Blake and Mortimer Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description

Blake and Mortimer is a comic strip/graphic novel series that was created by the Belgian writer and artist Edgar P. Jacobs (1904-1987). It first appeared serialised in the Belgian Tintin Magazine from 1946 and was subsequently published in softcover and hardcover albums by Les Editions du Lombard.

After Jacobs’ death, Bob De Moor completed Jacobs’ unfinished last story; the series was subsequently continued by two Jacobs Studios writing and drawing teams, Van Hamme/Benoit and Sente/Juillard.

Table of contents

1 Main Characters 2 Story Characteristics 3 Volumes Published in the Blake and Mortimer Series 4 External links

Main Characters

• Professor Philip Mortimer — of Scottish descent; grew up in colonial India; the archetypical British gentleman scholar.
• Captain Francis Blake — Welsh-born officer in Her Majesty's armed forces; rose to a high rank in MI6.
• Colonel Olrik — the perennial bad guy from the first instalment on. Of the original series, there is but one book that does not feature him in one capacity or other: Le Piège diabolique. Started out in Le Secret de l’Espadon as colonel in the secret service of Oriental dictator Basam Damdu, became a mercenary and general criminal adventurer.

The three main characters were already present in slightly different form in the unrelated, Flash Gordon-alike first full length comic strip by Jacobs, Le Rayon «U» (The 'U'-Ray, 1943), where they appeared as Professor Marduk, Lord Calder, and Captain Dagon, respectively. (The story furnished many elements for L'Énigme de l'Atlantide as well.)

Story Characteristics

Jacobs always drew his stories as being contemporary, and so the first few titles have a 50s look and feel while the last instalment looks decidedly 70s. The sole exception to this rule is, again, Le Piège diabolique, which starts in the present but whose action, thanks to a malfunctioning time machine, largely takes place in the 51st century preceded by a short venture in medieval times and a stopover in the Jurassic period.

The post-Jacobs volumes all place their adventures in the late Fifties-early Sixties period and so have a nostalgic retro feel.

All stories are based around mild action and thriller plots with bits of (progressively less fantastic) science fiction thrown in.

As with Tintin, the first two titles are relatively crude and simplistic in their worldview, but thankfully this is all resolved by the third title, La Marque jaune.

Volumes Published in the Blake and Mortimer Series

Writers’ credits:
1-11: story and images by Edgar P. Jacobs
12: story by Edgar P. Jacobs, images by Bob De Moor
13, 15: story by Jean Van Hamme, images by Ted Benoit
14, 16: story by Yves Sente, images by André Juillard

ISBNs given are of the latest French language editions as issued by Les Éditions Blake et Mortimer in Brussels. Le Rayon «U», in many ways a precursor of the series, has been re-issued as "Volume 0" (ISBN 2-87097-023-4).

1. 1950 - Le Secret de l’Espadon, Tome 1 (The Secret of The Swordfish, Volume 1: Ruthless Pursuit) ISBN 2-87097-002-1
2. 1953 - Le Secret de l’Espadon, Tome 2 (The Secret of The Swordfish, Volume 2: Mortimer's Escape) ISBN 2-87097-004-8
3. 1953 - Le Secret de l’Espadon, Tome 3 (The Secret of The Swordfish, Volume 3: SX1 Counterattacks) ISBN 2-87097-005-6
4. 1954 - Le Mystère de la Grande Pyramide, Tome 1 (The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, Volume 1: Manetho's Papyrus) ISBN 2-87097-008-0
5. 1955 - Le Mystère de la Grande Pyramide, Tome 2 (The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, Volume 2: The Chamber of Horus) ISBN 2-87097-009-9
6. 1956 - La Marque Jaune (The Yellow Mark) ISBN 2-87097-010-2
7. 1957 - L'Énigme de l'Atlantide (The Atlantis Enigma) ISBN 2-87097-013-7
8. 1959 - S.O.S. Météores: Mortimer à Paris (S.O.S. Meteors: Mortimer in Paris) ISBN 2-87097-015-3
9. 1962 - Le Piège diabolique (The Diabolical Trap) ISBN 2-87097-020-X
10. 1967 - L'Affaire du Collier (The Case of the Necklace) ISBN 2-87097-025-0
11. 1971 - Les trois Formules du Professeur Sato, Tome 1: Mortimer à Tokyo (The Three Formulas of Prof. Sato, Volume 1: Mortimer in Tokyo) ISBN 2-87097-016-1
12. 1990 - Les trois Formules du Professeur Sato, Tome 2: Mortimer contra Mortimer (The Three Formulas of Prof. Sato, Volume 2: Mortimer vs. Mortimer) ISBN 2-87097-017-X
13. 1996 - L'Affaire Francis Blake (The Francis Blake Case) ISBN 2-87097-051-X
14. 2000 - La Machination Voronov (The Voronov Machination) ISBN 2-87097-057-9
15. 2001 - L'Étrange Rendez-Vous (The Strange Encounter) ISBN 2-87097-059-5
16. 2003 - Les Sarcophages du Sixième Continent, Tome 1: La Menace universelle (The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent, Volume 1: The Universal Threat) ISBN 2-87097-066-8

External links

• Le site officiel de Blake et Mortimer, official website for the B&M series
• E.P. Jacobs 2004, the centenary memorial site for the series’ creator

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