Jean-Claude Forest broke new ground in the 1960s with “Barbarella”, a comic for adults. In the same decade, it was freely adapted in a film version with the same title. Both works address themes that struck a chord with the contemporary French and US countercultures, which were engaged in a lively cultural exchange. Controversial issues included the Algerian War (for France) and the Vietnam War (for the US) as well as changing gender relations, the new body image launched by innovations in fashion, and professional prospects for independent women (including work as an astronaut). The protest movement in West Germany (the “68ers”), on which the heavy legacy of the Nazi era still weighed, was confined to the role of the spectator.