[The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec]
Writer/Artist: Jacques Tardi (1946- )
Adele Blanc-Sec is a freelance writer who operates in Paris, first before World War I, then in the 1920s. In her adventures, she faces mad scientists, secret sects of demon worshippers, Egyptian mummies brought back to life, and a host of other weird creatures.
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The Stories
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Publishing History The series begins in 1911, when a sect of Parisian demon worshippers are on a spree
of human sacrifices. Adele interferes
and eventually defeats the Cult. At the end of the fourth album, Tardi brought back some characters from The Demon of the Ice, tying up most of the loose ends in a bloody massacre, during which Adele was fatally stabbed in the heart! Fortunately, our heroine was rescued by a young scientist
who, with the help of Adele's resurrected Mummy, placed her in hibernation.
The first Adele Blanc-Sec story was originally
serialized in the daily newspaper "Sud-Ouest"
in 1976. It was then collected in a graphic novel by Belgian publisher Casterman.
Later stories were first serialized in Casterman's
monthly comic magazine, "(A Suivre)",
then published as graphic novels.
The Adele saga however really began with
Adieu Brindavoine, serialized in 1972
& 1973 in the weekly magazine "Pilote".
It told the story of a young photographer in the Europe of 1914. Brindavoine gets caught up in a bizarre odyssey
that takes him to the Middle East. There, he encounters a lunatic millionaire, Otto Lindenberg, who is trying to
find a worthy heir to his fortune. The story ends with the beginning of World War I.
A later short story sequel, The Flower in the Rifle,
was published in "Pilote" the
follwing year and told more of the long-suffering Brindavoine's wartime experiences.
Adieu Brindavoine sets the tone for the
Adele saga. It features a combination
of realistic settings and well-researched events, blended with odd characters and weirder plots. The strong anti-war,
anarchistic outlook of the series remained a Tardi
trademark.
This mixture was even more present in The Demon of the Ice, which was released directly in album form by "Pilote"'s publisher Dargaud
in 1974. In this deliberate homage to Jules Verne, Tardi
told the story of mad scientist Carlo Gelati and his secret sea fortress, disguised as an artificial iceberg. The
story takes place in the 1890's, and Gelati's arch-enemy, Simone Pouffiot, clearly anticipates Adele Blanc-Sec.
In 1976, Casterman relased the first two
Adele adventures, which introduced the
title character: a young Parisian writer who is not afraid to drink, shoot guns, smoke, or shoot like a man. (The
character appears to be somewhat inspired by real-life writer, George Sand.) Success was immediate.
In an interview, Tardi explained that
Adele's "death" was necessitated
by the onset of World War I. Her feisty nature made it impossible to provide her with a place in the war. She would
not have been allowed to fight, and could no more have settled for being a nurse, than she could have remained
home rolling bandages.
| Once the war was over, Adele's
rescuer wound up being Brindavoine. In
The Secret of the Salamander, Tardi deals with Brindavoine's post-war adventures, leading to Adele's resurrection in November, 1918. The book also features the unholy alliance of the powers
of money and crime, personified by Brindavoine's
nemesis, Lindenberg, and the American mafia. Adele and Brindavoine were stalked again by their old enemies and investigated a conspiracy which led them to uncover the real reasons behind World War I, as well as other strange ectoplasmic phemenons. With The Mystery of the Depths, the series jumped to 1922, introduced Adele's sister, Mireille Pain-Sec, and launched its heroine on a new quest. The saga of Adele Blanc-Sec forms an unparalleled occult history of the Belle Epoque. It playfully reveals the secrets behind historic events, always carefully explaining how these were covered up to protect the rich and powerful. Adele is only one of the fascinating and complex characters among the dozen or so that Tardi has created, and whose fates seem to be interwoven in an inexorable web. |
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The first five Adele Blanc-Sec
stories as well as Adieu Brindavoine were
translated by Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier. They were first serialized in b&w in Dark Horse's "Cheval
Noir" comic, then published as graphic novels by NBM. FOR MORE ABOUT THE AMERICAN TRANSLATIONS
OF ADELE BLANC-SEC |
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The Motion Picture
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The Author
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Adèle Blanc-Sec © 2001 Jacques Tardi/Casterman. All rights
reserved.
Jacques
Tardi's (1946- ) first comic-book story
was a collaboration written by Moebius,
and was published in "Pilote"
in 1970. Tardi then went on to illustrate
the first story in Pierre 