Murder by High Tide: Gil Jordan, Private Detective (Gil Jordan)

A duo of detective comedy-thrillers from the Howard Hawks of comics.

Another never-before-translated classic from the Golden Age of Franco-Belgian comics, finally brought to American readers. Imagine the beautifully crisp images of Hergé (Tintin) put in service of a series of wise-cracking, fast-paced detective stories — punctuated with scenes of spectacular vehicular mayhem (including in this volume a dockside pursuit via car and bulldozer) — and you’ll see why 50 years later Gil Jordan is still considered a masterpiece in Europe.

Gil Jordan is a nattily-dressed but tough-as-nails private eye, seconded by his trusty ex-burglar assistant Crackerjack and his eccentric friend Inspector Crouton (as well as the invaluable Miss Midge).

Fantagraphics’ first Gil Jordan book combines two of Gil’s finest yarns in one splendid hardcover. In “Murder by High Tide,” Gil and his associates are hired to investigate the suspicious disappearance (death?) of an antiques dealer, while in “Leap of Faith” they get involved in trying to protect an attorney from Joe the Needle, a mysteriously escaped convict with apparent superhuman powers who has sworn vengeance. 96 pages of color comics