Valerian

For this week's, I read the Comic 'Valerian,' by Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christin. I saw the movie over the summer since I'm a big fan of that director's other cult sci-fi film, 'The 5th Element." I did really enjoy the movie, it felt really fun and kind of ridiculous in the same manner. This comic felt a little bit slower to me. The art was still enjoyable, the monsters were fun and silly looking. I didn't really like the way Laureline was drawn or portrayed, it felt very "male gaze" to me, without giving her a really interesting character. I really didn't like the bit on page 27, where he ran at her and kissed her after swimming naked. That felt pretty gross and sexist. I did think that the worldbuilding was really, really strong and that really sold me on making this an interesting and worthwhile read.