History ComicBook / BlakeAndMortimer

* 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. Then again, [[spoiler: Septimus]] is not [[UnreliableNarrator the most mentally stable individual]], so one could simply say he's getting his dates wrong.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Sharkey, while watching ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'', comments that he'd sure like to give the Queen a good slap or two.

* ForgottenPhlebotinum: The titular Swordfish in the original story arc. It's incredibly fast and maneuverable, can travel either in the air, on the water, or underwater, can carry atomic weapons of varying yields (ranging from "destroy a battleship" to "destroy an entire city"), and in its first appearance, completely annihilates an entire enemy naval task force and expeditionary corps in five or ten minutes. ... and it's never seen or used again. (Probably as a result of InSpiteOfANail, see below; InUniverse the RAF refuses to risk such an advanced piece of equipment falling into enemy hands).

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Blake is murdered during the plot of ''The Mystery of the Great Pyramid''. His eventual survival could have been a surprise at this moment, but he then reappears in each of the following albums.
** SpoilerTitle: Blake's name is in the serie's title, so...

* OffscreenVillainDarkMatter: Olrik's career could be summed up as "regularly has his ass handed to him by B&M". Why do evil governments and shady organizations keep hiring him? Why doesn't Sharkey look for a different employer? It simply makes no sense... unless Olrik has ''other'' successful operations going on in the background, which are successful for the simple reason that B&M never come across them.

* SlippingAMickey: Mortimer is served a drugged cup of coffee in ''The Mystery of the Great Pyramid''.

** The world has known a Third World War, the whole world has been almost conquered by Basam Damdu, the main western cities have been destroyed by fire, yet, after the events of ''The Secret of the Swordfish'', in ''The Voronov Plot'' the timeline of the series seems to be the one of the 20th century we know. The story is explicitly mentionned to be set in 1957 and refers to construction of European Union; it ends with the news of the [[spoiler: Sputnik launch.]]

** ''The Francis Blake Affair'' and ''The Oath of the Five Lords'' are espionage thrillers without any SpeculativeFiction. ''The Voronov Plot'' and ''The Last Swordfish'' are mostly straightforward espionage/techno-thrillers, with a single sci-fi element each (an alien bacterium is the {{MacGuffin}} in ''The Voronov Plot'', ''The Last Swordfish'' features ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.).

* StupidJetpackHitler: ''Plutarch's Staff'' is set in World War II and begins with a German air raid performed by a high tech jet fighter so tough it can't be scratched by the bullets fired by the British planes trying to shot it.

** Subverted in ''Plutarch's Staff''. Though it is set during World War II and opens with a German air raid, the true villains are actually [[spoiler: a group of Yellow Empire's spies.]]

* ContinuityNod: Plenty of them to ''The Secret of the Swordfish'' in ''Plutarch's Staff'', including a prototype Golden Rocket (piloted by Blake), sketches of the Swordfish, the Scaw-Fell secret factory, etc.

* ForegoneConclusion: ''Plutarch's Staff'' served as a prequel to the series, so every readers know that Scaw-fell will be attacked and poor Hasso will be assassinated.
* ForgottenPhlebotinum: The titular Swordfish in the original story arc. It's incredibly fast and maneuverable, can travel either in the air, on the water, or underwater, can carry atomic weapons of varying yields (ranging from "destroy a battleship" to "destroy an entire city"), and in its first appearance, completely annihilates an entire enemy naval task force and expeditionary corps in five or ten minutes. ... and it's never seen or used again. (Probably as a result of InSpiteOfANail, see below).

** [[spoiler:There were plenty of subtle hints that [[FreakyFridayFlip Mortimer and Olrik switched bodies]]:]]

** [[TheCaligula Basam-Damdu]] is the Emperor of the Yellow Empire and the BigBad of ''The Secret of the Swordfish''. [[ILied Despite his claims of wanting peace]], he proceeds to attack the free world, bombing several capitals in order to break the free world's minds, successfully taking over the world. When [[LaResistance the international resistance started to fight back]], Basam-Damdu and his High Council put the blame on Olrik, Basam-Damdu's {{Dragon}}, threatening, in two days, to send someone to torture Mortimer if Olrik doesn't manage to force Mortimer into revealing the Swordfish's plans. Basam-Damdu doesn't even care for his own empire, [[TakingYouWithMe attempting to use its nuclear weapons to destroy the world out of spite when the resistance starts winning]].

