Kampen om Teknorog

Valérian and Laureline #4

by Pierre Christin, Jean-Claude Mézières

Technorog is a planet essential to the economy of the Terran empire. For 200 years, it has been a centre of industry, research and agriculture. Suddenly, the indigenous population—believed long extinct—comes back to the planet they know as Alflolol. Earth’s laws are strict: They must be allowed back on their ancestral grounds. But when Valerian and Laureline are assigned to facilitate their “reinsertion,” they see the difference between the letter of the law and its spirit...

Genres: Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Bande Dessinée, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Adventure

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Pierre Christin was a French comics creator and writer.

Reviews

[Daniel]

Ovde je jasno sta pisac pokusava da kaze ali nekako mi je nezgrapno to sve prikazano. Opet imamo lepih scena i dobrih momenata ali ovo je, za sada, najslabija prica.

Ali opet zabavna je za citanje i ako ste fan ovog serijala necete omasiti u njenom citanju.

[Diz]

This one was not the best story in the Valerian series. In this book, Valerian and Laureline have a difference of opinion on how humans are treating the native population of a planet. Laureline, of course, has the right idea about the situation, so she leaves him to live with the native population. For some reason the story sticks with Valerian's perspective as someone who has to do the job that he's hired for. So, we get a few pages of Valerian feeling sorry for himself, which isn't that fun to read.

[Rick]

This one seems a little sillier that the others, but the moral of the adventure is still easily recognizable. The adventures of Valerian and Laureline are almost mythological in their presentation. They offer equal parts life-lesson and thrilling escapades, set in a golden-age sci-fi environment. This is classic French comics and deserves greater recognition in the US.

[Luana]

There's a sincere and jolly dopiness to these books that has kinda captured me. In this one, V & L are caught up in a mysterious arrival reminiscent of something like... well, Arrival or perhaps The Abyss when visiting an important factory planet for the Terrian Empire.

After a few pages, however, the mysterious and powerful aliens just turn out to be a jolly family that went on holiday for a few thousand years, and it turns out those dang Earthlings turned their paradise into an industrial zone.

As tensions rise (though the aliens are too powerful to really be phased by a lot of it), the Alflololians get pushed into ever more precarious positions despite being the original inhabitants of the land.

Laureline first shows an anti-authoritarian streak here, whereas square-jawed hero Valerian is more about following orders cuz them's the breaks. Let's see where it goes in future books, if anywhere.

Good anti-capitalist propaganda for the kids, in any case!

[Andy]

This tale takes the theme of how badly humans treat an indigenous population after they return to their homeworld after 4000 years, doing all they can drive them out, all in the name of business, profits and production.

The differences between the two groups even affect Valérian and Laureline as they split, with Laureline becoming friendly with the newly returned natives and Valérian kind of stuck in the middle. But as always, by the end things kind of work out for all involved.

Another good read in the series.

[Niklas]

Olen lueskellut Christinin ja Mezieresin Valerian-seikkailuita alkuvuoden aikana. Niputan albumeita nyt muutamiin kokonaisuuksiin. Ensimmäisenä on vuorossa Paluu Alflololille (1972), joka kertoo omituisesta muukalaisrodusta, jonka muinainen asuinplaneetta joutuu teknokraattisen Teknorogin tuhoamaksi. Tuhannen planeetan valtakunta (1971) puolestaan yhdistelee tarinasssaan keskiaikaista ja huipputeknologiaan pohjaavaa yhteiskuntarakennetta ihan kiinnostavalla tavalla. Isännän linnut (1973) on näistä tarinan puolesta luultavasti vahvin, siinä kun kamppaillaan omituisten lintuparvien avulla eri kansoja alistavaa isäntää vastaan miekka & magia -hengessä. Valerianit ovat selkeästi hyvää ja onnistunutta sarjakuvaa, joka yllättää paikoitellen sen moderniudella, sekä aihepiirien että käsittelytavan osalta, vaikkei näissä albumeissa vielä yhtään nappiosumaa olekaan.

