MÉZIÈRES - Lot 109

MÉZIÈRES JEAN-CLAUDE MÉZIÈRES VALÉRIAN The Empire of a Thousand Planets (T.2), Dargaud 1971 Original plate no. 43, prepublished in in Pilote no. 541, March 19, 1970. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 39.3 × 49.8 cm (15.47 × 19.61 in.) Valérian is a character created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières in November 1967 in Pilote. He may not have been the precursor of space opera, which the Americans had been wielding with dexterity since the 1930s, but these authors had succeeded in creating a cosmogony with complex geopolitical implications that was both amusing and exciting. This semi-realism would leave a lasting mark on the world of science fiction, from Leiji Matsumoto and Albator to George Lucas and Star Wars. This concluding plate from the second volume demonstrates the incredible graphic quality of Mézières, then in his infancy, capable of drawing everything from beautifully designed space ships and fantastic characters in armor to the character of Laureline, whose costume seems to have come straight from the workshops of Courrèges.