L'Énigme de l'Atlantide

Blake et Mortimer #7

by Edgar P. Jacobs

En vacances dans l'archipel des Açores, le professeur Mortimer fait une stupéfiante découverte. Lors de l'exploration d'un gouffre nommé " O foro do diabo " (le trou du diable), il trouve un métal inconnu aux étonnantes propriétés radioactive et luminescente. Il ne peut s'empêcher de penser à l'orichalque, ce mystérieux métal que les Atlantes, dans le récit de Platon, estimaient aussi précieux que l'or. La découverte est suffisamment importante pour qu'il prévienne son ami, le capitaine Blake. Ce dernier vient le rejoindre à Saõ Miguel et les événements se précipitent. Quelqu'un dérobe le spécimen que Mortimer avait laissé dans sa villa. Blake et lui n'ont que le temps de voir un étrange engin traverser l'espace à la vitesse de l'éclair, disparaissant dans la nuit. De plus en plus intrigués, les deux hommes décident de refaire une expédition au " Foro do diabo " pour y retrouver des échantillons. Ils sont accompagnés d'un guide, Pépé et de son assistant sous les traits duquel se cache l'aventurier Olrik, leur plus mortel ennemi. Ce dernier a été embauché par une puissance étrangère pour récupérer le précieux minerai. La descente dans les dangereuses caldeiras commence. Cette plongée dans les entrailles de la terre va les amener à vivre leur plus extraordinaire aventure. Élucidant un mystère vieux de plusieurs siècles, ils partiront à la découverte de l'Atlantide, de son peuple et de ses ennemis, exploreront le continent perdu et risqueront leurs vies pour sauvegarder la paix dans l'Empire Atlante. Ils braveront mille dangers pour revenir vers notre monde où l'Atlantide reste une énigme irrésolue... Le moindre de ces dangers n'étant pas Olrik...

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Adventure, Science Fiction, Comics Manga

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

(aka E.P. Jacobs)

Edgar Pierre Jacobs naît le 30 mars 1904 à Bruxelles. Il se passionne très tôt pour le dessin et la musique. Après avoir exercé quelques petits métiers, il travaille dans la publicité. Parallèlement, à partir de 1921, il devient figurant au Théâtre Royal de la monnaie à Bruxelles. Le 25 août 1922, le futur chanteur d'opéra signe son premier contrat d'artiste aux cotés de Mistinguett pour la Grande Revue du Casino de Paris. Le 29 août 1929, le baryton reçoit le premier grand prix de chant. Il sera engagé juste après, comme artiste lyrique, à l'opéra de Lille.
En 1940, il doit abandonner la scène, à cause de la seconde guerre mondiale, chose qu'il regrettera toute sa vie. Le "baryton du neuvième art" allait dès lors s'illustrer dans des travaux graphiques alimentaires (publicité, catalogues, presse) qui le mèneraient à d'autres "planches", celles de la Bande Dessinée, dérisoires à ses yeux, qui pourtant lui assureraient une gloire de diva.
En 1941, il entre au journal "Bravo". Après quelques illustrations pour divers contes, nouvelles et romans, il se voit confier, en 1942, la reprise de "Flash Gordon", cette saga américaine dessinée par Alex Raymond ne parvenant plus en Belgique. Il s'en acquitte avec bonheur mais la censure allemande interdit la série quelques semaines plus tard.
En 1943, Jacobs élabore une nouvelle bande dessinée de science-fiction intitulée "Le Rayon U". Jusqu'en juillet 1946, il collabore à "Bravo". Entre-temps, il fait la connaissance d'Hergé. Ce dernier lui confie, à partir de 1944, la mise en couleur et les décors de ses albums. Il entreprend des corrections, des remises au format et les coloriages de "Tintin au Congo", de "Tintin en Amérique", du "Sceptre d'Ottokar" et du "Lotus Bleu". Il travaille également sur le "Trésor de Rackham le Rouge", les "Sept Boules de Cristal" et le "Temple du Soleil". Cette collaboration liera les deux hommes d'une profonde (et rivale) amitié qui culmine au lendemain de la guerre lorsque Jacobs n'hésite pas à jouer du gourdin pour défendre Hergé contre les épurateurs d'une autre espèce de "collaboration".
En septembre 1946, Hergé invite son compère à participer au lancement du journal "Tintin". Le 26 septembre de cette année-là, dans un numéro 1 aujourd'hui recherché comme une pièce de trésor, paraît la première page du "Secret de l'Espadon". L'aventure de nos trois immortels héros : Blake (inspiré par son grand ami Jacques Laudy), Mortimer (inspiré par son autre grand ami Jacques Van Melkebeke) et Olrik (inspiré de Jacobs lui-même) commence. Ce dernier, colonel et gangster à monocle, est l'incombustible prince du mal que combattent deux chevaliers de l'ordre historique et scientifique : l'émérite capitaine d'aviation Francis Percy Blake, chef du "MI5", blond et flegmatique Gallois, et son "good old fellow", le professeur Philip Edgar Angus Mortimer, bouillant barbu rouquin (né aux Indes), spécialiste de physique nucléaire tout autant que de biologie moléculaire.
En 1947, Jacobs abandonne sa collaboration avec Hergé et se consacre dès lors de manière quasi-exclusive à sa propre série où il fait vivre de multiples et périlleuses aventures à ses very British Héros. Après avoir gagné, grâce à l'Espadon (un sous-marin volant révolutionnaire), la troisième guerre mondiale menée par le diabolique colonel pour le compte des Jaunes (Hiroshima, en 1946, n'est pas encore un remords ...), Blake et Mortimer ne perceront "Le Mystère de la Grande Pyramide" (début de la parution le 24 mars 1950) qu'après un nouvel affrontement, en Egypte, avec Olrik,... qui s'en sortira, forcément, mais si déglingué qu'il deviendra l'esclave téléguidé d'un savant fou dans "La Marque Jaune" (début de la parution le 6 août 1953), semant la terreur dans Londres, où veillent heureusement Blake et Mortimer. Ces derniers ne laisseront échapper leur ennemi préféré que pour mi

