower prices will disappear if I wait. Sadly this has happened before when I place something and wait too long and either the price goes up or the item(s) are no longer available. The voice gets stronger, louder and more annoying while it does it's best for reminding me that I have money from my tax return that is crying to be spent. 

What to do but shut out that pesky voice, correct? Be patient and wait. Be sensible. AS IF! That isn't about to happen is it? Of course after a few minutes pass, it happens. CLICK goes the purchase button and in the coming days/week I shall be receiving 10 more used books for adding to my growing pile of too read. And it is all to you which I lay the blame and thanks upon Shax! The CCF here always leads me to feeding the monster as classic treats and goodies I have never known or forgotten are thrown in my face on a daily basis. Thanks guys and gals! I gladly embrace the pain and endorse the agony of dollars well spent...

Sheesh shaxper, can't you stop being a teacher? Can a person simply enjoy reading comics without you assigning homework in the form of a book review? Next thing you know there will be a test!?!

Can 4 of them be wikipedia pages or do I need to pull out my Catalan, NBM, and Dargaud USA books?

Valerian is a tremendous read.  To start with, Laureline is such a great character and a terrific one to introduce to young girls.  She is smart, self assured, capable, and caring of others.  Valerian is a bit of a moron, though his heart is in the right place and Laureline usually gets him out of trouble.  As time goes on, he is less of a goof and they are stronger as partners.  Also, they are pretty professional in their relationship,which is refreshing.  mezieres alien designs are so diverse and interesting that you can't help but have fun and Christin is one of the best writers in French comics.

If you want to sample one Valerian, try Heroes of the Equinox.  It includes parodies of Marvel superheroes, who compete with Valerian, to reach an island and help an alien princess procreate the species.  Some very funny stuff in that one.  Empire of a Thousand Planets will reveal how much the Star Wars saga stole from Christin & Mezieres (not that you can't find similar things in works that predate Valerian).

When I was in the Navy, I used to walk past a couple of the Valerian albums, on the shelf, at one of the two shops I frequented, without ever cracking them open.  Don't know why, other than I think I had it confused with another series.  Flash forward to the release of The Fifth Element and Byron Preiss and his iBooks has put out The New Future Trilogy, trying to ride on the movie's coattails.  e got it at B&N and I flipped through it and loved it.  A bit of checking on the internet found the handful that Dargaud USA released, which were the ones I saw in said comic shop, a few years back.  I snapped up those and devoured them; but, was stuck, until Cinebook started releasing the entire series.

I used to have the NBM Corto Maltese books and a Spanish language edition of Ballad of the Salty Sea.  The IDW releases are so much better, in terms of package.