Customer Reviews

The Yellow 'M': Blake and Mortimer 1 (Adventures of Blake & Mortimer)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Edgar Jacobs created the Blake & Mortiner series in 1946. In the six decades since their creation, all of the books have remained constantly in print. They are considered classics in the Franco-Belgian comic book tradition. In Europe, these stories are held with the same high esteem as Tintin, Lucky Luke, Asterix and Alix. Unfortunately, with the exception of Tintin and Asterix, the Franco-Belgian tradition has never caught on in the English speaking world.

The English publisher Cinebook has decided to issue a line of English language translations of classic European comic books. "The Yellow M" is their first Blake & Mortimer release. Hopefully, they will be able to eventually release the whole series.

This is the first Blake & Mortimer story that I have ever read and it is easily understood why this series is such a classic. The series was produced in the clear line style of illustration. The quality of the draftmanship is very high. However, what makes the story first rate is the strong story line. It is cinematic in style and there is a film noire feel to the story. Highly recommended.

I have try for years to read an album of Blake and Mortimer, the series of comic books made by E.P. Jacobs, a disciple of Herge who worked on Tintin as well. Unfortunately, they are unavailable in my country, as well as many countries outside continental Europe. I finally got hold of the Yellow Mark (considered one of their best books), and it was even better than I expected, with the story of Professor Philip Mortimer and Captain Francis Blake pursuing a mysterious criminal who mystifies Scotland Yard with its spectacular exploits like robbing the imperial crown, with its good mix of fantasy, action and and suspense, its period ambience (this book was written in the early fifties), its London settings. I certainly would be interested on reading more books of B&M (specially from the early period).

Finally, after many years after Comcat put out a couple of B&M albums, someone is putting this series out in English. I've long heard about this series, but had never read it. It's great that they have, and I plan on getting all of them.

If there is one issue I have, its that I wish they had reprinted them in their original order. This is NOT the first B&M story, but actually the sixth! As it follows the 2-part "Mystery of the Great Pyramid" (which are the next 2 albums put out by Cinebooks), its a little confusing to read them out of order. And it appears the 4th book Cinebooks is putting out is actually the thirteen story, and one NOT done by EP Jacobs!!!

I'd also love to see the Jacob's "U-Ray", the prototype standalone "flash gordon"-like story that served as a loose inspiration published as well.

As a father always on the lookout for alternatives to the mostly mind-numbing, intellect dulling, so-called childrens' literature I went back to my childhood to introduce my son to the world of Belgian comics, most notably Tintin. After my son devoured all the Tintin books, I researched other Belgian titles with similar themes and came across The Adventures of Blake & Mortimer. I was intrigued enough to buy The Yellow M. While every single panel of artwork is beautiful to look at the story and dialogue go around in circles, going nowhere in a spiral of unoriginality. Eventually, the story is revealed to be little more than the old "disgruntled mad scientist seeking revenge" plotline. The dialogue was needlessly verbose and the author relies too heavily on third person narration to explain events leading up to the situation at hand, sometimes using multiple paragraphs. The result was a dull-read for a parent previewing the book which turned out to be, for the aforementioned reasons, unsuitable for a nine-year old. As amazing as the artwork is, the story and dialogue don't hold up the same way Tintin has. Never-the-less, because of the artwork, I just might give the adventures of Blake & Mortimer a second chance. Yes, the illustrations are that good.

Finally someone is translating the Blake and Mortimer books. I hope they do them all. They are so much better than the TV series. They started with one of the best. The Yellow M is Edgar P Jacobs most popular book. But the newly created ones by two teams of authors a quite good too.

I'll probably pick up a couple more to be sure, but not expecting a lot. It just seemed to drag on in the first half. I'll see what the other titles have to offer.

A classic in the comic/art world. In Belgium they call this the 7th Art and for a reason; every drawing is a piece of art. Actually sometimes if I watch the Poirot's with David Suchet they remind me of B&M the same atmosphere. A great book!

These stories make up an essential part of the Franco-Belgian comic strip canon. Jacobs is a great storyteller! Highly recommended!

I became interested in this after learning that Edgar P. Jacobs was a disciple of Herge, and has actually collaborated with Herge for creating the scenery for many Tintin stories. He is even immortalized as one of the mummified Egyptologists on the cover of Tintin's Cigars of the Pharaohs. While this detective cartoon story is interesting and well-drawn, it is far inferior to the Tintin series. The biggest drawback is in the flow of the story, which is not very smooth. Almost every frame has a yellow narrative bar explaining what is going on. This is a far cry from Herge's self-explanatory action, in which such narrative sentences are rare, rare, and far apart. Those sentences are needed here because the artwork of Jacobs appears still and motionless, completely unlike Herge's artful capture of dynamism and action.