Reviews

[Hossein · Rating 2 out of 5]

این چهارمین کتاب از سری بلیک و مورتیمر هست و آخرین کتابی که من از این سری خوندم.
به نظر ضعیف ترین کتاب مجموعه هم هست.
از اونجایی که هنوز بقیه کتاب ها رو نخوندم و احتمالا بعید هم هست که یه روز دوباره برم سراغشون :) همین جا کل سری رو به ترتیب مینویسم که اگه کسی یه روزی هوس کرد بخونه ترتیبش رو بدونه.
1. The Secret of the Swordfish
2. The Mystery of the Great Pyramid
3. The Yellow M
4. Atlantis Mystery
5. SOS Meteros
6. The Time Trap
7. The Affair of the Necklace
8. Professor Sato's Three Formulae ( این کتاب آخرین جلدی هست که به قلم خود ادگار ژاکوب هست)
9. The Francis Blake Affair
10. The Voronov Plot
11. The Strange Encounter
12.The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent
13.The Gondwana Shrine
14.The Curse of the 30 Pieces of Silver
15.The Oath of the Five Lords
16.The Septimus Wave
17.Plutarch's Staff
18.The Testament of William S

[Simon Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Mortimer has been exploring on the Sao Miguel island and, thinking he’s made a remarkable discovery, summons Captain Blake via letter. However, somehow on route, the letter is intercepted and almost immediately a group of nefarious individuals are dogging their every step. What Mortimer has found he believes to be a mysterious radioactive metal that just might be the legendary orichalcum from Atlantis, but to learn more he and Blake need to descend into the cavernous crust of our planet. What they don’t realise is that the ever-present Olrik has attached himself to their small group whilst in disguise, so no sooner are they ready to return to the surface when Olrik reveals himself and leaves the pair trapped in the depths. Their only hope is to press on into the caves and galleries to find another route out but what they find instead is an astounding advanced culture living successfully deep beneath the surface. But all is not well here, and Blake and Mortimer may have arrived at the worst possible moment.

This is one of the original Blake and Mortimer tales, and Jacobs’ style means he's not afraid to use thirty words in a comic panel where five would do. It’s incredibly wordy, especially in the set-up, and some character monologues are astoundingly lengthy. What you have to bear in mind, though, is that the book is coming up for 60-years-old, and it’s the magnificent work of the likes of Edgar P. Jacobs that subsequent writers and artists have built upon and refined over the years, so a little over-useage of narration and word balloons can be forgiven.

