De juwelen van de Begum

Atom Agency #1

by Yann, Olivier Schwartz

Cannes, augustus 1949. De Cadillac die de rijkste imam ter wereld en zijn echtgenote, de Begum, naar de luchthaven van Nice vervoert, wordt op klaarlichte dag klemgereden. Op enkele minuten voltrekt zich de spectaculairste hold-up uit de naoorlogse geschiedenis: mevrouw Aga Khan wordt een handtasje lichter gemaakt. De inhoud? Onder meer een diamant van 22 karaat ... De totale buit? Meer dan 200 miljoen francs aan juwelen… en wat extra’s in cash! In Parijs ziet de jonge Atom Vercorian in de overval de uitgelezen kans om zijn agentschap van privédetectives op de kaart te zetten. Hij is de zoon van een politiecommissaris en droomt al lang van een carrière als privédetective. Terwijl het politieonderzoek van zijn vader aanmoddert, krijgt Atom het beruchte Armeense netwerk aan de praat! Met de hulp van de beenharde Mimi en Jojo, een catchlegende van wie het verleden wel eens gelinkt zou kunnen zijn aan dat van de Begum, spoort de speurder in spe de overvallers op. De oude verzetsmakkers van zijn vader zetten hem daarbij op het goede pad ...

Genres: Comics, Bande Dessinée, Graphic Novels, Crime, Sequential Art, Action, Mystery

56 pages, Hardcover

Published February 5, 2019

About the author

Pseudonym of Yann le Pennetier or Lepennetier, who also publishes as Balac, is a French comics writer.

[FR]
Après ses débuts dans la publicité et l’architecture, ce Marseillais s’est lancé dans la bande dessinée en 1974 en dessinant pour Spirou à Bruxelles où il habite désormais.

Remercié par le journal pour dessins irrévérencieux, il avait noué des liens forts de franche camaraderie avec Conrad avec qui il a notamment réalisé les Innommables en 1980 et lancé la Tigresse blanche en 2005.

Ses premiers scénarios l’avaient conduit dans l’univers de Franquin avec le Marsupilami en 1989 et de Goscinny avec Lucky Luke sans oublier son one-shot sur une aventure de de Spirou. Il écrit depuis pour de nombreux dessinateurs comme Berthet (Pin Up, Yoni, les exploits de Poison Ivy), Simon Léturgie (Spoon White), Félix Meynet (les Eternels) avec ou encore Herval (Tiffany), René Hausman (Les Trois cheveux blancs, Le Prince des écureuils), Yslaire (Sambre), Joël Parnotte (Le Sang des Porphyre)...

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is attractive, but it doesn't really work as a mystery. The detectives make progress through the mystery by a string of fortunate coincidences rather than through their skill as detectives. In fact one of the key clues was discovered by reading coffee grounds.

[Ignacio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aventura de presentación de una nueva serie en la que Yann tira de tablas para contar una de detectives y cacos en la Francia de los años posteriores a la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Para darle algo de gracejo sitúa a gran parte de los personajes en un contexto diferente (los protagonistas son hijos de la diáspora armenia), pero sin terminar romper con nada más, lo que convierte el argumento en una sucesión de tópicos protagonizados por personajes a medio cocer. Mirado con un poco de distancia, no deja de sorprenderme cómo hizo mejor este tipo de historia cuando tocó Spirou (El botones verde caqui, La mujer leopardo) que cuando entra con algo que es creación suya. Afortunadamente Schwartz sí que se emplea a fondo y saca partido tanto a los diferentes escenarios (el lujo de la costa azul, las peligrosas calles por la noche, el combate de boxeo) como a una acción llena de dinamismo. A ver qué tal el siguiente álbum.

[Enrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entretenida aventura de un hijo de inmigrante armenio en Francia que monta una agencia de detectives, y tiene como primera misión localizar las joyas del Begum que han sido robadas. El dibujo es de línea clara, y el texto es bastante denso. ¡Muy recomendable!

[Elfo-oscuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divertida historia de talante juvenil. Dibujo de línea clara de Schwartz muy preciosista que junto a la divertida historia de Yann te va a hacer pasar un buen rato con unos personajes muy caracterizados. Habrá que seguirle la pista a esta serie

[Mathilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce fut un premier tome excellent pour ma part !
J'ai vraiment beaucoup aimé ma lecture, le style général et le dessin m'ont ramené en enfance : je me revois petite, me cachant pour aller lire les Tintin de mon père. Le style du dessin se rapproche du trait d’Hergé et l'enquête, à la façon dont elle est mené, également. Sans aller dans la copie conforme, non, juste des références, comme de nombreuses autres que je vous laisse découvrir par vous-même.

