This July (2017) Director Luc Besson is releasing a film that will finally pay homage to the root of his enduring artistic style. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a film based on the (little known to America) French graphic novels of Valérian and Laureline. These stories, written by Pierre Cristin and drawn by Jean-Claude Mézières, began in the late sixties and are often credited with being a large influence on certain american comics as well as the original Star Wars trilogy. So before before the movie hits theaters this summer, why not catch up with the source material (also check Overdrive for the first 2 issues) or some of Luc Besson’s earlier influenced work. As a bonus, Mézières actually worked on The Fifth Element!
Valerian and Laureline, two agents from the 28th century who protect mankind from rogue time travellers, are sent to 1986 New York to intercept a megalomaniac named Xombul. But with the world in ruins and New York about to be swallowed by the ocean, the agents will have to navigate the shifting waters of the past to make sure that the future will exist.
Two hundred and fifty years in the future, life as we know it is threatened by the arrival of evil. Only the fifth element can stop the evil from extinguishing life, as it tries to do every five thousand years.
An action-thriller that tracks a woman accidentally caught in a dark deal who turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.