Pierre Christin passed away today. He was responsible for the stories of Valerian and Laureline a French science fiction comic series that started in the late 60s. They have been credited with having heavily influenced Star Wars.

My brother was given the album The Heroes of the Equinox as a present when we were kids and it completely changed the way I looked at comics. So much so that I believe it was that book, along with Jan's Superlópez, that made me start making my own comics.

Luckily most.of Valerian comics are available in English so do yourself a favour, get a couple of them and give them a try.