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

The characters Blake and Mortimer were the creation of Edgar P. Jacobs, a Belgian artist who assisted Herge on his classic Tintin series. The Yellow "M" (1956) is a moody mystery-adventure that pits Capt. Francis Blake of MI5 and his friend, Prof. Philip Mortimer, against a near-superhuman figure, impervious to gunfire, who is abducting some of Britain's leading citizens and leaving only his yellow mark behind. Jacobs' style shows the influence of Herge, but his storytelling is so dense with text that it slows down the action, making the story not as dynamic as it should be. It's definitely of interest to those who have read all the Tintin books and are looking for something new, but don't expect it to be Tintin. --David Horiuchi