Edgar Pierre Jacobs

Edgard Félix Pierre Jacobs, (b. March 30, 1904, d. February 20, 1987), better known under his pen name Edgar P. Jacobs, was a Belgian comic book writer and artist, born in Brussels, Belgium. He was one of the founding fathers of the European comic movement, through his collaborations with Hergé and the graphic novel series that made him famous, Blake and Mortimer.

Biography

After a career as extra and baritone singer in opera productions between 1917 and 1940, Jacobs turned to illustration, drawing commercial illustrations and collaborating in the Bravo review until 1946.

When the American comic strip Flash Gordon was prohibited in Belgium by the German occupational forces during World War II, he was asked to write an end to the comic in order to provide a denouement to the readers. German censorship banned this continuation after only a couple of weeks. Jacobs subsequently publishes in Bravo his first comic strip, The U Ray, largely in the same Flash Gordon style.

He became a friend of Hergé and assisted him with the recasting of the albums Tintin in the Congo, Tintin in America, King Ottokar's Sceptre and The Blue Lotus in 1943, then contributed the following year to the albums The Seven Crystal Balls, Prisoners of the Sun. Hergé did not like the opera and for decades he would gently lampoon his friend Jacobs through the device of Bianca Castafiore, a minor character and opera singer in the Tintin adventures.

In 1946, he was part of team gathered around the new Journal of Tintin magazine, where his comic strip The Swordfish Secret was published, the first of the Blake and Mortimer stories.

In 1947, Jacobs put an end to his collaboration with Hergé. Hergé still remained a friend however, and as before the adventures of Blake and Mortimer continued to be serialized in Tintin magazine. In 1950, Jacobs published The Mystery of the Great Pyramid. Many others soon followed. Jacobs published in 1970 the first volume of The Three formulas of Professor Sato, which was staged in Japan.

In 1973 he restyled his first full-length album, Le Rayon U, and wrote his memoires. He then wrote the scenario for the second episode of Les Trois Formules du Professeur Sato, but the artwork remained unfinished at the time of his death. Bob De Moor was drafted in to complete the album, which was published in 1990.

From 1987, the Jacobs estate, centred around the still-going Jacobs Studios, has re-published all of Jacobs’ works; the Blake and Mortimer series was continued by two teams of writers, Ted Benoit/Jean Van Hamme and Yves Sente/André Juillard, who have since published three new instalments.

Jacobs’ style and consistency, his plotting talent and his care in character building varies greatly from one album to another. There are however many common threads, such as the theme of subterranean descent and the use of the Ligne claire in all drawings.

Bibliography

1. The U Ray (Le rayon U), in 1943
2. Le Secret de l'Espadon (The Swordfish Secret), in 1947 (3 volumes)
3. Le Mystère de la Grande Pyramide, (The Mystery of the Great Pyramid), in 1950 (2 volumes)
4. La Marque Jaune (The Yellow Mark), in 1953
5. L'Énigme de l'Atlantide (The Atlantis Enigma), in 1955
6. S.O.S. Météores: Mortimer à Paris (S.O.S. Meteors), in 1958
7. Le Piège diabolique (The Diabolical Trap) in 1960
8. L'Affaire du Collier (The Necklace Affair) in 1965
9. Les trois Formules du Professeur Sato: Mortimer à Tokyo (The Three formulas of Professor Sato) in 1970 (vol. 1; vol. 2 Mortimer contra Mortimer completed by Bob De Moor, 1990)