119-488: This is a list of all of the official Valérian and Laureline books. Each story was written by Pierre Christin , drawn by Jean-Claude Mézières and coloured by Evelyn Tran-Lé. Every Valérian adventure from Bad Dreams to The Wrath of Hypsis was first serialised in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote . The first story to be collected in comic album format was The City of Shifting Waters which
238-434: A 10-episode adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back debuted in 1983. Billy Dee Williams joined the other two stars, reprising his role as Lando Calrissian. In 1983, Buena Vista Records released an original, 30-minute Star Wars audio drama titled Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell , written by Daley. In the 1990s, Time Warner Audio Publishing adapted several Star Wars series from Dark Horse Comics into audio dramas:
357-569: A major influence on the series. Christin has also cited the whodunit genre—notably novels by Georges Simenon and Ed McBain —as an influence on Valérian since they taught him, as a writer, that all characters in a narrative must be seen to have motivations. Mézières's drawings in the early albums were influenced by such " comic-dynamic " artists as Morris ( Lucky Luke ), André Franquin ( Spirou et Fantasio ) and Jack Davis ( Mad magazine ), leading Jean-Pierre Andrevon to refer to Valérian as "a kind of Lucky Luke of space-time". As
476-488: A man of action than sitting around pondering what course to take next. The early stories present Valérian as a typical square-jawed hero figure, who is strong and dependable (although an early running joke was that despite being a time-traveller he is always running late, especially when summoned by his boss). However, as the series progresses, he is increasingly portrayed as somewhat knuckle-headed. In World Without Stars ( Le Pays sans étoile ), he gets recklessly drunk on
595-430: A master and their apprentice. The franchise is set against a backdrop of galactic conflict involving republics and empires, such as the evil Galactic Empire . The Jedi and Sith prefer the use of a weapon called the lightsaber , a blade of plasma that can cut through virtually any surface and deflect energy bolts. The rest of the population, as well as renegades and soldiers, use plasma-powered blaster firearms . In
714-446: A metre tall, resembling flightless birds with a snout instead of a beak . Shingouz have a high alcohol tolerance and preference for strong alcoholic beverages , which they consume in large quantities. The Shingouz society is capitalist to the extreme. Shingouz want a profit from everything they do. They are especially adept in trading important and sensitive information to interested parties. Valérian and Laureline have struck up
833-472: A mixed reception from critics and audiences. Several Star Wars films have been produced separately from the Skywalker Saga. In 2008, Lucasfilm released the animated film The Clone Wars , which is set during the prequel trilogy and serves as the theatrical pilot of the television series of the same name . Following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, an "anthology" film series set between
952-492: A proposed adaptation of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky 's novel Hard to Be a God for director Peter Fleischmann . This film was eventually finished in 1989 though Mézières's concepts for the film were barely used. The art Mézières produced for both projects was later published in Mézières Extras . In 1991 Mézières began work producing concept art for the director Luc Besson for his film The Fifth Element . When
1071-595: A relationship with a group of three Shingouz who have a particularly useful network of contacts in all the major space communities. They are especially fond of Laureline, which she often uses to her advantage in striking favourable deals with them. In the feature film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , the Shingouz are replaced with the similar negotiating species Dogan Daguis. Childhood friends Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin had previously collaborated on
1190-572: A series of murders of Jedi Masters. The Star Wars canon fictional universe spans multiple eras, of which three are focused around each of the film trilogies. The following eras were defined in January 2021, and further refined and expanded in April 2023: The Expanded Universe of spin-off media depicts different levels of continuity, which were deemed non-canonical and rebranded as Legends on April 25, 2014, to make most subsequent works align to
1309-491: A special mention by the jury at the 1992 Angoulême International Comics Festival in the Prix Jeunesse 9–12 ans (Youth Prize 9–12 years) category. Valérian has also been nominated for a Haxtur Award in 1995 for The Circles of Power and for a Harvey Award in 2005 for The New Future Trilogy , an English-language compilation of three of the albums. Valérian first appeared on 9 November 1967 in issue #420 of
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#17327933229241428-442: A theme for Obi-Wan Kenobi for the miniseries and Han Solo's theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story . Williams also created the main theme for Galaxy's Edge . Several other composers worked on other soundtracks, including John Powell ( Obi-Wan Kenobi ), Michael Giacchino ( Rogue One ), and Ludwig Göransson ( The Mandalorian ). The first Star Wars audio work is The Story of Star Wars , an LP using audio samples from
1547-541: A worker in a rocketship factory to that of a taxi driver who flies his cab around a Rubanis-inspired futuristic New York City . Mézières produced further concept drawings for Besson, including flying taxi cabs. He also re-used certain aspects of the design of the space liner seen in the 1988 Valérian album On the Frontiers for the Fhloston Paradise liner seen in second half of the film. The Fifth Element
1666-527: A yet unspecified form. The first Valérian album to be translated into English was Ambassador of the Shadows which was serialised across four issues of the magazine Heavy Metal in 1981 (Volume 4, Number 10 (January 1981) to Volume 5, Number 1 (April 1981)). Ambassador of the Shadows was later republished in English in album format as were World Without Stars , Welcome to Alflolol and Heroes of
1785-479: Is Galaxity's contact on 20th-century Earth. He makes his first appearance in Métro Châtelet, Direction Cassiopeia . He is a retired gentleman who drives an obsolete Renault 4CV and lives in the suburbs of Paris , France. He maintains a wide range of contacts in government and scientific circles as well as with many experts in fields outside the mainstream such as ufology , telepathy , and sorcery . He