Because, when all’s said and done, this is a rather breathtaking adventure in its scope and execution, with 64 pages of densely-packed adventure and riveting science-fiction ideas. It’s like Journey To The Centre Of The Earth absorbed into Flash Gordon, and a right rip-roaring escapade results. It’s told on the grandest of scales and is incredibly captivating for it, and if you’ve been a follower of the other Blake and Mortimer adventures then you’ll recognise a few of the previous references too.

A sci-fi classic, make no mistake.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 1 out of 5]

Come. On. Dude.
->this clownshoe gets prose-wordy to the point that you'll probably put the thing down after a couple-two-tree pages and take a wide breath while cursing him for being lazy.

Lazy? Yes! It's the 9th ART and he blocks up panels like a maniac because he doesn't remove things, Being lazy in order to be lazier, in which his sparse art TELLS us. "He held the flashlight towards the..." Obviously. Even venerated Belgians pulled that Stan Lee* legerdemain.

At the end of reading it I am sick. Sick of his BS and never reading another BM (double entendre) again. They escape death every page too. Like he can't write worth crap so he has to have constant grievous action. He trained on Tintin and then on his own he injected it with steroids AND growth hormones.


*degenerate hack- stop venerating HIM.
(You'll pick it up in the before and after story material after you've read enough non-capes+tights American by those he made bow to him and stole from. Alan Moore's interest in the matter even put it to story- read "1963")

[Gabriel Martins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love the plot and the illustrations! It makes me feel happy just staring at the cover! Professor Mortimer and Captain Blake never loose their temper in face of an obstacle! They love adventure and they are packed with that British politeness! The way the mythbof the lost city is explored in the graphic novel makes me want to become an explorer! Although I have a strong emotional bind to these series of graphic novels I am absolutely sure that everyone who is an avid reader will love them!

[Silvan Loher · Rating 3 out of 5]

(NB. I read the French original version). Apparently, in Atlantis men can make babies with men, because there seem to be absolutely no women around anywhere, except two individuals in one picture at the very end. Also the Azores seem to be populated mainly by men, only on the very first page there are a few women seen leaving the airport. That seems a bit exaggerated to me, even for a golden age école marcinelle comic. I know they had very strict censorship laws at the time with children's books and comics being exclusively meant for either boys or girls and which basically prohibited them mixing men and women in them. Kinda gay if you ask me ;-).

The other problematic aspect here was the imperialist attitude against the "barbares" (who clearly seem to be a sort of Inkas), and the as-a-matter-of-fact genocide on them when they are all drowned at the end, with the Atlanteans only saving themselves with no effort to save the others, with the narrator text even stating that they brought it upon themselves. I feel like the "barbars" were justified in their hate against the Atlanteans with them living expelled in a desolate wilderness without any modern comforts and the other living in a hyper-futuristic civilisation.

As usual with Jacobs, there is a lot of unnecessary explaining text for things which you see in his wonderful drawings and therefore didn't need to be explained. And there is a lot of dramaturgic weakness, in that Jacobs doesn't use mystery and suspense in places where he clearly should - the reader is constantly long ahead the heros in knowledge when we could be kept guessing, for example the traitor is revealed to be a traitor on the very first page he appears, while the characters only find out in the end (which is hard to understand, especially since Blake and Mortimer see him act suspicious and suspect him), and the sabotage of their car in the beginning is also unnecessarily shown, etc. Also, the distances and timeline are somewhat unclear or seems not always to add up.

So why 3 stars? Despite all criticism, the art is as usually wonderful, and the adventure is quite an extravagant romp with so many ideas and so much going on - subterranean rivers, a subterranean futuristic society bordered by a subterranean Inca culture, subterranean flying dinosaurs and prehistoric forests with huge carnivorous plants (what do they lie from usually, because the land seems not to be inhabited and no animals except insects are to be seen), UFOs and space travelling... All in Jacobs' extremely well-done and detailed drawing style.

And despite getting frustrated by some of the adventures of Blake and Mortimer, I keep wanting to explore more of them. I'm starting to agree with another user here who said that this series is the rare occasion where the stories created after the passing of the series' original creator often surpass the originals. In some later adventures, Mortimer even is allowed to have a *gasp* female friend! The big exception is Jacobs' The Yellow M which is a masterpiece, and which by chance was the first one I read, followed by what is considered to be one of the best post-Jacobs albums, The Affaire Francis Blake. Had I begun with one of the weaker entries, I might have given up on the series.

