By Yves Sente & André Juillard
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 978-1-84918-067-2
It's 1958, and Professor Mortimer is getting ready to front Britain's exhibit at the Universal Exposition in Brussels, but something is afoot that reaches right back into both Mortimer's and Captain Blake's past, to when they first met in India many, many years before.
For the first time we get to see how Blake and Mortimer met, and remarkably it's under the gaze of Ghandi. Both young men are returning to India following their studies to visit their parents when Mortimer saves Blake from an unprovoked attack by independence extremists and they become firm friends during the rest of the journey. Mortimer arrives at his parents' home and quickly appreciates that his parents attitude to British rule is very different to his own. His childhood friend, Sushil, has become estranged and entangled with the independence movement, although Mortimer persuades Sushil to allow him to come to his village to hear the Emperor Ashoka speak. This he does, where he meets both a beautiful girl who appears to return the interest, and the mysterious Ashoka. Mortimer and the girl arrange a clandestine rendezvous, but when Mortimer arrives the girl appears to have already left, leaving just a torn piece of her sari. Later Mortimer is confronted by Ashoka in a crowded street and accused of her murder, something that then haunts the professor's dreams throughout the rest of his life.
Now, many years later, Ashoka appears to have returned, and he's seeking vengeance on Mortimer through the most curious of methods.
This is one of the new Blake & Mortimer tales, but lovingly crafted to look and feel like Edgar P Jacob's original, jam-packed with period detail, and with the added bonus of the all-important origin story. The story roars along across India, northern Europe and the sixth continent itself, Antarctica, combining all the elements of a good spy tale with danger, adventure and mystery. This book feels even more ambitious and slicker than those before which reflects well on the creators' efforts to embrace and enhance the source material. Quite possibly my favourite Blake & Mortimer so far, and with the added bonus that this is just part one!
And if you liked that: The concluding part will be out soon
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