Azor

A short-lived French space opera from Editions Mondiales, Azor ran for twelve issues in the early 1960s, blending science fiction adventure with a distinctly European comic-book sensibility. The series is most closely associated with its creator, the artist and writer Jean-Claude Forest, whose dynamic, atmospheric style gave the interstellar exploits of its hero a moody, cinematic flair. Though brief, Azor remains a notable artifact of the era, showcasing the inventive, often surreal turn that French genre comics were taking before the rise of the bande dessinée mainstream.