Atom Agency est un polar, comme vous l’aurez compris, dont certains cadrages et le scénario font très cinématographiques, genre films des années 50. Atom, fils de flics, Don Juan au grand cœur, vient de monter son agence de détective et cherche à faire ses preuves. Le vol des bijoux de la Belgum est une aubaine pour lui et sa secrétaire et associée vont chercher à les retrouver pour toucher la récompense.
Chacun des personnages a sa personnalité bien tranché dont on s’attache très vite : le père, bon flic, le catcheur doux comme un agneau, la pin-up vipère, etc. Nous avons l’impression de les connaître déjà.

Les auteurs jouent sur les faits et s’amusent à semer un (léger) trouble avec toutes ses références. C’est drôle, captivant, on lit l’album comme on avalerait un sachet de cacahuètes.

Une belle découverte à suivre !

retrouvez mes chroniques sur https://pause-the.blogspot.com/

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

On se croirait dans un un film noir des années 50. Belle écriture, joli rythme, hâte de voir la suite des aventures de l'agence

[Asimina · Rating 4 out of 5]

✖4 STARS✖

Paris 1949. An Armenian detective named Atom Vercorian investigates the case of Yvette's stolen jewels, who is the wife of Aga Khan, the richest man in the world. By his side he has his fellow duo Mimi and Jojo and together and they're getting into a lot of adventures and trouble in order to solve the mystery.

I really liked the atmosphere of this comic, it reminded me of those old noir crime movies (even though it's not the noir/black and white style) or something out of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E" franchice, if it was set in the late 40's.


The plot was fast paced, the graphics were pretty and colorful and the dialogue was funny at times –and at others not so much, but nevertheless it was a nice quick read full of detectives, gangsters and femme fatales.
I'm looking forward to see what comes next for Atom and his team.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonable crime comic, with the Aga Khan's wife getting robbed of a suitcase of jewels. Based just after WW2, there's nothing here to explain why the lead character is an Armenian, but it doesn't hurt anything (beyond a few stereotypically rich eyebrows). He tries to build a detective agency with his spunky lass and a bruiser she knows of old, but is also beholden to his 'uncles' at the police station for tips. I didn't really find much to love in the story, and the ligne claire style didn't float my boat, but it was reasonable entertainment. At least it's a self-contained story, with the creators yet to have their first follow-up to this 2018 launch volume published.

[StrictlySequential ArtNarrative · Rating 5 out of 5]

24×32 ¦ A.I. 09/2018 ¦ D.L. 10/2018 ¦ prix DU07 = eo

Yann packs all sorts of interest in so few pages- without needing to be wordy about it! Here I learned about The Aga Khan and his Begum along with a bunch of other chronolocational (1949-50) topics and got to enjoy it infused with a strong Armenian flavor.
—>I remembered to mention something that chaffed me as ingenuine to the characters- since holding him in such high regard opens him to stricter criticism about how he handled the wrap-up. Without spoiling at all, I'll just say that a decision made by the one would NEVER have been allowed by both other two- especially the one who...

The art is wonderful and professionally polished.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the pop art look of the book. The story though, relies on the detective agency fumbling around until things fall in their lap without much detective work or it relies on Dad's contacts from the war helping out. Plus, there's your typical postwar misogyny towards women. The main character even calls his girlfriend and partner a dummy at the beginning. The one thing I did like is that it's a self contained story which is difficult to find in European comics. They love their cliffhangers to get you to buy the next one (or 20).

[Sofi Holguin · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a fun and entertaining read. the art was so lovely and was slightly reminiscent of TinTin which may have contributed to my enjoyment of the book because TinTin got me into graphic novels! anyway this wasn’t an entirely new and original story. it’s told in a typical mystery/ crime-solving way, nothing groundbreaking in terms of storytelling, but it was still very enjoyable and fun to read, one of those books to pick up again if you need something fast-paced and entertaining

[Sirene · Rating 3 out of 5]

War interessant zu lesen! An sich eine spannende Detektivgeschichte, auch die Charaktere haben ihren Charm und ich kam gut durch die Geschichte durch. Es ist textlastig, klassisch und nicht mein Ding. Ich kann gut verstehen, dass es viele Fans hat. Franko-belgischer Comic im klassichen Manier, der nichts falsch macht!
Außer, dass ich nie der Fan davon war. Aber ich wollte mal die Erfahrung machen!

