Jean Dufaux

This could easily be entitled Indiana Jones and the Curse of the 30 Pieces of Silver: it's that kind of adventure! There's also a twist of The Maltese Falcon in this cocktail, and why not?

Ploughing a similar furrow to other Blake and Mortimer adventures (Blake and Mortimer separate to get involved in seemingly disparate plots, but you know that they're going to be connected; shadowy figures tailing the heroes; journeys to far off places; OLRIK!), if you've read the series this far you're show more probably going to love this story.

The story involves the discovery of part of a mysterious treasure which seems to carry the curse of the Lord Almighty Himself, and which a cabal of Nazi survivors from the fall of the Third Reich intends to use to gain global dominion. The race is on for Mortimer and his comrades to recovery the rest of the treasure, and the power it represents, before the forces of evil beat them to it and secure a devastating occult weapon. Olrik's in on the plot, having been busted out of a federal penitentiary at the beginning of the story. Given he's the heroes' perpetual nemesis, he spends a lot of time playing second fiddle to more powerful figures, which is an interesting character trait.

Most of the story follows Mortimer's adventures, with Blake offstage for the majority of the narrative. As this is the first of a two-part story, I expect Blake to show up in the next installment just the nick of time (and probably in disguise!) to pull Mortimer's fat out of the fire.

Definitely one of the best entries in the series so far (reading in order of the English language editions). show less

Despite the faux-Disney character designs, this is a pitch-black story about a young woman who murders her mother in self defense only to realize that she enjoys the power that comes with royalty.

This is a sequel to Blake and Mortimer's earlier adventure, The Yellow "M", which I should, perhaps, have reread, as the details of the Mega Wave as re-presented in The Septimus Wave seem very confused. I'm not sure if this is the writer or translator's fault, or my own.

I would have liked to better understand the motivations and origins of the quartet of ne'er-do-wells who precipitate the action. What is their endgame? How did they come together? These aspects aren't fleshed out. Where did show more "Orpheus" come from? What does its pilot want? What was the figure which appeared to Nasir? Was it Septimus or the pilot? The shadow it cast doesn't seem to fit either. The research seems a little less accurate this time, unless the author actually meant to hide Bethlam Royal Hospital near Croydon (about 10 miles from central London) behind the facade of the otherwise incorrectly named Bedlam Hospice, presented as being an easy walk from Whitehall. I'm possibly betraying a lack of reading comprehension with these nitpicking questions.

The inevitable appearance of the ubiquitous Colonel Olrik is actually a welcome relief, and he, if nobody else, feels a little more three-dimensional than usual.

Apart from feeling somewhat lost with the details of the mcguffin, this London-based adventure was an enjoyable, if workmanlike, addition to the series - not terrible, but not of the best. show less

Absolutely game-changing art in this one. The faces kind of reminded me of stylized 80's, 90's cartoons, and the environments & framing were cinematic, painstakingly detailed, and gorgeous. I love some art where you can tell so much about a character's mood by the way they stand. Story was interesting, but a little too everything-about-love-makes-me-angry.