1904-786: Is Laureline who questions the ethics of some of the jobs they are forced to take to make ends meet, notably in The Living Weapons ( Les Armes Vivantes ). Despite being independent and efficacious, Laureline is not afraid to exploit her considerable sex appeal if it is to her advantage. For example, she attracts the attention of the Emperor of Valsennar in World Without Stars and, dressed in leather gear and boots, she manipulates Crocbattler and Rackalust in Brooklyn Station, Terminus Cosmos and regularly charms
2023-512: Is a French science fiction comics series, created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières . It was first published in Pilote magazine in 1967; the final installment was published in 2010. All of the Valérian stories have been collected in comic album format, comprising some twenty-one volumes plus a short story collection and an encyclopædia . The series focuses on
2142-537: Is able to travel anywhere using a spatio-temporal jump, a sort of hyperspace drive enabling near-instant transportation anywhere in space and time. The initial albums were generally straightforward good versus evil adventure stories. However, thanks to Pierre Christin's interest in politics , sociology , and ethnology , as the series progressed the situations typically arose from misunderstandings or ideological differences between various groups that could be resolved through reason and perseverance. The core theme of
2261-431: Is also a pigeon fancier and uses his carrier pigeons to relay messages between some of his contacts. Unlike Valérian he tries to avoid getting involved in the thick of the action and never acts impulsively, always preferring to take his time about things. He enjoys the finer things in life: gourmet cuisine, fine wines and likes to take things easy. The character of Albert is partially influenced by that of August Faust,
2380-514: Is common due to lightspeed hyperspace technology. The planets range from wealthy, planet-wide cities to deserts scarcely populated by primitive tribes. Virtually any Earth biome , along with many fictional ones, has its counterpart as a Star Wars planet which, in most cases, teem with sentient and non-sentient alien life. The franchise also makes use of other astronomical objects such as asteroid fields and nebulae . Spacecraft range from small starfighters to large capital ships, such as
2499-485: Is forced to bring her back with him to Galaxity where she is trained as a Spatio-Temporal Agent and assigned as his partner. In the early stories, Laureline generally sits in the background while Valérian saves the day in whatever situation the pair have found themselves, but her position changes as the series develops. World Without Stars , the fourth serial published in Pilote , the two characters are separated for most of
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#17327933229242618-772: Is impossible for the Force. These superpowers are wielded by two major knightly orders at conflict with each other: the Jedi , peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic who act on the light side of the Force through non-attachment and arbitration , and the Sith , who use the dark side by manipulating fear and aggression. While Jedi Knights can be numerous, the Dark Lords of the Sith (or 'Darths') are intended to be limited to two:
2737-463: Is known in Denmark) who believes the character of Liva is in fact Linda (i.e. Laureline). Jean-Claude Mézières himself has worked as a concept artist on a number of science fiction film projects. The first of these was in 1984 for director Jeremy Kagan who was attempting to adapt René Barjavel 's novel La Nuit des temps ( The Ice People ). The film was never made. This was followed, in 1985, by
2856-538: The Jedi Academy trilogy (1994) by Kevin J. Anderson , the 14-book Young Jedi Knights series (1995–1998) by Anderson and Rebecca Moesta , and the X-wing series (1996–2012) by Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston . Del Rey took over Star Wars book publishing in 1999, releasing what would become a 19-installment novel series called The New Jedi Order (1999–2003). Written by multiple authors,
2975-442: The 2008 series of the same name . Following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, all animated series released prior to 2014, apart from the 2008 series, were discarded from the franchise's canon . Subsequent animated series include Rebels , released in 2014; Resistance , released in 2018; and The Bad Batch , released in 2021. Several micro-series and shorts have also been released by Lucasfilm since Disney's acquisition, with
3094-447: The Franco-Belgian comics magazine Pilote , and every Valérian story from Bad Dreams to The Wrath of Hypsis was initially serialised in Pilote . The second Valérian story, The City of Shifting Waters ( La Cité des Eaux Mouvantes ), was the first to be collected in graphic novel album format by Dargaud . Since On the Frontiers , every Valérian story has debuted in album format. Seven short stories were also published in
3213-463: The New Republic era, serving as the climax of the various live-action television series that began with The Mandalorian in 2019. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will direct a third film about a new Jedi Order, set fifteen years after the sequel trilogy. In January 2024, it was announced that Jon Favreau would direct a new Star Wars film, titled The Mandalorian & Grogu . In February of
3332-466: The Republic , the return of Luke as a Jedi Master (a role similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy), Luke's sister (not yet determined to be Leia), Han, Leia, R2-D2 and C-3PO . However, after beginning work on the prequel trilogy, Lucas insisted that Star Wars was meant to be a six-part series and that there would be no sequel trilogy. Lucas decided to leave the franchise in
3451-520: The Scandinavian languages ( Danish , Icelandic , Norwegian and Swedish ) (as Linda og/och Valentin ), Finnish (as Valerian ja Laureline and previously as Avaruusagentti Valerianin seikkailuja ), Spanish , Portuguese (as Valérian, agente espácio-temporal ), Serbian (as Valerijan ), Italian , Turkish , Polish , Indonesian and Standard Chinese . "Intégrale' editions have been published in several of these languages as well, of which
3570-955: The Shingouz when negotiating with them for information. She has appeared nude in some adventures. Mézières drew a picture of her for the French edition of Playboy in 1987. She also has a certain affinity for animals such as the Alflololian Goumon in Welcome to Alflolol , the Grumpy Converter from Bluxte, first seen in Ambassador of the Shadows , and the Tüm Tüm (de Lüm) and the Tchoung-Tracer , both introduced in On
