I’ve been told that there is a goldmine of French comics and sci-fi but not sure where to start. I have an omnibus of the one that Fifth Element was inspired by but that’s it. Any recommendations?
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Valérian and Laureline?
In addition to the Fifth Element, Luc Besson also wrote and directed an actual Valérian movie. It wasn't very good.
That’s it! Yea, I remember Nerdrotic and Razorfist recommending the comic but not the movie
The movie was a huge disappointment except maybe the environment visuals. There's actually an animated series. French-Japanese production that lands somewhere between Saturday morning cartoon and anime. Doesn't follow the original comics either but certainly definitely more enjoyable than the movie.
The English voice acting is... yeaaaaah. But you kind of get used to it in a cheesy way and I couldn't find subbed French.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOL3hS3hSOY
The Incal, by Jodorowsky and Mobius. Book five, 'The Fifth Essence' especially, but the whole series really. After Mobius was hired by Besson to do design work for The Fifth Element, he joined Jodorowsky's plagarism lawsuit against Besson (which they lost).
Fantastic books, probably Jodorowsky's best comics. Valerian and Laureline are like an unacknowledged shadow cast over much of modern sci-fi. Star Wars, adaptations of Dune, and half the shit that ripped them off can be traced back to Valerian, but the Incal is a clear inspiration for The Fifth Element.
Asterix obviously (the old ones). People mentioned Tin Tin then I can also mention Lucky Luke.
Beat me to it. If nobody mentioned at least the older Asterix (haven't looked at any of the post-Uderzo ones), I was going to have to start throwing Menhirs at people.
Tin Tin goes to the Congo blew my mind.
XIII
Is Belgian. But if we're willing to stretch outside of France, The Adventures of Tintin is a Belgian classic that you've probably heard of. It's worth checking out if for no other reason then historical curiosity. The first story was published in 1930.
My kids LOVED the Tintin comics. I would highly recommend them. The cartoon is good too. The 3D movie is pretty ok as well.
p.s. I think someone on here actually mentioned it recently, but you may struggle a a bit to find "Tintin in the Congo"
Thanks!
metabarons, metal hurlant
Thanks! I think I’ve heard that name. Will look it up
Code Lyoko for French Sci-Fi
Well, this technically isn't French or sci-fi (Spanish and fantasy) but I used to love this one because of the sheer quality of the art: https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/The-Mercenary/
Every panel is like a small oil painting. Plus, well, let's just say you won't get stories like that anymore these days. The scanned version probably doesn't do it justice but no idea how easy an English print is to find.
I speak Spanish so that works out. Thanks!
It was originally called https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mercenario btw (even I know that much Spanish ;) ). Strangely, Wikipedia categorizes it as sci-fi. You could call it medieval sci-fi, I guess.
Metabarons, Thorgal, Alef Tau, ...
Thanks!
Start with Tin Tin. Moebius is the guy who influences everything. The Incall Series is his most famous, but he has done a ton of other stuff. The Cimmerian is raw awesome. I'm really tired so nouns are playing games with me, but mechaniclords or something is part of a huge series of books to enjoy, which I put in the same place as MechWarrior or Warhammer 40k.
There's a lot of indie comics influenced by it as well. The Surrogates for example.
Thanks!!!
Enki Bilal's La Foire aux immortels....
They made a movie based on the graphic novel, and it's easily one of my all-time favourite films.
The graphic novel has some astounding art, but it's definitely way out there. It's something of an acquired taste, but man it's awesome if you're into retro-futuristic art-deco Egyptology.