Edgar P. Jacobs (1904–1987)

Well this one was quite a surprise. Unlike its contemporary Tintin Blake and Mortimer adventures are more adult story and without that much humor and comedy. Art is excellent, so called "clear line" schools is truly great. So if you like Tintin, early Tanguy and Laverdure you will truly enjoy it.

Story wise this reads more like graphical novel than standard comic - there are blocks and blocks of text. But while sometimes actions of villains seem very much like parodies (you now that ominous cackle and monologue describing what their evil plan is) overall story is pretty good. You have thrills, chase, mystery and very interesting characters.

Recommended to all fans of thrillers and adventure stories.… (mais)

A mysterious figure has been terrorizing London, and he seems to be some sort of supervillain. This is an adventure worthy of the Batman a mad scientist with a mind control device has stolen the imperial crown from the Tower of London. How could he get past all the guards to make off with such a potent symbol of British power? This apparent supervillain has already robbed the Bank of England leaving behind a mysterious yellow chalk mark of the Greek letter mu surrounded by a circle. Captain Francis Blake of military intelligence and his close friend Professor Philip Mortimer are asked to come to the aid of Scotland Yard to apprehend the fiend. The game is afoot, and after some interviewing, a daring break in at Blake’s home and an apparent visit from the main suspect who appears to be bullet proof and the chase is on from the docks through the sewers and a hidden doorway to a secret laboratory leads to a fiendish plot for revenge and world domination!… (mais)

In the nineteenth of the English language series of the Adventures of Blake and Mortimer, the adventures are all Mortimer’s. Blake makes only two short appearances at the beginning and end of the tale.

Receiving a posthumous inheritance from a former foe, Professor Mortimer recklessly dashes off to investigate. What he finds is a secret laboratory hidden near the ruins of a medieval castle. And sitting in the middle of the abandoned lab is a time machine with prerecorded operating instructions. Curiosity gets the best of him, and he tries it out landing himself back in the age of dinosaurs. Where he soon finds himself being attacked by them. Narrowly escaping this peril, he jumps back into the “chronoscape” and jumps forward to the 14th century, where he enables the escape of a fair damsel in distress before jumping forward into the 50th century where his appearance sparks a revolt against a tyrannical authoritarian world government that maintains rigid control over the Earth’s population using mind control. Needless to say, our hero saves the day before returning to the present with an explosive “BROOM” sound effect. Then what happened to him is, of course, covered up by the British and French governments.

M. Jacob’s line much like that of his fellow countryman Hergé, with whom he worked, has the same ligne claire illustration style. His crisp cartoons are accompanied by extensive expository text at the top of all of his panels. The result is a delightfully melodramatic science fiction adventure about a diabolical time trap with a high word count.… (mais)