3689-476: The Sith . Although no longer canon, the story is paralleled in The Force Awakens with Han and Leia's son Ben Solo , who becomes the evil Kylo Ren. Three series set in the prequel era were published by Scholastic for younger audiences: the 18-book Jedi Apprentice (1999–2002) chronicles the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his master Qui-Gon Jinn in the years before The Phantom Menace ;
List of Valérian and Laureline books - Misplaced Pages Continue
3808-480: The Star Destroyers , as well as space stations such as the moon-sized Death Stars . Telecommunication includes two-way audio and audiovisual screens, holographic projections, and hyperspace transmission. The universe of Star Wars is generally similar to the real universe but its laws of physics are less strict allowing for more imaginative stories. One result of that is a mystical power known as
3927-551: The Star Wars characters Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa meeting Valérian and Laureline in a bar surrounded by a bestiary of alien creatures typical of that seen in both series. "Fancy meeting you here!" says Leia. "Oh, we've been hanging around here for a long time!" retorts Laureline. Mézières has since been informed that Doug Chiang , design director on The Phantom Menace , kept a set of Valérian albums in his library. Mézières has also noticed similarities between some of
4046-669: The Thrawn trilogy, Leia considers an advantageous political marriage to Prince Isolder of the planet Hapes, but she and Han ultimately marry. Steve Perry 's Shadows of the Empire (1996), set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi , was part of a multimedia campaign that included a comic book series and video game. The novel introduced the crime lord Prince Xizor , another popular character who would appear in multiple other works. Other notable series from Bantam include
4165-563: The University of Southern California , licensed the Star Wars radio rights to KUSC-FM for US$ 1 . The production used John Williams's original film score, along with Ben Burtt 's sound effects. The first was written by science-fiction author Brian Daley and directed by John Madden . It was broadcast on National Public Radio in 1981, adapting the original 1977 film into 13 episodes. Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels reprised their film roles. The overwhelming success, led to
4284-609: The digest-sized Super Pocket Pilote in 1969 and 1970 and later collected in Across the Pathways of Space ( Par Les Chemins De l’Espace ) in 1997. The series was originally published under the title Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent . However, with the publication of The Order of the Stones in 2007, the series now goes under the title Valérian and Laureline . On 22 January 2010, the last album, L'OuvreTemps ( The Time Opener ),
4403-481: The eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media , including television series , video games , novels , comic books , theme park attractions , and themed areas , comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe . Star Wars is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The original 1977 film, retroactively subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope ,
4522-528: The 11-book Jedi Quest (2001–2004) follows Obi-Wan and his own apprentice, Anakin Skywalker in between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones ; and the 10-book The Last of the Jedi (2005–2008), set almost immediately after Revenge of the Sith , features Obi-Wan and the last few surviving Jedi. In 2019, a new prequel era novel, starring Qui-Gon and the young Obi-Wan, was published by Del Rey under
4641-618: The British publisher Cinebook Limited published a hardcover collection of the series titled; Valerian: The Complete Collection , spread over seven volumes, with three to four stories in each book. These volumes are in full original color, printed on glossy paper and measure 220 mm × 290 mm. Val%C3%A9rian and Laureline Valérian and Laureline ( French : Valérian et Laureline ), originally titled Valérian: Spatio-Temporal Agent ( French : Valérian, agent spatio-temporel ) and also commonly known as Valérian ,
4760-535: The EU material until April 25, 2014, when the company announced all of the EU works would cease production. Existing works would no longer be considered canon to the franchise and subsequent reprints would be rebranded under the Star Wars Legends label, with downloadable content for the massively multiplayer online game The Old Republic the only Legends material to still be produced. The Star Wars canon
4879-517: The Equinox and Brooklyn Station, Terminus Cosmos . When Galaxity disappears in The Wrath of Hypsis he contemplates following his fellows into oblivion, much to Laureline's horror. Even afterwards, he feels the loss of Galaxity much more than Laureline, as it is his birthplace. The name Valérian comes from Eastern Europe, although its origin is Latin, from valere ("to be strong"). Valérian
List of Valérian and Laureline books - Misplaced Pages Continue
4998-471: The Equinox by the short-lived Dargaud-USA and Dargaud-Canada between 1981 and 1984 and in the United Kingdom by Hodder-Dargaud in 1984 and 1985. In 1989 it was announced that NBM Publishing were going to reissue the four English language albums published by Dargaud-USA and also release a translation of Empire of a Thousand Planets but nothing seems to have come of this. Heroes of the Equinox
5117-408: The Force which is described in the original film as "an energy field created by all living things ... [that] binds the galaxy together". The field is depicted as a kind of pantheistic god. Through training and meditation, those whom "the Force is strong with" exhibit various superpowers (such as telekinesis , precognition , telepathy , and manipulation of physical energy); it is believed nothing
5236-472: The Frontiers ( Sur les Frontières ). The name "Laureline" was invented by Mézières and Christin who were seeking a name that would sound "medieval" and "soft". The name has proven popular and there are now several thousand women in France named Laureline, the first one born in 1968, just a year after the publication of Bad Dreams . There have also been variations such as "Loreline" and "Laurelyne". Laureline
5355-507: The Martian (a childhood favourite of Mézières), Roger Lecureux and Raymond Poivet 's Les Pionniers de l'Espérance (The Pioneers of Hope) (which Christin found tired and repetitive) and Jean-Claude Forest 's Barbarella . Barbarella is famous for its strong female titular character, but Christin has denied any influence on the character of Laureline, stating that she was inspired by Simone de Beauvoir 's The Second Sex as well as