So to anyone wanting to explore this series, I would strongly suggest to start with those two mentioned albums, "La Marque Jaune" and "L'affaire Francis Blake".

(Note: I read most of the albums in the French original, and a few of them in German. But since Goodreads is mostly in English and the series is translated to English, I wrote my review in English).

[Tom Metdepenningen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash Blake en Gordon Mortimer

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: I read this in an English translation from Cinebooks.

Now that most of EP Jacobs' original Blake & Mortimer albums have been translated into English, I think it's safe to say that this is one vintage property whose revival has generally been superior to the original thing (Especially Jean van Hamme's magnificent 'The Francis Blake Affair').

Jacobs worked on Herge's early Tintin albums including the South American romps, The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of The Sun - and it shows. His art is detailed and inviting, but his layouts don't have the space and dynamism of Herge. His plots often revert to the lost civilisation trope of the two Tintin albums I've named - ancient Egyptian in the case of The Secret Of The Great Pyramid and Atlantean as well as some sort of proto-Incan in this album.

The thing is, although there are exciting elements here - Atlantis, underwater kingdoms, advanced tech, intrigue and flying saucers - Jacobs ladles everything in a bit too thick without taking times for slack time in which Herge would establish his characters - Blake & Mortimer pretty much have no personalities - and time for suspense and humour to both offset and intensify the adventurous action. There are no pauses in the typical Jacobs narrative, but it all gets a bit much. In this novel, there's also some borderline imperialism in the treatment of the 'barbarians' and did I mention that Blake & Mortimer manage to encounter two entire undersea civilizations which seem to include not a single woman?

This seems a bit churlish; I do enjoy this kind of thing to an extent, but I think Blake & Mortimer stories have been told better, sadly not that often by the man who created the series.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This entry in the Blake and Mortimer series is a great pulp adventure story with everything a fan of the genre might want. The MacGuffin that sets off this adventure is Professor Mortimer's discovery of an unknown, radioactive material in a cave, deep under the Azores. Blake flies in to join Mortimer on an underground search for more, and of course their arch nemesis, Col. Olrik, is close behind.

I doubt I'm spoiling anything by saying that lost Atlantis is (re)discovered (heck, it's right there in the title), and our heroes are caught up in the political intrigue of the great underground empire. (No, not Zork.)

Fun stuff, with the usual narrow escapes, close calls, and "all is lost!" moments. The only perceived weakness is the change in tone (and for that matter, the entire plot) once Our Heroes™ arrive in Atlantis. At that point, you can sort of forget everything that came before, and pretend it's an entirely new story.

[Nicolas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pour moi, c'est sans doute l'une des meilleures aventures de Blake et Mortimer, sans doute parce que c'est la plus science-fictive. Ces atlantes, leurs moyens de transport fascinants, leur organisation politique, et leur technologie de l'ordre de la magie sont vraiment impressionants. Et ces décors !
Enfin bref, peut-être encore plus que La Marque Jaune, c'est pour moi le chef d'oeuvre d'Edgar P Jacobs ... même si il est vrai que je suis partial, puisque cette oeuvre est en quelque sorte une madeleine de Proust pour moi.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Jacobs's original stories, which combines a bit of Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea with a bit of Burroughs's Caspak, and a leavening of Flash Gordon, Quatermass and Bulldog Drummond to produce something of his own.

There's too much action going on for much characterisation, but that's what these older stories are all about. Some great artwork, nifty sci-fi gadgets, and the inevitable Colonel Olrik keep it all moving along nicely.

[nAeEMak نعیمک]

