Le Rayon U
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Le Rayon U is a comic book written and drawn by the Belgian comic book artist Edgar P. Jacobs, in 1943.
[edit] Background
In 1941, the outbreak of war between Germany and the USA meant that American comic strips could no longer be imported into Nazi-occupied Europe.
Alex Raymond's strip, Flash Gordon, was then being published in the Belgian magazine Bravo. Artist and former opera singer, Edgar Pierre Jacobs was therefore asked to bring the current story to a satisfactory conclusion, which he did. He was then commissioned to come up with a science fiction story of his own.
Le Rayon U ("The U-Ray") started being published in Bravo in 1943. This version had text boxes which described the action and the dialogues in the style of many Belgian comics of the time, similar in a way to Hal Foster's version of Tarzan and Prince Valiant.
In 1974 Jacobs reformatted Le Rayon U in order to include speech bubbles. This version was published in Tintin magazine and in book form by Dargaud-Le Lombard.
[edit] Plot
The "Rayon U" is set on an Earth-like planet which combines elements of the distant past, present and far future. Two of its nations, Norlandia and Austradia, are in conflict. A Norlandian scientist, Marduk, has devised a weapon called the "U Ray", but requires a mineral called uradium in order to put it to actual use.
Marduk therefore organises an expedition into an unknown part of the planet in order to find the uradium. Those accompanying him include: his assistant Sylvia Hollis; the explorer Lord Calder; Adji, Calder's Indian manservant; and Major Walton and Sergeant Mac Duff of the Norlandian secret service.
The explorers encounter all manners of threats, including prehistoric monsters, giant snakes and tigers, a tribe of hostile ape-men, and the meddling of Austradian spy Captain Dagon. More welcoming, but no less intriguing, is a civilisation of Aztec-like people.
[edit] Notes
In itself the "Rayon U" works as a brilliant graphic novel and is a classic of Belgian science fiction. The influence of Flash Gordon though cannot be denied:
- The Austradian Emperor Babylos III looks a lot like Ming the Merciless;
- In appearance, Marduk, Lord Calder and Major Walton could pass off as Hans Zarkov, Prince Barin and Flash Gordon respectively;
- Like the dark-haired Dale Arden, the dark-haired Sylvia Hollis is coveted by almost every male character she meets, be it man or beast!
Marduk, Calder and Dagon were to be the models for Mortimer, Blake and Olrik, in Jacobs's classic series Blake and Mortimer.