5474-492: The Marvel magazine Pizzazz between 1977 and 1979. The 1977 installments were the first original Star Wars stories not directly adapted from the films to appear in print form, as they preceded those of the Star Wars comic series. From 1985 to 1987, the animated children's series Ewoks and Droids inspired comic series from Marvel's Star Comics line. According to Marvel Comics former Editor-In-Chief Jim Shooter ,
5593-530: The Shadows, World Without Stars, Welcome to Alflolol and Heroes of the Equinox by Dargaud imprints in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1985. "On the Frontiers," "The Living Weapons," and "The Circles of Power", translated by Timothy Ryan Smith, were collected in a single volume under the title Valerian: the New Future Trilogy , published by iBooks in 2004. During 2017 and 2018
5712-601: The Ultralum ( Otages de l'Ultralum ) won a Tournesal award, given to the comic that best reflects the ideals of the Green Party , at the 1997 Angoulême International Comics Festival . The encyclopedia of the alien creatures found in the Valérian universe Les Habitants du Ciel: Atlas Cosmique de Valérian et Laureline ( The Inhabitants of the Sky: The Cosmic Atlas of Valerian and Laureline ) received
5831-557: The adventure, with Laureline stepping out from under Valérian's shadow for the first time, and she proves to be more than an equal to Valérian in ensuring that their mission succeeds. Welcome to Alflolol ( Bienvenue sur Alflolol ) brings Laureline's rebellious nature to the fore; unlike Valérian, she has not been born and raised by Galaxity and is prepared not only to question Galaxity's authorities but to rebel openly against them when their orders run contrary to her sense of morality. It also demonstrates her impulsive streak; she sides with
5950-501: The adventures of the dark-haired Valérian, a spatio-temporal agent, and his redheaded female colleague, Laureline, as they travel the universe through space and time. Valérian is a classical hero , kind, strong and brave, who follows the orders of his superiors even if he feels, deep down, that it is the wrong thing to do. On the other hand, his partner Laureline combines her superior intelligence, determination and independence with sex appeal. Influenced by classic literary science fiction,
6069-415: The albums On the Frontiers , The Living Weapons and The Circles of Power in one volume reduced to standard American graphic novel size. These were the only Valérian stories iBooks published and the company has since declared bankruptcy. Since July 2010, UK publisher Cinebook has been publishing English language editions of Valérian. These began at a rate of one volume every six months. However, as
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#17327933229246188-727: The announcement. Since the new canon has been introduced, there has been a multitude of pieces of Expanded Universe continuity that have become a part of canon. Star Wars in print predates the release of the first film, with the November 1976 novelization of Star Wars , initially subtitled " From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker ". Credited to Lucas, it was ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster . The first "Expanded Universe" story appeared in Marvel Comics ' Star Wars #7 in January 1978 (the first six issues being an adaptation of
6307-621: The artist Pepo Pérez likens to " National Geographic , but on a cosmic scale". Valérian was born on Earth, in Galaxity, capital of the Terran Galactic Empire in the 28th century. He joined the Spatio-Temporal Service in the year 2713. He has been trained to think that Galaxity is always right – even when he receives orders that go against his morals he will, reluctantly, follow them. He much prefers to be
6426-578: The burgeoning feminist movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, contemporary reviews of the early stories by Jean-Pierre Andrevon describe the books as "Forestian". Mézières and Christin were also heavily influenced by literary science fiction such as that by Isaac Asimov (especially The End of Eternity ), Jack Vance (especially The Blue World ), and John Brunner . Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier have also suggested that Poul Anderson 's Time Patrol books, about an official organization dedicated to protecting time from interference, are
6545-528: The cinematic release of Luc Besson 's film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets approached, the rate increased to one every three months. Twenty-two volumes had been published by the end of 2017. Pursuant the individual softcover title releases, the publisher announced in December 2016 a complete hardcover book series, aka " Intégrales ", of Valérian, slated to launch in 2017 as Valerian - The Complete Collection . Completed in 2018, each outing in
6664-580: The colonists' home-made booze, in On the False Earths ( Sur les terres truquées ), the historian, Jadna, views him as useful only as cannon fodder and nothing else while in Heroes of the Equinox ( Les Héros de l'Equinoxe ), he comes across as woefully inadequate compared with the champions he is competing against. Although devoted to Laureline, he has been led astray by other women, such as in Heroes of
6783-484: The combined box office revenue of the films equate to over US$ 10 billion, making Star Wars the third-highest-grossing film franchise of all time. The Star Wars franchise depicts the adventures of characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away" across multiple fictional eras , in which humans and many species of aliens (often humanoid ) co-exist with droids , which may be programmed for personal assistance or battle. Space travel between planets
6902-470: The comic strip Le Rhum du Punch ( Rum Punch ) in 1966 while both were living and working in the United States. Upon their return to France they initially intended to create a Western strip but, with the genre already well represented in French comics thanks to Lucky Luke , Blueberry and Jerry Spring , Christin instead proposed that they turn their hand to science fiction, a genre he felt
7021-447: The creation of Métal Hurlant , the highly influential French comics magazine dedicated to science fiction. The influence of Valérian has been noticed in such strips as Dani Futuro [ es ; de ; it ] (by Víctor Mora and Carlos Giménez ) and Gigantik (by Mora and José Maria Cardona). The visual style of Valérian has also influenced some American comics artists, notably Walt Simonson and Gil Kane . Sometimes
