By Yves Sente & André Juillard
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 978-1-84918-048-1
Fifty years on from the original Edgar P Jacobs tales there are currently two creative teams producing new Blake and Mortimer work, and it is a credit to them both at how well they capture the spirit and the artistic style of the originals.
The Voronov Plot involves a Soviet space mission that goes wrong when the rocket collides with objects in our near atmosphere, bringing back dangerous bacteria to Earth. The Russian team that are sent to retrieve the wreckage soon meet with an untimely end, so a second more cautious and better protected group retrieve the deadly samples. However, a General orders the samples destroyed, but unknown to him the bases's leading scientist chooses to keep some of the bacteria to experiment on in secret. One of his assistants is a spy for the British, so word soon reaches British Intelligence and the dashing Captain Blake. The British, fearing a dangerous biological weapon, need a sample of the bacteria to work on themselves, so the spy duly assists with dispatching some smuggled inside a Russian doll, only for herself to be discovered after the event. Meanwhile, both Russian and world leaders begin to mysteriously die after public appearances, raising suspicions of a plot. Professor Mortimer offers his services as he's able to get to Russia on the pretence of a conference, so the duo set off east and the race is on to rescue their spy and put a stop to whoever is behind this dangerous scheme.
The creators infuse plenty of cold war shenanigans here, and without the James Bond gizmos it's much more Smiley's People than 007. There's a very dodgy bit of science on the second page, but it's easily forgiven in the context of driving the story on. I'm genuinely impressed that the look and feel of Jacob's work is so alive here, so if you've ever enjoyed any of the originals you won't be disappointed by this.
And if you liked that: Look out for volume 9
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