Valerian and Laureline Book 5: Birds of the Master
Valerian and Laureline Book 5: Birds of the Master, by Pierre Christin & Jean-Claude Mézières, Cinebook
BACK IN 1973 Christin and Mézières had their spatio-temporal agents crash on yet another woe begotten planet, sail pass by a space cemetery prior to falling over a cliff, nearly drown only to be rescued by alien fishermen from sundry planets and then get attacked by the bird of madness all in just a few short pages... Pretty thrilling adventure stuff for kids of all ages!
As the story ensues Valerian and Laureline find themselves having to go along with becoming slaves themselves until they can find out just who the unseen master of this place is and then work out an actual plan to get free, In so doing a leisurely pace is taken to explore this foreign environment visually by Mézières. Meanwhile, Christin subtly puts into play story subtexts to the adventure being played out as a parallel to the mythological parable of the Greek Harpies leads to a discourse on the abuses of communism versus fascism, several observations about how most of us are content being lead through our lives, find enjoyment in the downfall of others (from watching Madame Guillotine do her work in years gone by to watching a hero get hurt in a comic book), and yet somehow still believe the ideals of freedom and independent thought are still worth pursuing.
It does all this without being heavy handed (or maybe I’m reading too much into it) resulting in a fast-paced romp that perhaps again concludes a little abruptly but has a nice coda to it, reminding you that several Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters owe this classic European comic album series a heavy debt.
For more information on Valerian and Laureline visit Cinebook.
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