7140-416: The earlier animated series falling under Disney's "Vintage" collection of Star Wars content. The Star Wars franchise includes several live-action series. The first series, The Mandalorian , was released in 2019 for the streaming service Disney+ and is set between the original and sequel trilogies of the Skywalker Saga. Due to its success, the series spawned multiple live-action spin-offs set during
7259-399: The episodic films, The Clone Wars film , and television series . From 1976 to 2014, the term Expanded Universe (EU) was an umbrella term for all officially licensed Star Wars storytelling material set outside the events depicted within the theatrical films, including novels, comics, and video games. Lucasfilm maintained internal continuity between the films and television content and
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#17327933229247378-495: The evil Sith lord Palpatine (Darth Sidious). The original trilogy depicts the heroic development of Luke Skywalker as a Jedi and his fight against Palpatine's Galactic Empire alongside his sister, Leia . The prequels tell the tragic backstory of their father, Anakin , who is corrupted by Palpatine and becomes Darth Vader . The sequels follow the conflict between Leia's son, Ben Solo , and Luke and Leia's protegé, Rey , and their eventual alliance against Palpatine after
7497-463: The fall of the Empire. In 1971, George Lucas wanted to film an adaptation of the Flash Gordon serial , but could not obtain the rights, so he began developing his own space opera . After directing American Graffiti (1973), he wrote a two-page synopsis, which 20th Century Fox decided to invest in. By 1974, he had expanded the story into the first draft of a screenplay. Fox expected
7616-479: The film would be of limited financial success, and so it was given a relatively low budget, with production being moved to Elstree Studios in England to help save on cost. Star Wars was released on May 25, 1977, and first subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope in the 1979 book The Art of Star Wars . The film's success led Lucas to make it the basis of an elaborate film serial . With the backstory he created for
7735-650: The film), followed by Foster's sequel novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye the following month. After penning the novelization of the original film, Foster followed it with the sequel Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978). The novelizations of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) by Donald F. Glut and Return of the Jedi (1983) by James Kahn followed, as well as The Han Solo Adventures trilogy (1979–1980) by Brian Daley , and The Adventures of Lando Calrissian trilogy (1983) by L. Neil Smith . Timothy Zahn 's bestselling Thrawn trilogy (1991–1993) reignited interest in
7854-590: The first two albums Valérian travels through time in a two-seater device, the XB27 , which transports him to the various relay stations that Galaxity has hidden throughout time (e.g. in Les Mauvais Rêves ( Bad Dreams ) the relay is hidden below a tavern). In subsequent stories Valérian and Laureline use the saucer-shaped Astroship XB982 , which made its debut appearance in 1969 in the short story The Great Collector ( Le Grand Collectionneur ). The astroship
7973-532: The franchise and introduced the popular characters Grand Admiral Thrawn , Mara Jade , Talon Karrde , and Gilad Pellaeon . The first novel, Heir to the Empire , reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list , and the series finds Luke, Leia, and Han facing off against tactical genius Thrawn, who is plotting to retake the galaxy for the Empire. In The Courtship of Princess Leia (1994) by Dave Wolverton , set immediately before
8092-404: The franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader". Prior to releasing the original 1977 film, and made possible by its success, Lucas planned "three trilogies of nine films". However, he announced to Time in 1978 that he planned "10 sequels". He confirmed that he had outlined the prequels and sequels in 1981. At various stages of development, the sequel trilogy was to focus on the rebuilding of
8211-446: The franchise. This led to a sequel trilogy , consisting of Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). All nine films, collectively referred to as the " Skywalker Saga ", were nominated for Academy Awards , with wins going to the first two releases. Together with the theatrical live action "anthology" films Rogue One (2016) and Solo (2018),
8330-640: The gap between the High Republic publishing initiative and the events of The Acolyte . Titled Star Wars: The Acolyte – Kelnacca , the one-shot was written by High Republic writer Cavan Scott with art by Marika Cresta. It focuses on Kelnacca, the Wookiee Jedi introduced in The Acolyte . John Williams composed the soundtracks for the nine episodic films. He stated he would retire from the franchise with The Rise of Skywalker , but he composed
8449-483: The hands of other filmmakers, announcing in January 2012 that he would make no more Star Wars films. That October, the Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Lucasfilm and announced that Episode VII would be released in 2015. The co-chairman of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy , became president and served as executive producer of new Star Wars feature films. Lucas provided Kennedy his story treatments for
8568-465: The impact of Valérian has gone beyond mere influence; following a complaint by Mézières, the artist Angus McKie admitted that several panels of his strip So Beautiful and So Dangerous were copied from Ambassador of the Shadows . Outside of comics, the Valérian series has been particularly influential on science fiction and fantasy film. Several commentators, such as Kim Thompson of The Comics Journal , film critic Jean-Philippe Guerand and
8687-418: The late 1980s and early 1990s, including the ability to create computer-generated imagery (CGI), inspired Lucas to consider that it might be possible to revisit his saga. In 1989, Lucas stated that the prequels would be "unbelievably expensive". In 1992, he acknowledged that he had plans to create the prequel trilogy. A theatrical rerelease of the original trilogy in 1997 " updated " the 20-year-old films with
8806-413: The later, aforementioned Cinebook version and those of its international companions incidentally, were merely slightly updated editions, only enhanced with a long interview with the two creators and film director Luc Besson, spread over the individual volumes of the collection. Star Wars Star Wars is an American epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas , which began with