** In ''The Valley of the Immortals'', neither said Third World War nor 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.]]

''Blake and Mortimer'' is a Belgian comic created in 1946 by Edgar P. Jacobs, a friend and collaborator of Creator/{{Herge}} (the creator of ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''). The comic, which mixes traditional mystery and UsefulNotes/ColdWar [[SpyFiction espionage stories]] with ScienceFiction elements, stars two middle-aged brits: Captain Francis Blake, an AcePilot and an [=MI5=] agent; and Professor Philip Mortimer, a brilliant OmniDisciplinaryScientist. Another important character is the duo's {{Archenemy}}, the devious Colonel Olrik, whose appearance was based on Jacobs in his younger years.

* RedHerring: When sent to retrieve the bacteria X, Olrik destroyed the British lab and left a letter from the KGB to mislead the [=MI6=] into thiking the Kremlin was behind the attack. Fortunatly, Blake figured out it was the work rogue agents and not the Russian goverment.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler:In ''The Strange Encounter'', Olrik arms an H bomb and prefers to go up in a bang rather than be captured by the Blake, Mortimer and the US federal agents.]]

* OutGambitted: [[spoiler:Financially ruined jeweler Duranton has a chance to bounce back, he's been assigned to restore the lost and now found necklace of Queen Marie-Antoinette. However, [[{{Greed}} he wanted the necklace for himself]], so he helped Olrik escape from the police. They both hatched a scheme to steal the necklace and share the loot 50-50. However, Duranton double-crossed Olrik, having placed a fake necklace for him to steal and ultimately, placing the blame on him. Olrik, on the other hand, found out it was fake and decided to ride with it. He leaked the news of theft to the press, harassed Duranton repeatedly on the phone and staged many kidnapping attempts. All this is was to make Duranton crack so he'd give him the real necklace.]]

* BigBad:
** ''The Secret of the Swordfish'': Basam Damdu.
** ''The Yellow M'': [[spoiler: Dr Septimus.]]
** ''Atlantis Mystery'': Magon.
** ''S.O.S. Meteors'': Professor Miloch Georgevitj as well as [[NoNameGiven the general]].
** ''The Time Trap'': Miloch again, even though [[ThanatosGambit he was already dead at that point]].
** ''The Francis Blake Affair'': [[spoiler: Deloraine.]]
** ''The Voronov Plot'': Dr Voronov.
** ''The Strange Encounter'': [[spoiler: Basam Damdu]] and Dr Z'Ong.
** ''The Sarcophagi from the Sixth Continent'': Ashoka.
** ''The Curse of The Thirty Denarii'': Reiner von Stahl / Belos Beloukian
** ''The Septimus Wave'': [[spoiler:An alien which took Septimus shape and mind.]]
** ''The Oath of the Five Lords'': [[spoiler:Lisa Pantry and Alfred Clayton.]]
** ''The Testament of William S'': Sir Walter Of Oxford and [[spoiler:Oscar Sandfield.]]

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler: Olrik]] in ''The Yellow M''.

* BraveScot: Mortimer, on his mother's side.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler: Dr. Ramirez]] in ''The Strange Encounter''.

** Blake in ''The Francis Blake Affair''.

** The Swordfish.

* CrapsackWorld: The future in both ''The Time Trap'' and ''The Strange Encounter'' is not a nice place.

* CurseOfTheAncients: "By Jove!"

** Olrik is practically the patron saint of this trope.

** Voronov.

* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Both heroes.

** Olrik, when he's not working alone.
*** Which is practically never - ''The Mystery of the Great Pyramid'' and ''The Necklace Affair'' are the only times we see him acting as his own master (as the kingpin of a major trafficking network and a gentleman-thief, respectively). Dragon is his default setting, whether for foreign powers, [[NebulousEvilOrganization Nebulous Evil Organizations]], [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]] or power mad despots.

** And, arguably, all of Atlantis in ''The Atlantis Engima.''

* TheEmpire: The Yellow Empire in ''The Secret of the Swordfish''.

* TheEmperor: Basam Damdu, Ashoka as well.

* IfItSwimsItFlies: The Swordfish.

* ImmortalityThroughLegacy: [[spoiler: Ashoka]].

