shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 16, 2019 22:44:12 GMT -5
This is all brutalis's fault.  I finally purchased a copy of the 2016 English edition Valerian, The Complete Collection, vol. 1. I've only read the first story tonight ("Bad Dreams"), but I'm already completely enamored. The scope, the ideas, the visuals, the fun! I realize a work that endured for four decades is going to do a ton of evolving, so I'm amazed to already be enjoying it this immensely so early on. It's really just the cartooniness and simpleness of the characters (both visually and intrinsically) that bother me a bit thus far. They contrast so oddly with such a detailed, thoroughly considered universe. To be clear, this is not a review thread, per se (though brutalis does provide reviews of the stories beginning here). Just want to discuss the work with others here, preferably without spoilers for later volumes I've not yet read. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2019 22:51:56 GMT -5
I loved the first volume of the collected edition, but I still haven't gotten around to getting any more of them. I need to correct that soon.
-M
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 16, 2019 22:54:14 GMT -5
I loved the first volume of the collected edition, but I still haven't gotten around to getting any more of them. I need to correct that soon. -M Maybe after you spend the next five years reading everything you picked up for your 50th birthday  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 16, 2019 23:30:55 GMT -5
This is all brutalis 's fault. I finally purchased a copy of the 2016 English edition Valerian, The Complete Collection, vol. 1. I've only read the first story tonight ("Bad Dreams"), but I'm already completely enamored. The scope, the ideas, the visuals, the fun! I realize a work that endured for four decades is going to do a ton of evolving, so I'm amazed to already be enjoying it this immensely so early on. It's really just the cartooniness and simpleness of the characters (both visually and intrinsically) that bother me a bit thus far. They contrast so oddly with such a detailed, thoroughly considered universe. To be clear, this is NOT a review thread (cuz lazy brutalis won't start one...). Just want to discuss the work with others here, preferably without spoilers for later volumes I've not yet read. They get more complex as the series progresses. Personally, I think Laureline is one of the best female characters in comics. Pierre Christin is one of the best writers around, with evidence in this series and his collaborations with Enki Bilal. Jean-Claude Mezieres is one of the most inventive sci-fi artists, in terms of aliens and their environments. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 16, 2019 23:55:08 GMT -5
Just finished The City of Shifting Waters. This may already be my favorite sci-fi comic series of all time, even beating out Manning's Magnus Robot Fighter and Casty's best Mickey Mouse adventures. In fact, I doubt I can list a dozen sci-fi films and novels I've enjoyed more than this.
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Post by hondobrode on Jul 17, 2019 0:43:45 GMT -5
Wow !
Has ya seen the Valerian movie from a couple of years ago ?
I loved it and it sounds like a second will be made based entirely on the European reception of the first, thank goodness.
I have the three English reprints from the 80's and haven't read them since then but was impressed.
After I dig em out and re-read them I'm sure I'll be on board for more.
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Post by robot1a on Jul 17, 2019 3:42:27 GMT -5
Wow ! Has ya seen the Valerian movie from a couple of years ago ? I loved it and it sounds like a second will be made based entirely on the European reception of the first, thank goodness. I have the three English reprints from the 80's and haven't read them since then but was impressed. After I dig em out and re-read them I'm sure I'll be on board for more. Please tell me Cara Delevingne will be playing Laureline again. I really liked her in that movie. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 17, 2019 7:34:18 GMT -5
I'd heard the film was an utter flop. I guess I will have to check it out, though I'll likely seek out the animated series first, as that sounds like it actually adds to the series rather than imitates it.
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 17, 2019 7:42:46 GMT -5
I'd heard the film was an utter flop. I guess I will have to check it out, though I'll likely seek out the animated series first, as that sounds like it actually adds to the series rather than imitates it. $225 million on a budget of $175. Not really a hit, barely made it's money back. Looks like Besson is in talks with Netflix over this, but it is not a go yet. I liked the movie but thought the two leads were complete stiffs. The looked like the comic characters, but that was about it.