پرداخت و رنگ‌آمیزی و حسی از واقعی بودن شخصیت‌های بلیک و مورتیمر در مقایسه با سایر کمیک‌های بلژیکی را خیلی دوست دارم. صفحه‌های بزرگی که وسط قصه می‌آید. اما هنوز هم خیلی خیلی توضیح دارد. هر فریم که به زیبایی تصویر شده است را توضیح می‌دهد و می‌فهمم که چیزی شبیه نریشن گفتن است اما تصویر کامل است و ای کاش می‌شد از خیر این توضیحات گذشت. آتلانتیس و گیر افتادن و کشف این آدم‌ها خیلی جذاب بود. آدم‌هایی که پیشرفته هستند و با توجه به زمان نوشتن داستان شکل به تصویر کشیدن پیشرفته بودشان از نگاهِ حال خیلی بانمک بود و من را یاد ژول ورن می‌انداخت. اما حیف از آخرهای داستان. همه‌چیز خیلی آبکی می‌شد. از جایی که قهرمانان گیر می‌افتند و می‌خواهند فرار کنند و شهر را نجات دهند، تا آخر داستان را نمی‌فهمیدم. انگار پرش داشت و فقط فریم‌ها پشت هم می‌آمد. حیف از این همه ریزنگری و زیبایی که زیر سا‌ده‌ترین قصه حیف می‌شود. نهایتاً مثل اکثر داستان‌های بلکی و مورتیمر همین که قهرمان‌ها زنده هستند یعنی سعادت و مهم‌ نیست چه سرنوشتی برای بقیه پیش می‌آید.

[Tom Loock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though first published in 1955, this story is firmly rooted in the 19302-1940s - and that's how it should be read (because by today's writing standards it would have to be called very poor: few nouns escape without a bombastic adjective like "incredible, vast, shocking, gigantic etc.").

I had never read any Blake and Mortimer before or can't remember if I did, and found/still find the running description and/or commentary in every single panel almost unbearable; it is made worse by non-contrasting colours in the background of those texts.

As a Captain Future-type adventure story however it is not bad and I can well imagine 8-13 olds back in the days enjoying it. And with "You knave!" being the 'worst' swearword in the narrative it would have found the approval of authoritative figures at home, church or school.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the first time I reached the end of this book. Imho it is rather unreadable. The number of arcs, opponents and plot twists is indescribably large. The text is really needed to keep abreast of everything going on. It is one long high tension plot with little room to breathe. And it ends with an genocide on 'the barbarians', an Inca-like people who were against the Atlanteans. A genocide in passing, as it was portrayed as their just punishment in one picture, and on we move to the next heroic action by the white men.

[Colin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geralmente, gosto de bandas desenhadas, mas achei este livro aborrecido. Já falei da história há uns dias. Gostei da ideia dos Açores serem os últimos vestígios da Atlântida, mas perdi a curiosidade muito depressa e tive de fazer um esforço para continuar a leitura. O cenário não faz o mínimo sentido: nem a história nem a sobrevivência durante séculos da cidade numa caverna sob o oceano, apesar da população disparar armas nessa caverna, de 5 em 5 minutos, provocando explosões e desabamentos. Não me agarrou tanto quanto uma BD do Tintim.

[Alessandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

La grande epopea avventurosa del duo più famoso della fumettologia d’avventura continua. Sabotaggi, incursioni notturne, alieni, esplorazioni sotterranee, tradimenti, morti improvvise, laghi sotterranei, animali e foreste preistoriche, tecnologie impossibili e dimenticate, il tutto condito da una parola che è mito ed avventura già da sola: Atlantide. Al confronto di Jacobs e della sua fantasia, anche Sir Ian Fleming sembra uno scrittore di romanzi per bambini. Imperdibile, assolutamente.

[Emmanuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pas mon préféré. Jacobs est toujours remarquable de précision mais je trouve qu'il en fait trop dans cet album, ça en devient lourd. Rebondissement après rebondissement, long monologue cliché après long monologue cliché... ça fait trop. La qualité de l'écriture demeure excellente, mais ça devient lassant au bout d'un moment.

[Kausambi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining and immersive read again. One has to find the Prince sweet and ignore his casual colonial perspective. Jacobs is wonderfully imaginative and creative. I find Olrik very endearing, "Them, it's always them."

[Green Jazz Blues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep, Blake & Mortimer visit the legendary Atlantis inhabited by Greek like Atlanteans and a few Barbarians whose culture is sort of old but they live in a very futuristic world including flying saucers.
Parts of this realm include prehistoric elements as well. Very action packed and a good read.

[Samrat Sur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lacks character development and is extremely verbose. When you have to put so much text to explain everything single frame, it's better to not use the comics medium. I understand that a lot of effort went into this book but that seems to be the only positive aspect about this project.