8925-414: The main character in the strip The Extraordinary and Troubling Adventure of Mr August Faust ( L'extraordinaire et Troublante Aventure de M. August Faust ), written by Fred and drawn by Mézières in 1967. The Shingouz are aliens who make their first appearance in Ambassador of the Shadows and re-appear regularly throughout the subsequent albums. They are brown, short-furred creatures, slightly less than
9044-671: The main episodes of the Skywalker Saga entered development in parallel with the production of the sequel trilogy, described by Disney chief financial officer Jay Rasulo as origin stories . The first film released was 2016's Rogue One , which tells the story of the rebels who steal the plans for the Death Star , the Galactic Empire 's superweapon, just before the events of the original Star Wars film. A second film, 2018's Solo , tells Han Solo's backstory, set 10 years prior to A New Hope . The series Obi-Wan Kenobi
9163-490: The movie material, while others rely heavily on the non-canonical Expanded Universe (rebranded as Star Wars Legends and removed from the canon in 2014). Star Wars games have gone through three significant development eras, marked by a change in leadership among the developers: the early licensed games, those developed after the creation of LucasArts, and those created after the closure of the Lucasfilm division by Disney and
9282-478: The name Valerian early in his career. Valérian and its creators have also received recognition through a number of prestigious awards. Most notably, in 1984, Jean-Claude Mézières was honoured with the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême for his comics work, including Valérian . Mézières and Christin also received a European Science Fiction Society award for Valérian in 1987 and the album Hostages of
9401-567: The native Alflololians against Galaxity and Valérian with no thought for the personal consequences she may have to face herself. Her position as the true star of the series is cemented in Ambassador of the Shadows ( L'Ambassadeur des Ombres ), which is virtually a solo adventure for her as she searches the vast space station Point Central for the kidnapped Valérian and the Earth Ambassador. Later, when acting as independent agents, it
9520-501: The newspaper Libération , have noted certain similarities between the Valérian albums and the Star Wars film series. Both series are noted for the "lived-in" look given to their various settings and for the diverse alien creatures they feature. Mézières's response upon seeing Star Wars was that he was "dazzled, jealous ... and furious!". As a riposte, Mézières produced an illustration for Pilote magazine in 1983 depicting
9639-506: The nine films of which are collectively referred to as the " Skywalker Saga ". The saga was produced non-chronologically, beginning in media res with the release of the original trilogy between 1977 and 1983. This was followed by the prequel trilogy, released between 1999 and 2005, and the sequel trilogy, released between 2015 and 2019. Each trilogy focuses on a generation of the Force -sensitive Skywalker family and their struggle against
9758-451: The nine-film series plotted, but due to the stress of producing the original trilogy, he had decided to cancel further sequels by 1981. In 1983, Lucas explained that "There was never a script completed that had the entire story as it exists now ... As the stories unfolded, I would take certain ideas and save them ... I kept taking out all the good parts, and I just kept telling myself I would make other movies someday." Technical advances in
9877-473: The original film and a new narration to retell the story, released in 1977. Most later printed novels were adapted into audio novels, usually released on cassette tape and re-released on CD. As of 2019, audio-only novels have been released not directly based on printed media. Radio adaptations of the films were also produced. Lucas, a fan of the NPR-affiliated campus radio station of his alma mater
9996-497: The outer reaches of the galaxy, crime syndicates such as the Hutt cartel are dominant. Bounty hunters are often employed by both gangsters and governments, while illicit activities include smuggling and slavery . The combination of science fiction and fantasy elements makes Star Wars a very universal franchise, capable of telling stories of various genres. The Star Wars film series centers around three sets of trilogies,
10115-581: The planets of the Terran Empire and guards against temporal paradoxes caused by rogue time-travellers. Valérian and Laureline are two such spatio-temporal agents. However, since the end of the story The Wrath of Hypsis ( Les Foudres d'Hypsis ), in which Galaxity disappears from space-time as a result of a temporal paradox, the pair have become freelance trouble-shooters travelling through space and time offering their services to anyone willing to hire them while also searching for their lost home. In
10234-438: The project stalled and Besson moved on to work on the film Léon in 1994, Mézières returned to Valérian for the album The Circles of Power ( Les Cercles du Pouvoir ). This featured a character, S'Traks, who drove a flying taxi around a great metropolis on the planet Rubanis. Mézières sent a copy of the album to Besson who was inspired to change the background of Korben Dallas, the lead character of The Fifth Element , from
10353-493: The quarterly, digest-sized Super Pocket Pilote between 1969 and 1970 and later collected in Across the Pathways of Space ( Par Les Chemins De l’Espace ) (1997): The American graphic magazine Heavy Metal serialized the first English translations of Valerian and Laureline with Ambassador of the Shadows in 1981. Several attempts were subsequently made to translate the series into English in book form, starting with Ambassador of
10472-431: The same fictional era, including The Book of Boba Fett , released in 2021; Ahsoka , released in 2023; and the upcoming Skeleton Crew . These series follow the plight of the New Republic and its allies against the remnants of the fallen Galactic Empire . A story focused on Obi-Wan Kenobi was planned as a film before becoming a live-action series after the box office failure of Solo in 2018. The series
10591-502: The same year, Bob Iger announced that the film would be the first release of the next slate of Star Wars movies. The Mandalorian & Grogu is scheduled for release on May 22, 2026. Lucasfilm has a number of Star Wars films in various stages of development, including: The first two animated series, Droids and Ewoks , were produced in the 1980s. They were followed by the Clone Wars animated micro-series in 2003 and
10710-460: The sequel, Lucas decided that the series would be a trilogy of trilogies. Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980, also achieving wide financial and critical success. The final film in the trilogy, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi , was released on May 25, 1983. According to producer Gary Kurtz, loose plans for a prequel trilogy were developed during the outlining of the original two films. In 1980, Lucas confirmed that he had
