Before Blake and Mortimer: THE U RAY ARTISTS EDITION (Edgar Jacobs) Flash Gordon For Sale

In 1943, in the pages of the Belgian weekly Bravo!, a certain Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs embarked on a saga entitled Le Rayon “U”. It was intended to succeed the adventures of “Flash Gordon”, banned by German censorship. The infamous Captain Dagon, a member of Australia’s secret service, infiltrates a mission to the Black Isles led by Norlandia and aims to get their hands on uradium, a mineral with prodigious properties. Soon, the expedition will experience extraordinary adventures…The visual universe and the characters of the Le Rayon “U” announce the adventures of Blake and Mortimer, to which the author will give birth under the pseudonym of Edgar P. Jacobs, in 1946, with “The Secret of the Swordfish”.Ray “U” contains all of Blake and Mortimer. He is the matrix. But this story of thwarted fate was somehow born twice, like Edgar P. Jacobs himself, first an opera singer before becoming a cartoonist. Published in 1943 in the Bravo! youth newspaper, this somewhat forgotten story was never published as an album until the early 1970s at Éditions du Lombard. Preserved by the E.P. Jacobs Foundation, all the graphic material of the second version of Rayon “U” was recently rediscovered. Plates, character and costume research, colour studies, handwritten notes, hand-made reassembly model… For the first time, the authentic parts of the Rayon “U” redesign by its author are brought together in a book.
This book is in French.En 1943, dans les pages de l\'hebdomadaire belge Bravo !, un certain Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs se lance dans une saga intitulée « Le Rayon \"U\" ». Elle est destinée à succéder aux aventures de « Flash Gordon », interdites par la censure allemande. L\'infâme capitaine Dagon, membre des services secrets d\'Austradie, infiltre une mission sur les Îles noires menée par la Norlandie et qui vise à mettre la main sur l\'uradium, un minerai aux propriétés prodigieuses. Bientôt, l\'expédition va vivre des aventures hors du commun... L\'univers visuel et les personnages du « Rayon \"U\" » annoncent les aventures de Blake et Mortimer, auxquelles l\'auteur donnera naissance sous le pseudonyme d\'Edgar P. Jacobs, en 1946, avec « Le Secret de l\'Espadon ». La nouvelle édition de ce classique du 9e art bénéficie d\'une mise en couleurs de Bruno Tatti, conforme à la palette originelle de Jacobs. L\'avertissement de ce dernier n\'a d\'ailleurs rien perdu de sa pertinence : les excès de la science et le fantasme de toute-puissance risquent de conduire à l\'Humanité à sa perte...