[Johan · Rating 4 out of 5]

De avonturen van Blake en Mortimer zijn fantastische (op fantasie gebaseerde) verhalen. Deze spant wel de kroon, toch van degene die door Jacobs zelf getekend zijn.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Paulo Teixeira · Rating 4 out of 5]

(PT) Um clássico da série "Blake e Mortimer", desta vez passado nos Açores.

[Gcardoso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Açores como pano de fundo.

[R.J. Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,4⭐️

[Zé Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,7🌊

[Metabull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een half avontuur, half sf verhaal dat niet zo goed is als Het Gele Teken. Er gebeurd heel wat, maar het is meh.

Tekenwerk is vrij eenvoudig en klassiek.

[Helmut · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bodensatz aus E.R. Burroughs Teetasse
Fliegende Untertassen, Hitech, Azteken, Höhlenerkundung, Unterwasserzivilisationen, politische Intrigen, Bürgerkrieg, ein Wald voller riesiger (Menschen-)fleischfressender Pflanzen, radioaktive Materialien, Energiestrahlen, interplanetare Wanderung - na, da hats aber einer gutgemeint mit uns. Was uns hier präsentiert wird, ist ein aberwitziger Mischmasch aus allem, was einem mittelmäßigen Abenteuerschriftsteller so einfällt, wenn er Brainstorming macht. Finde ich das erste Viertel noch halbwegs überzeugend, gleitet der Rest der Geschichte ins Lachhafte, nicht mehr ernstzunehmende (selbst für eine Abenteuergeschichte!) ab, das mich recht verärgert ob dieser Leserverarsche zurücklässt.

Zum ersten Mal sehe ich, dass das letzte Panel eines Comics als Titelbild genutzt wird. Dazu der Titel selbst - besser spoilern kann man nicht. Man sieht, dass Jacobs kein Talent fürs Geschichtenerzählen hatte. Wenn dann wenigstens die Zeichnungen den recht hohen Standard der Vorgängerbände halten könnte; aber nein, soviel statisches, zweitklassiges Illustrationsmaterial wie hier habe ich schon lange nicht mehr in einer Comicreihe erlebt - trotzdem wird jedes Bild noch mit einer ebenso steifen, statischen Beschreibung des Bilds verziert. Die für diese Reihe üblichen Panels, die zu sechs Siebteln aus Textblase bestehen, fehlen natürlich nicht, doch inzwischen weiß ich, dass ich 90% davon eh nicht lesen brauche, weil der Text aus dümmlichen Phrasen und pathetischem Gebrabbel besteht. Praktisch immer.

Ärgerlich langweilige Bilder, nervig langweilige Story, stinkend langweilige Dialoge: Ein echter Tiefpunkt. Ich habe der Reihe immer etwas an Zugeständnissen gemacht: Mit diesem Band ist das vorbei.

[Nickname · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un po' sotto le aspettative. Sarà che la storia era pensata per due volumi, fatto sta che il ritmo è troppo serrato.
A Blake e Mortimer gliene capitano di tutti i colori e ogni volta che sono praticamente spacciati, si salvano per pura fortuna.
Poi ci sono gli atlantidei contro i barbari (gli atlantidei, supertecnologici, con tanto di energia nucleare e disintegratori, si fanno mettere sotto scacco da un popolo primitivo che ha come arma più letale una lancia). Olrik, non si sa perché, decide di appoggiare i cattivoni barbari. In compenso gli atlantidei sono tonti, tutti sanno che il capo delle guardie complotta con i barbari, tranne il principe (che parte in una missione suicida per convincersi) e il monarca (che non lo capisce neanche quando il traditore si rivela). Per non parlare di quando invece di ammazzare direttamente Blake lo mettono libero (senza manco legarlo) con un solo uomo di guardia, nel loro deposito di armi conosciuto anche da Mortimer e dal principe.

In compenso, bei disegni e bel soggetto per un albo che ricorda fin troppo "Viaggio al centro della terra" di Jules Verne.

[Devero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questa è una di quelle storie che, al di là di tutto, sono da leggere.

Non che sia la mia preferita di Blake e Mortimer, perché Il Segreto Della Grande Piramide per me resta in cima alla classifica. Ma il suo modo di affrontare il mito di Atlantide è decisamente caratteristico dei romanzi di fantascienza dell'anteguerra e dell'immediato dopoguerra, con in più una trattazione leggera e divertente.

[Ignacio Romeo Gómez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleno de imaginación, entretenimiento y aventura. Estupendo.