10829-746: The sequels during the 2012 sale, but in 2015 it was revealed Lucas's sequel outline had been discarded. The sequel trilogy also meant the end of the Star Wars Expanded Universe stories, which were discarded from canon to give "maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience." Episode VII: The Force Awakens was released on December 16, 2015, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi on December 13, 2017, and Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker on December 18, 2019, in many countries. The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were both critical and box office successes. Episode IX received
10948-636: The series mixes space opera with time travel plots. Christin's scripts are noted for their humour, complexity and strongly humanist and left-wing liberal political ideas while Mézières's art is characterized by its vivid depictions of the alien worlds and species Valérian and Laureline encounter on their adventures. The series is considered a landmark in European comics and pop culture, and influenced other media as well; traces of its concepts, storylines and designs can be found in science fiction films such as Star Wars and The Fifth Element . Many of
11067-473: The series progressed, Mézières developed a more realistic style, akin to that of Jijé , though in more recent albums he has returned to the more cartoonish style of the earlier stories. Valérian's arrival on the French comics scene was contemporaneous with the debuts of other notable French science fiction strips including Luc Orient by Greg and Eddy Paape and Lone Sloane by Philippe Druillet . The success of these strips would eventually lead to
11186-467: The series was set 25 to 30 years after the original films and introduced the Yuuzhan Vong, a powerful alien race attempting to invade and conquer the entire galaxy. The bestselling multi-author series Legacy of the Force (2006–2008) chronicles the crossover of Han and Leia's son Jacen Solo to the dark side of the Force; among his evil deeds, he kills Luke's wife Mara Jade as a sacrifice to join
11305-486: The series was the 28th century. Humanity has discovered the means of travelling instantaneously through time and space. The capital of Earth, Galaxity, is the centre of the vast Terran Galactic Empire. Earth itself has become a virtual utopia with most of the population living a life of leisure in a virtual reality dream-state ruled by the benign Technocrats of the First Circle. The Spatio-Temporal Service protects
11424-591: The sets in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian and the planet seen in Birds of the Master ( Les Oiseaux du Maître ) and between some of the production sketches for the alien fighters in the 1996 film Independence Day and Valérian and Laureline's astroship. The 1999 Danish film Mifune's Last Song , directed by Søren Kragh-Jacobsen , features a character, Rud, who is a fan of Linda and Valentin (as Valérian
11543-527: The seven-volume series collects 3-4 titles of the original individual book releases. An international effort, Cinebook's release was, save for the language, identical to the ones concurrently released in French, Dutch, Portuguese (Brazil only), and Standard Chinese. Many of the Valérian stories have, be it in part or in whole as a series, been translated from their original French into several other languages besides English, including German (as Valerian und Veronique ), Dutch (as Ravian: Tijd/ruimte-agent ),
11662-442: The stories have been translated into several languages, including English. The series has received recognition through a number of prestigious awards, including the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême . An animated television series , Time Jam: Valerian & Laureline , was released in 2007, and a feature film directed by Luc Besson , Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , was released in 2017. The original setting for
11781-422: The stories is an optimistic liberal humanism : the adventures are not about defeating enemies but about exploring, facing challenges, and celebrating diversity . Thus, according to the academic John Dean, Christin "as a rule works into his narratives political, environmental and feminist concerns – thereby showing social ills are universal, no matter on what planet you land". Another concept that developed
11900-443: The strong sales of Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. Marvel's Star Wars series was one of the industry's top selling titles in 1979 and 1980. The only downside for Marvel was that the 100,000 copy sales quota was surpassed quickly, allowing Lippincott to renegotiate the royalty arrangements from a position of strength. In the late 1980s, Marvel dropped a new Star Wars comic it had in development, which
12019-417: The style of CGI envisioned for the new trilogy. Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released on May 19, 1999, Episode II: Attack of the Clones on May 16, 2002, and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith on May 19, 2005. The first two films were met with mixed reviews, with the third being received somewhat more positively. Together with the original trilogy, Lucas has referred to the first six episodic films of
12138-457: The three-part Dark Empire saga, Tales of the Jedi , Dark Lords of the Sith , the Dark Forces trilogy, and Crimson Empire (1998). Return of the Jedi was adapted into 6-episodes in 1996, featuring Daniels. The Star Wars franchise has spawned over one hundred computer, video, and board games, dating back to some of the earliest home consoles . Some are based directly on
12257-490: The title Star Wars: Master and Apprentice . Although Thrawn had been designated a Legends character in 2014, he was reintroduced into the canon in 2016 for the third season of the Rebels animated series, with Zahn returning to write more novels based on the character and set in the new canon. Marvel Comics published a Star Wars comic book series from 1977 to 1986. Original Star Wars comics were serialized in
12376-491: Was Galaxity as a proxy for Western democracy ; contrary to its benign self-image it is actually imperialist and prone to a corrupt real-politik . Other themes include: These themes are underpinned by the vivid drawings of Jean-Claude Mézières, whose "visually stunning backgrounds: complex architecture, futuristic machines, otherworldly landscapes and odd-looking aliens", are what John Dean calls "staples of Mézières' seeming boundless visual inventiveness", resulting in what