* LostWorld: Atlantis.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Between Mortimer and princess Gita.

* NotMyDriver: Happens to Duranton in ''The Necklace Affair''.
** DangerTakesABackseat

* OnlyFatalToAdults: The alien virus in ''The Voronov Plot''.

* SignificantAnagram: [[spoiler: Capitaine Ilkor.]]

* TheyCalledMeMad: [[spoiler: Septimus. And boy, were they right.]]

* VillainousBreakdown: Basam Damdu goes from InscrutableOriental to ranting against his enemies and the troops who failed him, comparable to the Hitler rant from Film/{{Downfall}}.

** Jessie Wingo in ''The Strange Encounter''.

* AdvancedAncientAcropolis: Atlantis.

* AncientEgypt: ''The Mystery of the Great Pyramid'', obviously.

* ArchEnemy: Olrik (Incidentally, his look was based on Jacobs himself).

* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler: Basam Damdu, via TimeTravel.]]

* BaldOfEvil: Basam Damdu.

** Averted with Mortimer.

* BestServedCold:
** [[spoiler: It takes Septimus decades to take his revenge.]]
** [[spoiler: And Ashoka even longer.]]

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 to be a pinnacle of exquisite artwork and storytelling.

** In ''The Voronov Plot'', there's a two panels scene with the mole entering a restaurant to phone. Said restaurant is a copy of the [[{{Ruritania}} Syldavian]] restaurant from Franchise/{{Tintin}}'s adventure ''[[Recap/TintinKingOttokarsSceptre King Ottokar's Sceptre]]'', except it is set in Moscow instead of Brussels.

The Jacobs albums were adapted into an [[WesternAnimation/BlakeAndMortimer animated series]] by the French studio Ellipse (of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfTintin1991 Tintin]]'' fame) in 1997. The last four stories in that series were original, due to the continuation albums not having started back then.

''Blake and Mortimer'' is a Belgian comic created in 1946 by Edgar P. Jacobs, a friend and collaborator of Creator/{{Herge}} (the creator of ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''). The comic, which mixes traditional mystery and UsefulNotes/ColdWar espionage stories with ScienceFiction elements, stars two middle-aged brits: Captain Francis Blake, an AcePilot and an [=MI5=] agent; and Professor Philip Mortimer, a brilliant OmniDisciplinaryScientist. Another important character is the duo's ArchEnemy, the devious Colonel Olrik, whose appearance was based on Jacobs in his younger years.

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. The last four stories were original.

** [[spoiler:Nastasia, a Soviet scientist, was working for Blake. The MI-5 revealed to her that her father was working for them and her parents died in one of Stalin's fake accident. Learning the truth, she switched sides and has secretly been worked for the MI-5 for 10 years.]]

* ''Eight Hours In Berlin'', expected 2022

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: in ''The Time Trap'', a time-traveling Mortimer finds that, at some point in the future, the quaint village of La Roche-Guyon has somehow grown into a sprawling metropolis and replaced Paris as the administrative capital of France. Far-fetched as it may sound, this was an actual project that was being seriously considered by the French government at the time the story was published, although it was ultimately rejected.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Han-Dié's final fate. Last we saw him, he was held captive by warlord Xi-Li and we never saw him again.]]

** ''The Francis Blake Affair'' and 'The Oath of the Five Lords'' are espionage thrillers without any SpeculativeFiction. ''The Voronov Plot'' and ''The Last Swordfish'' are mostly straightforward espionage/techno-thrillers, with a single sci-fi element each (an alien bacterium is the {{MacGuffin}} in ''The Voronov Plot'', ''The Last Swordfish'' features ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.).

** ''The Atlantis Enigma'' is a pulp sci-fi story almost entirely taking place in a very advanced society.
** ''The Necklace Affair'' is a caper story without any SpeculativeFiction element.
** ''The Francis Blake Affair'' and ''The Oath of the Five Lords'' are espionage thrillers without any SpeculativeFiction.
** ''The Voronov Plot'' is a mostly classical Cold War spy story, with a single sci-fi element (an alien bacterium is the {{MacGuffin}}).

** ''The Last Immortal'' is a war story based on Chinese history and legends, as well as SpeculativeFiction elements about aircraft technology.

* 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. Then again, [[spoiler: Septimus]] is not [[UnreliableNarrator the most mentally stable individual]]...