{"id":12384,"date":"2014-08-31T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=12384"},"modified":"2014-08-30T14:26:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-30T14:26:43","slug":"the-adventures-of-blake-mortimer-the-mystery-of-the-great-pyramid-part-2-the-chamber-of-horus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2014\/08\/31\/the-adventures-of-blake-mortimer-the-mystery-of-the-great-pyramid-part-2-the-chamber-of-horus\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adventures of Blake & Mortimer: The Mystery of the Great Pyramid part 2 – The Chamber of Horus"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy <\/strong>Edgar P. Jacobs<\/strong>, translated by Clarence E. Holland & Erica Jeffrey (Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-905460-38-0<\/p>\n

Master storyteller Edgar P. Jacobs pitted his distinguished duo of Scientific Adventurers Captain Francis Blake<\/em> and Professor Philip Mortimer<\/em> against a wide variety of perils and menaces in stunning action thrillers which merged science fiction, detective mysteries and supernatural thrillers in the same timeless Ligne claire<\/em> style which had done so much to make intrepid boy reporter <\/strong>Tintin<\/strong> a global sensation.<\/p>\n

The strip debuted in Le Journal de Tintin<\/strong><\/em><\/strong> #1 (26th<\/sup> September 1946): an anthology comic with editions in Belgium, France and Holland. The new anthology was edited by Herg\u00c3\u00a9, with his eponymous star ably supplemented by a host of new heroes and features\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Le Myst\u00c3\u00a8re de la Grande Pyramide<\/strong><\/em><\/strong> was the second extended exploit of the peerless pair, originally running in <\/strong>Le Journal de Tintin<\/em> <\/strong>from March 23rd<\/sup> 1950 to February 21st<\/sup> 1951 and, as seen <\/strong>yesterday<\/a><\/strong>, it saw the True Brits investigating murder, mayhem and mystery in modern Egypt\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

With his great friend murdered, Mortimer is resolved to finish the case himself and begins by visiting the decidedly odd Doktor Grossgrabenstein<\/em> in his mansion. He hasn’t made up his mind about the German, but the archaeologist’s staff – especially his thuggish foreman Sharkey<\/em> – are definitely playing some deeper game\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The visit almost ends in disaster but once again a mysterious warning in Egyptian tips Mortimer off and he leaves before the gang can grab him. Later that night he meets again the aged holy man Sheik Abdel Razek<\/em> and the enigmatic cleric gives him a strange talisman and a warning of the arcane forces he faces.<\/p>\n

Rationalist sceptic though he is, the physicist keeps the artefact near and that night, when another vicious attempt is made on his life, the charm proves its worth\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Instructing Nasir to make discreet inquiries, Mortimer returns to the Giza excavation, unaware that he has picked up a silent shadow. A commotion then brings him to Razek’s dwelling where Sharkey is threatening the old man, but before the Professor can intervene the bully is sent scurrying by a shocking display of spooky pyrotechnics\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The house is incredibly ancient, built from reclaimed materials, and as he chats with the sheik Mortimer sees glyphs and symbols etched into the walls which can only have come from the original pyramids.<\/p>\n

Razek is charmingly evasive however and Mortimer eventually leaves, but on his way back sees figures lurking around Grossgrabenstein’s work site.<\/p>\n

Although he loses them, the chase gives him an opportunity to inspect the tunnels under the tomb. However further investigation is cut short when he clashes with native worker Abbas<\/em> whom he suspects has been following him\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Things take a dangerous turn the next night when he returns to the German’s grand home. A sudden slip by Grossgrabenstein tips off Mortimer that the boisterous historian has at some stage been replaced by gifted mimic Olrik. After a mighty struggle, the Professor is captured and soon after Nasir too is bundled into the opulent cell he has been dumped in\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Their bacon is saved by the unexpected arrival of the police who storm the mansion with guns blazing. In the confusion a beloved old comrade resurfaces as Francis Blake sheds his own disguise to rescue his beleaguered friends.<\/p>\n

When the gunfire subsides the triumphant police try to arrest the real Grossgrabenstein and, as they blunder around, slippery Olrik again escapes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

With all their nefarious opposition seemingly routed, Blake and Mortimer are free to concentrate on solving the mystery of the Chamber of Horus and why ultra-modern super-criminal Olrik was so obsessed by it.<\/p>\n

Soon they are carefully exploring the claustrophobic tunnels beneath the Great Pyramid and eventually discover not only the incredible treasures of the pharaohs but their old arch-foe plundering the sacrosanct horde.<\/p>\n

Olrik is as hard-headed and no-nonsense as his British adversaries and puts no faith in curses, talismans or magic, but the sudden arrival of Razek teaches all of the western heretics a lesson they will never forget\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 before carefully erasing their memories to protect the secrets his line has spent millennia protecting\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Fast-paced, action-packed, wry and eerie, this spectacular conclusion is a thunderous rollicking conclusion to the moody, mystery of the ancient world and a superb treat for fans of blockbuster sagas like The Mummy<\/strong> or Indiana Jones<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A sheer delight for lovers of fantastic fiction, <\/strong>Blake & Mortimer<\/strong> are the graphic personification of the Bulldog Spirit and worthy successors to the likes of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>, Allan Quatermain<\/em>, Professor Challenger<\/em>, Richard Hannay <\/em>and all the other valiant stalwarts of lost Albion\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Original editions \u00c2\u00a9 Editions Blake & Mortimer\/Studio Jacobs (Dargaud – Lombard s.a.). \u00c2\u00a9 1987 by E.P. Jacobs. All rights reserved. English translation \u00c2\u00a9 2008 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Edgar P. Jacobs, translated by Clarence E. Holland & Erica Jeffrey (Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-905460-38-0 Master storyteller Edgar P. Jacobs pitted his distinguished duo of Scientific Adventurers Captain Francis Blake and Professor Philip Mortimer against a wide variety of perils and menaces in stunning action thrillers which merged science fiction, detective mysteries and supernatural thrillers … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Adventures of Blake & Mortimer: The Mystery of the Great Pyramid part 2 – The Chamber of Horus”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[63,127,132,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-european-classics","category-nostalgia","category-older-kids","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-3dK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12384\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}