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Post by brutalis on Jul 17, 2019 7:52:55 GMT -5
Gee, Thanks Shax. I am NOT lazy shaxper, just a very hectic summer and I don't want to rush through these "new" old comic book treasures. I have gotten all 6 books and the Illustrated Treasury. Having looked through them, I can say that these books are absolutely scrumptious, gorgeous and vibrantly colored and well made collections. Really looking forward to diving in and exploring this new universe of Valerian and Laureline. And may I say that I am so glad to have "forced" you into diving in along with me? After all, it was you who fired up my restart upon the joy and pleasure of Usagi I may start up a thread, not so much as a review but discussion? Since I cannot post pictures through host sites at work (damn privacy control) for enhancing reviews a general discussion thread everyone will be welcome to participate in) should be interesting and enjoyable. Perhaps even just folding it all into this thread is a possibility. Oddly enough while I enjoy some reviews, I am beginning to find it harder to enjoy some reviews which go into looking at comic books with current perceptions/ideas when the comics were created in a different time and place. Maybe it is the "rose colored glasses" approach but I prefer to remember and savor my favorite series and heroes/villains as part of the joy and enthusiasm of that 1st experience of them. I don't need or want to socially/politically pick apart the writer/artists intent of anything and simply ENJOY having FUN in reading the favorite comic books I like. Comics are my escapist fantasy from the real world in which I work and live in all day long so happiness and fun and pleasure losing myself within new worlds like Valerian and Corto and sharing that joy with others is what I am all about!!! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 17, 2019 7:57:41 GMT -5
Oddly enough while I enjoy some reviews, I am beginning to find it harder to enjoy some reviews which go into looking at comic books with current perceptions/ideas when the comics were created in a different time and place. Maybe it is the "rose colored glasses" approach but I prefer to remember and savor my favorite series and heroes/villains as part of the joy and enthusiasm of that 1st experience of them. I don't need or want to socially/politically pick apart the writer/artists intent of anything and simply ENJOY having FUN in reading the favorite comic books I like. Comics are my escapist fantasy from the real world in which I work and live in all day long so happiness and fun and pleasure losing myself within new worlds like Valerian and Corto and sharing that joy with others is what I am all about!!! No, I feel the same way. You can acknowledge how differently we would approach certain aspects today, but you have to have the historical context when approaching an older work. What surprises me so much about Valerian thus far is how hard it is to do that. Their second storyline takes place in 1986, but was written in 1968, and it's really really hard to tell! Christin and Mezieres may well have been time travelers from Galaxity, themselves! |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Jul 17, 2019 8:13:23 GMT -5
I thought the movie was terrible.
The visuals were amazing. But everything else was bad, especially the main characters. Two petulant children snarking their way through the whole movie. I was praying they would get incinerated or run over by a slow moving truck. Easily the most unlikable protagonists in recent memory. I'm sure the comic version is better, because it would have to be.
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Post by badwolf on Jul 17, 2019 8:18:07 GMT -5
I haven't read the comic but I watched the movie last week and loved it!
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Post by brutalis on Jul 17, 2019 8:54:32 GMT -5
The movie is a visual feast for the eyes with dazzling special effects. Beyond that I won't comment upon the worth or not of the movie. I enjoyed it on the big screen but left wishing/wanting for a bit more and overall was glad that it got made. I give it points for ambitiousness but Besson is one of those who doesn't know when to pull back and indulges himself in believing that you need everything and the kitchen sink up on the screen. Sometimes that just becomes too much "noise" up on the screen and takes away from the story/acting. With the Valerian universe there is so much richness to explore from the comic that I think Besson did what many would have done: throw everything he could from the comic onto the screen as there might not ever be another movie and hoping fans and newcomers would all experience the joy and come back for more. Which they didn't do. I think many saw it once at the theater and then there are those who chose to wait for DVD/Blueray at home.
I did get a copy of the DVD and watched it once more a month or so back. There were things to like and things to dislike. The acting was rather stilted throughout but I did like both of the main actors portraying Valerian and Laureline and would enjoy seeing where they might take things in another movie.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 17, 2019 11:17:37 GMT -5
I'd heard the film was an utter flop. I guess I will have to check it out, though I'll likely seek out the animated series first, as that sounds like it actually adds to the series rather than imitates it. I have the dvd and the film is okay; not as good as it should be; but, better than a Hollywood film would be. Besson is at least a fan. The visuals carry things and the acting is kind of bland. By comparison, the Fifth Element is a much better film, with stunning visuals, but also performances that rise to the occasion. It does take a little while to get into Valerian, the film, though. The animated series is pretty good and in keeping with the tone of the originals. I've seen some of it on Youtube and they even covered how Laureline came to the future (she was from Medieval France). It tends towards an anime style; but, that's pretty much anything animated, anymore. There was also a Diabolik animated series, produced by Saban, that is out there, too. Looked rather like the Spider-Man series, on Fox, in terms of quality. |
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