Valerian: Heroes of the Equinox
by Pierre Christin (writer) and Jean-Claude Mézières (art)
Dargaud, 1984
'Valerian: Heroes of the Equinox' first was serialized, as Les Héros de l’équinoxe, in 1978 in the French magazine Pilote. In 1984 it was one of a number of Valerian album de bande dessinee titles selected for republication as a graphic novel, in English, for the U.S. market.
The plot has something to do with a competition being held on the planet Simlane, where the entire population is senescent and its renewal dependent on having an offworld male provide a kind of space-age sperm donation (?!) to the Supreme Mother, the planet's female Goddess.
Representing the Galaxity federation, Valerian finds himself competing alongside Ortzog of Bourgnouf, Blumflum of Malalum, and Irmgaal of Krahan.
Imgraal and Ortzog are over-muscled blockheads clearly meant to satirize American superheroes (particularly Marvel superheroes), while Blumflum probably is meant to satirize Dr. Strange.
The competition involves ascending the mountain atop the island of Filene, where a temple to the Supreme Mother awaits at the summit. During their ascent the contestants must negotiate hostile terrain, and hostile wildlife.
Valerian, physically smaller and far less imposing than the other Heroes, relies on Gallic pluck and perseverance, in contrast to the bombastic styles of the other contestants. Along the way, Christin and Mezieres sneak in a homage to Moebius:
'Heroes of the Equinox' is a decent enough example of a late 70s entrant in the Valerian canon. Mezieres' art is imaginative, aided by a coloring scheme as good as, if not better, than anything being used in US comics at the time (with the exception of Richard Corben).
Given that Pilote was aimed at what is nowadays termed the Young Adult audience, it's a bit odd that Pierre Christin's plot would emphasize political satire (the Heroes each represent a different political ideology, all of which are completely unsuitable for Simlane, but the Heroes are too arrogant to realize this) which, presumably, would have been over the heads of the juvenile readership. But then, by the time 'Heroes of the Equinox' was published in Pilote every reader had to know that Christin was prone to using the comic to make political statements.
Summing up, if you are a fan of the bande dessinee of the Pilote and Metal Hurlant era, and you have some familiarity with the subtleties of the French approach to political satire, then 'Heroes of the Equinox' likely will have its appeal.
While copies of these early 1980s graphic novels from Dargaud can be hard to find (I was lucky to grab a copy in decent condition for just 10 bucks), 'Heroes of the Equinox' is one of several episodes compiled in Cinebook's Valerian: The Complete Collection: Volume 3, published in 2017. You can find copies of Volume 3 on sale from your usual online retailers for under $25.
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