The Time Trap (comic book)

The Time Trap (Le Piège diabolique) by the Belgian artist Edgar P. Jacobs was the ninth comic book in the Blake and Mortimer series. It appeared in book format in 1962.

Plot

When Mortimer discovers a time machine built by his old adversary Dr. Miloch, he can't resist to try it out and travels through time to a prehistoric swamp, the Middle Ages, and a desolate wasteland in the 51st century.

Jacobs' view of the future

Like many at the time, Jacobs imagined a future where nuclear war is a matter of "when" rather than "if", but he also makes passing comments on how things vary with time:

• one such variation is spelling: while exploring an abandoned underground railway of the future, Mortimer notices a panel with the words: "Stassion 3 Direcsion Pari Santre", which in today's French would be "Station 3 Direction Paris Centre";

• a map indicates that at some stage Europe becomes the Eta Uni DEurope é de Méditerané ("États-Unis d'Europe et de Méditerranée") and that the Adriatic and the Mediterranean have become land masses;

• Africa itself becomes the Eta Uni Dafrik, with a large ocean in the middle of the Sahara;

• a newspaper-like article from the 22nd century erroneously credits Mortimer with the creation of the Telecephaloscope, a device actually created by Doctor Septimus, whom he had met in a previous adventure, The Yellow "M".

Trivia

It is the only volume so far that does not feature Colonel Olrik.

English Publication

The Time Trap was published in English in 1989 by Comcat Comics. It was translated by Jean-Jacques Surbeck, and edited by Bernd Metz.