[Adam]

Histoire intéressante qui explore le concept de colonization. C'est un peu difficile de faire le parallel avec des vrai situations puisque le peuple déplacé ne ce fait pas remplacer par force mais part de la planète pour des milliers d'années et revient pour trouver que leur planète, pensé être déserte, à été colonizer! Que faire dans tel situation? C'est facile de la voir du point de vue des deux cotés. Facile que les Technorogs étaient pas du tout sympathiques, poursuivant des intérêts économiques, mais auraient-ils été innocents l'histoire aurait peut être plus de nuance.

[Tapani Aulu]

Tässä yrittää ollaa selkeästi jotain moraalintynkääkin ihmisen ylimielisyydestä ja sen sellaisesta. Laureline on tässä hyvis ja tärkeämpi hahmo, vaikka Valerian sitä koko ajan dissaakin. Alflololilaiset ovat hyvin kirjoitettuja. Ja taide toimii. Erinomainen albumi vaikka tarina ei mitää erikoismainintoja saakaan.

[Ric]

I love the series, and this one has a much deeper theme than the previous entries. But I always feel when I'm reading these that Laureline is a much better character than Valerian gives her credit for.

[Douglas]

Another adventure of our heroes. This one is interesting as there's no particular antagonist. Rather the natives of the planet Alflolol return after a few thousand years of wandering much to the surprise of the settlers there. Though amusing, this particular one has a lot of typical ideas about aboriginal peoples, the Noble Savage in space so to speak. The Alflolol natives are stronger, more mentally capable, and each has a unique ability they discover somewhere into their thousand-year adolescence.

Laureline takes an immediate shine to them, despite or maybe because of a mental link their eldest forms with her and almost leaves her incapacitated. It's never really explained but Laureline is totally smitten with these fun-loving people who don't even get the concept of labor. Valerian takes criticism from the governor and Laureline both in trying to find a compromise both settlers and natives can live with.

The conflict is never resolved, it sorta just resolves itself. The natives get bored and decide to leave for greener pastures. Valérian and Laureline reconcile their differences. Earth gets a big surprise. This one just felt more of a slog.

[Drew]

Meh. It's a quick read. Nothing particularly unique about this one. It's a parable about aboriginal peoples and resettlement delivered with sledgehammer subtlety. The natives of Alflolol return to their homeworld after thousands of years of a nomadic existence and discover settlers from earth have covered their planet with factories and other production facilities. Willing to live together with the earthlings, unfortunately their cultures clash, and the settlers try increasingly restrictive and punishing measures to control them. Our Heroes™ clash as Valerian tries to follow orders, while Laureline sides with the Alflololians.

I feel like the last couple books in this series have been directed more at younger readers, with very simple storytelling. While the first couple books weren't overly complex, I didn't get the same sense that they were intended for kids. But these last two . . . yeah.

Also, the translation from the French remains awkward.

[Jean-Paul Keulen]

Op zich ben ik best onder de indruk van de oude Ravian-strips - als ik in mijn achterhoofd houd dat ze begin jaren zeventig verschenen. De tekeningen zijn spectaculair en kleurrijk, de scenario's ambitieus. Het verhaal van dit vierde deel, over een nomadenvolk dat terugkeert naar haar thuisplaneet die inmiddels door de mens is geïndustrialiseerd, probeert ook echt wel een boodschap over te brengen. Jammer is alleen dat hoofdpersoon Ravian daarbij wordt gedwongen in een atypische, passieve, weinig heldhaftige rol, terwijl de relatie tussen hem en Laureline verzandt in een boel gekibbel en wederzijds onbegrip.

[Matthew]

This one starts out with intrigue, introducing a vast industrial planet and a convoy of natives, returned after a long voyage. But neither the natives nor the planet hold any revelations. Instead, we get a farcical allegory of colonialism, offering nothing but banality and tedium.