12495-534: Was announced in January 2014 that in 2015 the Star Wars comics license would return to Marvel Comics, whose parent company, Marvel Entertainment , Disney had purchased in 2009. Launched in 2015, the first three publications were titled Star Wars , Darth Vader , and the miniseries Princess Leia . First announced as Project Luminous at Star Wars Celebration in April 2019, the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative
12614-572: Was created by Mézières and Christin as a reaction to the fearless boy-scout (e.g. The Adventures of Tintin ) and American superhero characters that were prevalent in comics available in France at the time. Instead they sought to devise a "banal character" with "no extraordinary means of action". Eventually, with Christin feeling that they had gone too far with this angle and that the Valérian character had become too stupid, from The Ghosts of Inverloch ( Les Spectres d'Inverloch ) onwards, Valérian
12733-438: Was finally completed and released in 1997. The importance of the four classical elements to the film is similar to the significance the elements have in the two-part Valérian story Métro Châtelet, Direction Cassiopeia and Brooklyn Station, Terminus Cosmos . However, Besson has claimed that he first came up with the idea for the film at the age of 16 which would pre-date the publication of these two albums. Gary Numan used
12852-479: Was followed by the sequels Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), forming the original Star Wars trilogy . Lucas later returned to the series to write and direct a prequel trilogy , consisting of Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). In 2012, Lucas sold his production company to Disney , relinquishing his ownership of
12971-440: Was initially created just for the first story, Bad Dreams , but recognising that they had a female character who was different from the bimbo types common to comics of the time, Mézières and Christin fell for her and, in response to positive reader feedback, retained her for the subsequent stories. In Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , a 2017 movie by Luc Besson , Laureline is played by Cara Delevingne . Mr Albert
13090-407: Was made more sympathetic and given a greater piece of the action. In Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , a 2017 movie by Luc Besson , Valérian is played by Dane DeHaan . Laureline is a peasant girl from 11th-century France. In the debut adventure, Bad Dreams , she rescues Valérian from the enchanted Forest of Arelaune. When she accidentally discovers Valérian is a time-traveller, he
13209-534: Was numbered "1" in the series. When Bad Dreams was eventually collected as an album, it was given the number "0" to reflect its position as the debut adventure in the series. The dates given in the following list are the year of first publication of each story in album format: With Jean-Claude Mezieres and Pierre Christin having retired from writing further Valerian & Laureline adventures in 2010, other writers and illustrators were later commissioned to create new stories. Seven short stories were also published in
13328-411: Was originally planned as a film, but changed to a miniseries due to Solo underperforming at the box office. In April 2023, three new Star Wars films were announced to be set within different eras of the franchise. An untitled film written and directed by James Mangold will be set during the "dawn of the Jedi". Dave Filoni will direct a film set between the original and sequel trilogies during
13447-534: Was picked up by Dark Horse Comics and published as the popular Dark Empire series (1991–1995). Dark Horse subsequently launched dozens of series set after the original film trilogy, including Tales of the Jedi (1993–1998), X-wing Rogue Squadron (1995–1998), Star Wars: Republic (1998–2006), Star Wars Tales (1999–2005), Star Wars: Empire (2002–2006), and Knights of the Old Republic (2006–2010). After Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, it
13566-409: Was published. With this album the authors concluded the entire comic series with the intention to prevent the series from becoming weak, or staggering behind newer comics. However, Christin has written a 270-page Valérian and Laureline novel, Valérian et Laureline: Lininil a disparu ( Valérian and Laureline: Lininil Has Disappeared ), and indicated that Valérian and Laureline will continue to live on in
13685-542: Was released on Disney+ in 2022 and is set between the prequel and original trilogy films. It was followed by the live-action series Andor in the same year; both series follow their titular characters during the reign of the Empire. The Acolyte is a series created by Leslye Headland set at the end of the High Republic era before the events of the Skywalker Saga , and follows an investigation into
13804-457: Was republished in July 1996 in black and white by Fantasy Flight Publishing (an offshoot of Fantasy Flight Games ) in two issues as standard American sized comic-books as part of an unsuccessful attempt to translate and print several European comic book series including Spirou et Fantasio and Lucky Luke . In November 2004, iBooks published Valérian: The New Future Trilogy , collecting
13923-478: Was revealed in a press conference in February 2020. Involving the majority of the then current officially licensed publishers, a new era set 200 years before the Skywalker Saga was explored in various books and comics. Including ongoing titles by Marvel and IDW Publishing, written by Cavan Scott and Daniel José Older respectively. Marvel Comics will publish a one-shot comic book on September 4, 2024, that bridges
14042-503: Was subsequently restructured to only include the existing six feature films, the animated film The Clone Wars (2008), and its companion animated series. All future projects and creative developments across all types of media would be overseen and coordinated by the story group, announced as a division of Lucasfilm created to maintain continuity and a cohesive vision on the storytelling of the franchise. Multiple comics series from Marvel and novels published by Del Rey were produced after
14161-550: Was unrepresented in French comics at the time. The decision to work in the science fiction genre was also influenced by the political climate in France at the time; Mézières and Christin saw Valérian as a "backdoor" means to react against the prevailing doctrine of Gaullism . Although science fiction was not a favourite of Pilote editor René Goscinny , Goscinny wanted his magazine to be diverse and innovative and so agreed to commission Valérian . There had been French science fiction comics before Valérian such as Kline's Kaza
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