History ComicBook / BlakeAndMortimer

Blake and Mortimer's adventures were adapted into an [[WesternAnimation/BlakeAndMortimer animated series]] by the French studio Ellipse (of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin1991 Tintin]]'' fame) in 1997 (at least some of the adaptation's stories appear to be original).

Blake and Mortimer's adventures were adapted into an [[WesternAnimation/BlakeAndMortimer animated series]] by the French studio Ellipse (of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin1991 Tintin]]'' fame) in 1997.

Since the death of Jacobs in 1987, the comic has been continued by other authors and artists, including Jean Van Hamme, the creator of ''ComicBook/{{Thorgal}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{XIII}}'', Yves Sente and André Juillard. In the BelgianComics and FrancoBelgianComics world, ''Blake and Mortimer'' is still considered as a pinnacle of exquisite artwork and storytelling.

* WeUsedToBeFriends: Mortimer and Sushil were best friends since childhood. When Mortimer returned to India from his studies, Sushil has changed greatly and joined an Indian extremist group and consider Mortimer his enemy, but the feeling is one-sided as [[WideEyedIdealist Mortimer still think Sushil as his friend]].

** In ''The Valley of the Immortals'', nor said Third World War neither the presence of a third party in the civil war (a warlord named Xi-Li, who attempts to conquer China by himself) didn't prevent the second part of UsefulNotes/ChineseCivilWar. [[spoiler:The second book ends in 1949, with newspaper articles about the communist victory.]]

** Interestingly, women were almost entirely absent from the series while the original author was alive, and those few there were ''never'' had action-oriented parts. It was a man's world, and then some. Jacobs had included female characters in ''Le Rayon U'', but the reason he did not do the same for ''Blake and Mortimer'' was that publication laws for youth-oriented series had become stricter after World War II. It was implicitly forbidden to draw attractive women in comics for kids, to avoid even the suggestion of anything sexual.

* AnachronicOrder: Not inside the books themselves (unless you count the flashback in the first part of ''The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent'') but in the publication order of the post-Edgar P. Jacobs books. For instance, ''Plutarch's Staff'' (23rd books in publication order) is the prequel of ''The Secret of the Swordfish'' (1st, 2nd, and 3rd published books), which immediate sequel is ''The Valley of the Immortals'' (25th and 26th books). In story order, the last books are the two-parts of ''Professor Sató's Three Formulae'' (11th and 12th).

* IdiotBall: Mortimer at the beginning of ''The Time Trap''. Shockingly, it turns that using a time machine that an enemy of yours built and bequeathed you isn't a great idea...

** Curiously enough, ''S.O.S. Meteors'', where Mortimer is captured early in the book and Blake does most of the actions, was subtitled "Mortimer in Paris" in some editions.

* CripplingOverspecialization: [[spoiler:The "aliens" use [[StunGuns a non-lethal weapon]] that fires a light beam. When the beam hits someone's head, it cause the victim to fall asleep. Unfortunately for them, Mortimer quickly figure out that common leather motorcycle helms can deflect the beams, rendering the weapon useless. The "aliens" have no other weapons to defend themselves.]]

** ''The Antlantis Enigma'' starts as a spy story, with a nebulous organisation trying to steal Mortimer's latest discovery. Then it shifts into pure science-fiction closer to SpaceOpera (even though it takes place on Earth).

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Olrik had a robot duplicate of Mortimer built to assassinate Blake. Sharkey laugh it off and decide to test its fightning ability. Before he could touch it, the robot threw Sharkey on the ground with just one hand. Sharkey got up and punched it in the face and it didn't even budged. He retaliated with a hard punch in Sharkey's gut, ending the fight.

* ContinuitySnarl: In ''The Yellow M'' [[spoiler:Septimus]] claims to have met [[spoiler:an amnesiac Olrik]] (explicitly setting this shortly after ''The Mystery of the Great Pyramid'') some years ''before'' World War 2. Given that ''The Mystery of the Great Pyramid'' [[ContinuityNod references]] ''The Secret of the Swordfish'' multiple times, both of which clearly happen after World War II[[note]]In the war against the Yellow Empire, the U.N. is repeatedly referenced, and London and other cities are said to be "once again" heavily bombed, strongly indicating it is a third, separate conflict[[/note]], this makes no sense at all, no matter which way you cut it. Or [[spoiler: Septimus]] is simply lying to cover his tracks and avoid being linked to the Yellow M in any way.

* ShoutOut:[[note]]''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' shout-outs may be {{Mythology Gag}}s, as several ''Tintin'' adventures were made with the collaboration of Edgar P. Jacobs. In fact, Tintin's author Hergé and Jacobs appeared as background characters in some Tintin books.[[/note]]

* GenreRoulette: While the series is known as a science-fiction/espionage mix, different books tend to fall heavily into [[whatever specific genre interested Jacobs or his successors at the time.
** ''The Secret of the Swordfish'' is a war-time adventure, with only a light dusting of SpeculativeFiction regarding aircraft technology.

** ''The Francis Blake Affair'' and ''The Oath of the Five Lords'' are purely mundane espionage thrillers.

** ''Plutarch's Staff'', ''The Francis Blake Affair'', ''The Voronov Plot'' and ''The Oath of the Five Lords'' are purely mundane espionage thrillers.
** ''The Curse of the Thirty Denarii'' is an ''Franchise/IndianaJones''-like story about a race to gain an archaeological artefact. [[spoiler:With an ending involving a similar divine punishment.]] ''The Testament of William S.'', meanwhile, is an investigation of a historical mystery with no supernatural elements.

* GeniusBruiser: Mortimer.

* GenreShift: While the series is known as a science-fiction/espionage mix, different albums tend to fall heavily into [[GenreRoulette whatever specific genre interested Jacobs or his successors at the time]].

* ShownTheirWork

* [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil Covers Always Spoil]]:
** The cover of ''[[spoiler:The Curse Of The Thirty Denarii (Volume 1)]]'' is the last panel of the book.
** The cover of ''[[spoiler:Atlantis Mystery]]'' shows the second-to-last panelof the book.
** Averted with ''The Necklace Affair'': the cover shows Olrik gloatingly holding up the necklace, but [[spoiler: in the actual scene the jeweler is the one doing so in the exact same pose]].
** The covers of both "The Septimus Wave" and "The Call of the Moloch" spoil the fact that [[LateArrivalSpoiler Olrik is the Yellow M]].

* SpoilerCover: ''The Curse Of The Thirty Denarii (Volume 1)'' has a cover which is the last panel of the book (and a cliffhanger).

* BadassBookworm: Mortimer.

* InfoDump: Edgar P. Jacobs tends to put description above almost every single frame.

* BadassBeard: Mortimer.

* BadassMustache: Blake.