Linda and Valentin, agents in space and time

Stories: Pierre Christin
Drawings: Jean-Claude Mézières

Linda and Valentin stands out because of the storytelling which is never stale or repetitive, and the good plots. I like them for the tendency to explore and detect their way through their assignments, rather than shoot and maim. Also, the aliens are real, no mere props, and aliens are, to me, some of the most fascinating beings in all of sci-fi. Then there is Mézièrs' mastery of the medium, the way he uses the page, the simple and at the same time complex drawings manage fill me with awe, wonder and whatever else is needed to tell the story.

Valentin and his creators in the hand of Mézières. I am not able to tell you who is Mézières and who is Christin. But, at a guess the guy on the left is Mézières (compare selfportrait on the page about him)

A exploration of the universe of Linda and Valentin

Messengers from the present

Linda and Valentin, the permanent suprise, multitude, thematic and visual riches. Most of the great cartoons have two basic flaws, the closednes and the repitition. Eager to polish their universe and keeping their characters the authors close them in, more and more for each history. Open space ends in being enclosed in a wall onto which the pictures are projected.

Take, if you will, ``Flash Gordon'' by Alex Raymond. In the end you are left with the impression that the only thing ever happening is that Flash tries to keep in power, or at least see to it that power is in good hands, with a light mix of Doras jealousy. All action happens within the series' set and tends to be repetitive. The seeming endless multitudes of Mungo ends up going in circles. Not always totaly without charm, but boring in the end.

The key Jean-Claude Mézières and Pierre Christins artistic success lies in the total evasion of this trap. Album after album the comic has been innovative, strengthening itself, to the degree that reading the whole series through, like I have just done - constantly awakens curiosity and admiration. How far haven't they come since ``Bad Dreams''? Or even just since ``The drowning city''? (Anyone that knows the English name of the story where New York is flooded is asked to come forward and tell me :-) To keep our interest they must tell and draw something more than a simple story.

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From the beginning the universe of Linda and Valentin works differently for different readers. For the naive reader, without knowledge of science-fiction, it appears as a wonderful richness, that might have been borrowed, but certainly is discover-able without knowing the origins. Not that it is hidden: this reader sees it the same way a passerby would admire a bank palace without considering that it was financed with his money. In this way Christin and Mézières work is one of two gateways to the science-fiction genre, the other being the thematic anthologies.

Our heroes relaxing for a moment after finishing a assignment.
Valentin: That was a good idea! And where are we going now?
Linda: Hmmmm... If we get permission, there is one thing I would like to do.

For the initiated reader on the other hand, it contains a universe of references, riches of collective cultural goods. Even though the comparison may seem contrived, one can think of the statues and figurines on the facade of a cathedral, easy to understand and fractured for the un-initiated in the symbols used, taken for granted and filled with connotations for one that know the symbols and can see how the arrangements make sense, even as one enjoys each for itself.

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Other pages of interest might be Teemu Mäkinen's Mézières page, Thierry Goubier's Valerian pages (it is most excelent) and perhaps Max Zomborszki's Valerian pages.

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