Xombul

Abstract This article looks at the first three stories of Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières Valérian and focuses on the ways in which the series, from its inception, both used and subverted contemporary speculative, graphic and generic tropes. The character of Xombul, a James Bondesque villain, is used as a case study to demonstrate the playful ways in which the creators were employing recognisable types only to confound readers’ expectations. This camp character, bent on cosmic domination and destruction, is abruptly killed off and the series never again features a recurring antagonist. At the same time, Xombul stands to critique certain facets of the reach of the futuristic apparent utopia of Galaxity and consequently prepares the reader to treat the Empire's ‘civilising mission’ with a degree of suspicion.