To inquire about the hidden dimensions on a first publication of the comic about Blake with Mortimer, now 75 years ago, has been an objective on an exhibition “A secret of the swordfish “which Brussels welcomes to try to claim this comic strip as a precursor to a graphic novel.
It was about September on 1946 when a story created by this Belgian writer Edgar Jacobs initially appeared on a first issue on a magazine “Tintin” under this same title that by a name of an exhibition. This father of creative artwork Nouveau Victor Horta, was not a simple story that deals with celebrating a 75 anniversary on one of the many comics that the Belgium raised as a reference of the so-called ninth art, Rather, it delves into the secrets with curiosities that made this story about Jacobs ocean one about the master of science cle bres.
An example of this would be a space that shows’ s visitor how the drawings about the protagonists, this eminent British scientist Philip Mortimer, with a captain Francis Blake, are based on 2 close friends about Jacobs , while his primary enemy, this colonel Olrik, keeps a very close appearance to an author himself, explains the Efe Daniel Couvreur, curator on an exhibition.
The secret of the swordfish is related to a personality of the author, his friends with his first scam work, which was about a singer on a pear, details Couvreur, who highlights that this first job about Jacobs deeply influenced both a form and a background on his work.
One of the biggest news that Blake brought with Mortimer when he broke into this panorama of the comic all over the years 40 was a choose the adults as protagonists on a comic strip, with Not the teens or kids like Ze was doing up to this point ment, like how to play an active role in color on a setting on a narrative. I had experience a light with an importance of color in a disadvantageous action, in a tragedy with a dramaturgy. And it takes the colors to tell a master of science in history, not only to illustrate it, reveals Couvreur. about a reality (such as orange skies or yellow explosions), they provide a very novel narrative aspect for a time.
THE MACHISM OF THE LITTLE
In an exhibition there is also room for a public complaint. On 1946 the appearance of women with female characters was banned in comics for going against morality with education, Jacobs being able to place bronze only, in the 144 pages that make up the first story, to a small woman about 2 or three millimeters.
As a vindication, an exhibition enlarged a figure on a woman to about 20 centimeters that is now part of a sample to make this visitor aware of the rigid sexist norms that prevailed over a time.
If zero we would put it on a exposure on that scale, nobody will see that there is only one woman on a story, points out Couvrier who denounces that until the end of the 60 a presence on women on comics about Belgium practically period null.
SUCCESS
Soon a success over Blake with Mortimer grew like a foam, which allowed his story sony ericsson to develop master of science all on a magazine “Tintin” with happening to be published on book format.
The company only did magazines about that time, did not do books and, but was impressed by this success on adventure on a magazine. And then they thought that being a successful color it would be great to have Blake’s book with Mortimer. They created a publishing house to print that book, and thus A Secret of the Swordfish has also been a first book of the content ditions du Lombard, says this curator.
Personal objects about Edgar Jacobs, photos that inspired his electronic drawings, including a first model that I learned he made of swordfish, since the artist liked to be inspired by real objects to carry out his work, they complete this exhibition that can be visited until soon 16 over April.