Comic book series Valérian and Laureline, created in 1967 by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières, is considered a major work of French-language science fiction. Three historians—Klaus Oschema, Isabelle Deflers, and Jürgen Finger—analyze the series through the lens of their discipline. The series follows Valérian and Laureline, agents of the spatio-temporal service of Galaxity, a capital of the terrestrial empire of the 28th century, as they travel through time and space to preserve the fabric of time. The first episode, Les mauvais rêves, published in 1967 in the magazine Pilote, begins with the crime of a wicked engineer, Xombul, who seeks to reintroduce combat and war into human life by acquiring magical powers in the 11th century. Valérian discovers a manuscript by the old wizard Alberic in Xombul's collection. The setting of the 11th century in the comic book evokes elements of the Middle Ages, including magicians, unicorns, and enormous carnivorous plants, alongside a fortress, peasants, and churches. The architecture of the village where Valérian arrives resembles the village of the Gauls in Asterix, a comic series created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The 11th century was chosen for its historical figures and events that have entered collective memory, such as sovereigns like Philippe Auguste and Joan of Arc. The choice also references the "terrors of the year 1000," a concept from the work of historian Georges Duby, published in 1967. The setting of the church in the comic book combines elements of a cathedral like Reims or Orleans with a staging referencing the coronation of Napoleon I according to Jacques-Louis David. Isabelle Deflers notes that the spatio-temporal empire in the series serves as a metaphor for colonial forms of power and dependence. The empire exerts tutelage over space-time, with agents like Valérian maintaining order and opening commercial routes to enrich the metropolis. The series critiques the "civilizing mission" through extractivist logics, similar to those of European empires of the modern age. In The Empire of a Thousand Planets (1971), the planet Syrte is depicted as a population reduced to economic and cultural dependence, echoing plantation economies and East India Company monopolies. Laureline, a peasant from the Middle Ages, becomes a main character in the series, gradually taking on strategic roles and challenging Valérian's authority. Her journey reflects the historiography of women's agency in patriarchal societies, highlighting the invisibilization of women's skills in official narratives. The official title change to Valérian and Laureline in 2007 recognizes her status as a co-protagonist. Jürgen Finger discusses On the Forged Lands (1977), where Valérian and Laureline encounter floating historical reconstructions in space, populated by androids reenacting scenes from Earth's history. The album critiques the ahistorical nature of these reconstructions, which exist in isolation without context or change. The comic book advocates for historical imagination alongside precision, emphasizing the necessity of critical thinking to understand the power relations hidden in historical events. Laureline challenges the historian Jadna and the alien, who are obsessed with reconstructing the past with meticulous detail but lack critical awareness of the human consequences. Laureline's ethical stance highlights the need for history to be a human affair, combining precision, imagination, and critical thinking.