The U Ray (Before Blake & Mortimer)

The nation of Norlandia is in conflict with its powerful rival Austradia. The eminent Professor Marduk is tasked by the High Council of Norlandia with militarising a major scientific discovery: the U Ray. However, doing so will require finding a deposit of Uradium, the ore needed to power the ray. And the only known deposit is in an unexplored volcanic archipelago. An expedition is quickly put together, but in the shadows, the Austradian intelligence services are waiting for the moment to act…

Born in Belgium in 1904, Edgar P. Jacobs came to art and illustration after a short stint as an opera singer. He drew several pages of Flash Gordon during the war, then created his first comic, The U Ray, along the same narrative lines. Meeting the legendary Hergé was his big break; he helped create magazine Tintin, was colourist and background artist for seven of Tintin's adventures, before being offered to create his own series: Blake & Mortimer.