The low-key conflict escalates slowly and ends when the natives decide to leave. So, no confrontation, little action at all. Laureline goes wild and the natives adopt her while Valerian pouts. It’s mildly amusing.

The high-point again is Mezieres’ art. There are many great panels here, dynamic angles from below, factories and machinery, ships and control panels, and some nice figures.

[Sri]

Sedih baca yang ini. Bangsa Aflolol terusir dari planet mereka sendiri, karena planet itu kaya sumber daya alam yang berguna bagi Galaxity. Planet tersebut 'terlanjur' dikuasai oleh Bumi ketika penduduk aslinya sedang pelesir. Usia mereka sangat panjang sehingga pelesir mereka pun mencapai ribuan tahun wkwkwk. Beruntung bangsa Aflolol bangsa yang tak suka bertengkar walaupun mereka kuat, cerdas, dan memiliki bakat-bakat yang luar biasa. Akhirnya dengan suka rela mereka pergi meninggalkan rumah mereka T_T.

[Dirk Jumpertz]

Christin's criticism on the human race pops up again in this great little story of a species that returns to their home planet after 4000 years of space drifting. The planet has been colonised in the mean time and is being used for its resources. A recipe for conflict with the hilarious Alflolians.

I'm wondering if Avatar used this 40 year old story as inspiration? In both cases we (the human race) are the intergalactic "pricks".

[Laura Di Santo]

Después de "The empire of a thousand planets" es mi segundo Valerian preferido. No solo porque amé el dibujo que es increíble, si no por el tema... Una vez más Laureline hace pataleta por una raza y un trato machista, que al final obvio Valerian soluciona, a ese pobre tipo siempre le toca arreglar todo

[Erik]

The commentary on colonialism is nice but really obvious. Valerian is also completely fine with forcing the natives onto a reservation and making them work the menial jobs no one else wants, which is an interesting position to give to your hero. The art was fine with some fun ship and alien designs but this book and the movie was enough Valerian for me.

[John]

Actually liking this series. The characters are fun and the themes are great.
This one deals with the topic of keeping natives out of their birthright lands. Remember this is French. And it is a bit twisted as to the final ending.

[Thorbjørn Sølver Lange]

Nostalgia from my 1980'es childhood.

Even though I now find the stories, plots and characters rather short
and maybe even shallow. I love the rich inspiring universe.
Also it's almost like a quest for Easter-eggs, to see how much other fiction since these came out, has been inspired from them c¨,)

[Norman]

There was a seed of a decent Star Trek episode here and then it went nowhere and worse than nowhere. Also we find out that Valerian is apparently okay with colonialism, so that's something fun to learn about the protagonist.

[Quiver]

Fun, with a deeper moral than the others.

[Anetq]

Alflololerne har været på en lille smuttur i rummet på en 4000 år - i mellemtiden har Galacity koloniseret deres planet...

[Arensb]

A story of native people being displaced within their own land. Not the best book in the series.

[William Thomas]

Another great one

Still timely given the state of the world today. Laurence and Valerian are great and the Aflololians still make me feel wonderful

[Doug]

found this at a used bookstore a looooong time ago. For some reason it stuck in the memory so when the (apparently awful) movie got made it was enough for me to look up the back story.

[Filipe Figueiredo]

Not as impressive

This wasn’t as impressing as the previous volumes, but well I’ll keep reading the rest.
It’s otherwise a nice irony of what happens in our own planet...

[Pascale]

J'ai beaucoup aimé... trop d'actualité comme trame malheureusement...

[Sean]

Fun and topical still. Indigenous people and ancestral land versus colonisation, commerce and profit.

[Wickie]

Just a forever childhood No. 1 for me. Although I don't like the Alfloloians as much anymore. They're somewhat annoying ;-).

[Pascal]

Pas mal, je trouve que ça a pas mal vieillit, j'ai eu du mal à rentrer dans l'histoire et à aimer les personnages, un peu trop polissé?