Edgar P. Jacobs was a friend and collaborator of the famous Belgian writer and artist Herge and the adventures of Blake and Mortimer were in fact serialised in the first issue of Tintin magazine in 1946. Although surprising at the time, that first story, The Secret of the Swordfish, proved more popular than the Tintin story that it accompanied and so the Blake and Mortimer adventures were developed and soon published as an independent series of graphic novels. Featuring a dynamic partnership between famous British physicist Professor Philip Mortimer and Captain Francis Blake, the head of MI5, the Blake and Mortimer novels were set during an atmospheric and mostly accurate interpretation the 1950s and involved a thrilling mix of classic detection and science fiction. However, despite proving incredibly popular in their native French, the Blake and Mortimer stories were not available in English until the late 1980s and then only briefly. Fortunately, in 2007, Cinebook Publishing began reprinting Blake and Mortimer, albeit not chronologically, with The Affair of the Necklace being the seventh title published.

As The Affair of the Necklace begins, dapper heroes Blake and Mortimer are travelling to Paris to testify at the trial of Count Olrik [the official nemesis of the series who appears in all but one of the books]. Stuck in a never-ending traffic jam, Professor Mortimer reads a newspaper for entertainment and learns that the citizens of Paris are abuzz with news about the discovery by Sir Henry Williamson, a wealthy British collector of antiques, of a necklace once owned by Marie-Antoinette that was thought to have been destroyed centuries ago. Rumours are swirling that Sir Henry intends to present the necklace as a birthday gift to Queen Elizabeth II. Mortimer’s contemplation of the historical significance of the necklace is brought to a sudden, if temporary, halt when Captain Blake spots their old friend Commissaire Pradier of the French security service. Pradier explains the reason for the traffic holdup – Count Olrik has staged an audacious escape from his prison van as he was being transferred to court for trial.

Although determined to help recapture Olrik, Blake and Mortimer agree to attend a reception being given by Sir Henry Williamson during which he intends to present the famous necklace to the public for the first time. The reception is held at the home of Duranton-Claret, the jeweller who was responsible for restoring the necklace. The reception seems to be a great success but, as Duranton and his butler head down to the cellar to fetch the necklace from the safe for its grand unveiling, an explosion rocks the house and the guests are plunged into darkness. Blake and Mortimer race to the cellar where they discover both Duranton and the butler unconscious. The cellar is rapidly filling with water flowing from a burst water main and so Blake and Mortimer barely have time to help the two unconscious men and then rescue the jewel case from the safe before it washes away. On opening the jewel case, they find it empty, save for a note from Count Olrik claiming responsibility for the theft of the necklace. Realising that the explosion was caused by a bomb and that Olrik and his gang have now escaped into the catacombs under Paris, Blake and Mortimer engage in a thrilling race against time to capture their archenemy and recover the necklace.

Although, when considered against the Blake and Mortimer series as a whole, The Affair of the Necklace is popularly considered to be the weakest of all Edgar P. Jacobs’ books, it is still a fine adventure story. Professor Mortimer and Captain Blake are action heroes of the classic kind, rushing from dinner parties to shoot-outs, from cocktail hours to alien invasions, while always maintaining their calm exteriors and demonstrating the archetypal British stiff upper lip while cracking jokes and engaging in amazing feats of derring-do. Their attempts to outwit and finally bring to justice the Machiavellian Court Olrik run the gambit from thrilling and tense to downright hilarious. Old-school action adventures like those of Blake and Mortimer aren’t particularly en vogue at the moment but hopefully these reprints offered by Cinebook will go some way towards remedying the situation. The story of The Affair of the Necklace is certainly not the most complex that Jacobs came up with, but it is still action-packed and his artwork offers the same clarity and imagination as that of previous volumes.

While if you are new to the adventures of Blake and Mortimer you might be best off starting with The Yellow “M” or the two volumes that make up The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, The Affair of the Necklace is still a rip-roaring adventure and a wonderful piece of escapism to while away an afternoon with.

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