Blake and Mortimer Graphic Novels
Edgar P. Jacob’s Classic Adventure Series Is Reprinted
The adventures of Blake and Mortimer are finally available again in English in a new series of graphic novels from Cinebook Publishing.
Edgar P. Jacobs was a friend and collaborator of the famous Belgian writer and artist Herge and the adventures of Blake and Mortimer were serialised in the first issue of Tintin magazine in 1946. Surprisingly, that first story, The Secret of the Swordfish, proved more popular than the Tintin story that it accompanied and the Blake and Mortimer adventures were soon published independently as hardcover and softcover books by Les Editions du Lombard.
Despite proving incredibly popular in their native French, the Blake and Mortimer stories were not available in English until the late 1980s. In 1989, Catalan Communications released two volumes of Blake and Mortimer stories but the company ceased trading before any more volumes could be issued and Blake and Mortimer have been unavailable in English since then. Fortunately, in 2007, Cinebook Publishing began reprinting Blake and Mortimer, with three graphic novels having been published so far:
The Yellow “M”
A mysterious crime wave is sweeping London and nothing, from the Bank of England to the Crown Jewels, is safe. The identity of the criminal is unknown but Londoners are beginning to fear the symbol that is left at each crime scene, the Yellow “M”. Even the famous detectives of Scotland Yard seem unable to stop the crimes and so the Home Office turns to Captain Francis Blake to solve the mystery and identify the man behind the Yellow “M”. Aided by his old friend, the famous nuclear physicist Professor Philip Mortimer, Blake sets out to bring the devious criminal to justice.
The Mystery of the Great Pyramid Vol. 1
Professor Mortimer, accompanied by the loyal Nasir, is in Cairo pursuing his study of Egyptology. With the assistance of his old friend, Professor Ahmed Rassim Bey, Mortimer is deciphering some papyrus that was recently discovered with some mummies dating from the Ptolemaic age. His archaeological exploits soon turn out to be far more dangerous than he expected though, as Mortimer and Bey realise that one of the fragments of papyrus concerned the fabled Chamber of Horus, a crypt said to contain priceless treasure. Suspecting that their old enemy, Colonel Olrik, has surfaced, Mortimer calls on Captain Francis Blake for assistance but, as it turns out, Blake is the one truly in need of help.
The Mystery of the Great Pyramid Vol. 2
When news reaches him that Captain Blake has been assassinated by agents of Colonel Olrik at Athens Airport, Professor Mortimer vows to avenge his friend and sets out to discover the whereabouts of Olrik. Mortimer’s investigation leads him to the home of Doctor Grossgrabenstein, an eccentric Egyptologist who has been carrying out excavations near to the Great Pyramid. With the help of the mysterious Sheik Adbel Razek, Mortimer begins to unravel the secrets of the Chamber of Horus, secrets that will lead him into the darkest depths of the Great Pyramid itself.