[Panazol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quel dessin !! En digne héritier de ses grands prédécesseurs (Franquin, Chaland, Tillieux, ...) Schwartz nous embarque dans un polar de la belle époque. La sensation de revenir à l'age d'or fait même oublier le scénario, qui s'il n'est pas mauvais n'est peut être pas le meilleur de Yann.
Vivement le prochain album !!

[Nomad nimrod · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special.

[Rafaela Oliveira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les dessins sont cools ! J'adore l'ambiance et les couleurs ! C'est sûrement une bonne série détective.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the artwork but the story that hangs off of it had characters existing through luck, not their wits and I wanted a story to go along with the thrilling art.

[D.F. Gallardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para echar el rato no está mal.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jag är inte helt säker på vad jag väntade mig av den här serien av manusförfattaren Yann och tecknaren Olivier Schwartz, men jag är rätt säker på att den överträffade dem. Handlingen utspelar sig i Frankrike, 1949, alltså några år efter Andra världskrigets slut. Det är dock ett Europa som känner av efterdyningarna, särskilt inom polismyndigheten i Paris, där huvudpersonen Atom Vercorians pappa, Tigran, jobbar som kommissarie. Atom däremot har siktet inställt på att starta sin egen detektivbyrå tillsammans med sin vän Mimi, och ser sin chans när Aga Khans hustru Begum blir bestulen på sina smycken. Tack vare Mimi får de även kontakt med den före detta brottaren Jojo med snurran, som kanske kan vare dem till hjälp i fallet.

Miljön är intressant och välskildrad (både narrativt och visuellt), och Atoms armeniska familj erbjuder ett kulturellt perspektiv inom denna tid och plats som gör berättelsen ännu mer fascinerande.

Personligen hoppas jag att det blir många fler album i serien samt att Egmont Comics fortsätter att ge ut den på svenska.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what a modern comic book can do.

With a style and supporting artistic flair it transcends that moment and reminds me of Tintin and all good old fashioned detective capers.
The Atom Agency is a nascent detective agency in Paris. This story is set in France in 1949 and concerns a jewel theft from the Aga Khan in Marseille, “Chicago by the sea”.
France is just recovering after World War II, the occupation and the police service is still struggling to maintain law and order. There is some honour among thieves but the gangsters involved here have a different code of honour, more usually seen with the Mafia organisation.
This is the story of how the young detective agency was born and develops through tackling this high profile case where such a large reward will set them up and secure their financial future.

The graphic novel is fast paced, action centred with a degree of humour and interesting supporting characters. The violence is real but not overdone. The intensity of the story and the threat it carries never lets up. The dialogue is clear and words never interrupt the flow of the telling of this urgent search for the stolen gems.
I loved the colour palette and the detail of the artwork. The outdoor scenes and set piece locations are wonderfully evocative of France and Gallic culture. Characters are easily identifiable and the individual images a delight to return to and follow again without the words.
A perfect graphic comic storyboard containing a complete episode in the life of this private detective agency. Volume 1, alludes to more instalments which if they carry on from the high standards set here, will cement this as a must read series.
I mentioned Tintin in passing. While nothing can impact on such a unique enterprise the feeling of this comic is of a similar period. They same stylish art and strong colour palette. With a written story with energy, a nod to history and a touch of humour.
Perhaps it is this exotic location and timeframe that resonates with me but it is a great read when crooks were bad and femme fatales at their worse.

[Avalle Rei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una agencia de detectives en ruina, se convence de encontrar las joyas de la Begum, la mujer del hombre más rico del mundo. Las joyas le han sido robadas de forma violenta y yo hay rastro de ellas. La policía no es capaz de encontrar a los culpables ni las joyas.
Atom junto a su socia Mimi, quieren solucionar el misterio. Por el camino añaden a Jojo al plan.
La historia es sencilla y entretenida. Se centra bastante en presentarnos a los personajes, pero es lógico si tenemos en cuenta que habrá al menos otro caso.
El dibujo es una evolución de los clásicos franco-belgas. La edición es buena y cuidada, de páginas de un grueso agradable, a color y con los márgenes en blanco para pasar de forma más segura las páginas.
Ahora solo podemos esperar a que llegue a España el siguiente volumen.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atom Vercorian is trying to have a successful private detective agency in Paris, but keeps getting cheating wives and husbands. So when the Begum's jewels are stolen he leaped on the chance to prove himself to his father. With Mimi and Jojo as partners, the trio manages to find the jewels but face a dilemma, return the jewels for the reward or save Atom's father? Which way will they go? Read this first case and enjoy a French noir of gangsters, car chases, and wrestling!

[Julls · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Borja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene un buen dibujo, el que esperaba, y la historia tiene su interés. Pero es un poco más de lo mismo que he leído otras veces.