Le Spectre de Carthage (The Spectre of Carthage) is a comic book by Jacques Martin. It was first published in Tintin magazine in 1976. Then it was published as a comic album in 1977. This is the thirteenth episode of the Alix series.
Alix and Enak return to Carthage, a city that they visited in L'Île maudite. The local authorities invited them, so that a sculptor can make a statue of them. At night, Alix notices a strange glow in the ruins of the old Punic city.
Le Spectre de Carthage provides examples of the following tropes:
- Back for the Dead: Brutus seemed to have died in the end of Le Tombeau étrusque. In this album, he is revealed to have survived, but only to die in the climax.
- Call-Back:
- Alix and Enak are invited in Carthage because the city's authorities wish to thank them for what they did in L'Île maudite.
- Alix and Enak visit the house of Lydas (who died in L'Île maudite) and meets his brother, Héliodor.
- Alix discovers that the invitation to Carthage was a trap set up by Rafa (his main opponent in La Griffe noire) and his brother Eschôum.
- Finally, the man who carries Orichalcum is revealed to be Brutus, the main opponent in Le Tombeau étrusque.
- Dramatic Thunder:
- Scoras confesses that he is a member of a conspiracy that aims at killing Alix. He is desperate, because he knows that his accomplices will kill him. He implores the gods to take his life, whe he is struck by a lightning.
- There is a fierce thunderstorm when Alix confronts Brutus in the ruins of Carthage. Finally, Brutus is killed by a rock fall cause by a lightning.
- Facial Horror: Brutus is alive, but he was disfigured by an eagle.
- Flashback: There are many flashbacks. They recount the destruction of the Punic Carthage by the Romans, the stay of Corus Maler in Egypt, the story of Salammbô, the fate of Enak when he fainted because of Orichalcum, the origin of Orichalcum, the fate of Brutus at the end of Le Tombeau étrusque...
- Force Feeding: The Carthaginians force Zaïn to eat Orichalcum. He dies because of it.
- Historical Domain Character: In the flashbacks, Scipio Aemilianus, Hasdrubal the Boetharch, Mathos, Spendios.
- Human Sacrifice: In the flashback, the Carthaginians sacrifice children to Moloch-Baal.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The lightning that kills Scoras, as well as the thunderstorm during the climax: they might be divine manifestations or mundane weather phenomena.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: After Samthô's death, Eschôum forces Zaïn to eat Orichalcum. This prompts him to reveal the Carthaginians' plan to Alix.
- Nightmare Sequence: Alix has one when he is unconscious after his visit to Héliodor. He dreams of an eagle swooping down on him.
- Not Quite Dead: Brutus seemed to have died in the end of Le Tombeau étrusque. In this album, he is revealed to have survived.
- Orichalcum: The Carthaginians try to smuggle their orichalcum out of the ruins of Carthage. It is said to have a tremendous power. It comes from a meteorite. It shines, it causes Enak to faint, Zaïn dies after he was forced to eat it, it burns the hands of the one who carries it, and, when a boat full of orichalcum crashes on the coast, it causes a big explosion.
- Redemption Equals Death: Scoras is a member of a conspiracy that aims at killing Alix. He confesses to Alix and soon thereafter he is struck by a lightning and he dies.
- Retcon:
- Carthage, and the house of Lydas in particular, look quite different compared to L'Île maudite. When he approaches Lydas's house, Alix even lampshades it: he notices that the house looks different.
- Brutus was supposed to be killed by an eagle at the end of Le Tombeau étrusque. In this album, he is revealed to have survived.
- The Reveal: The man who carries Orichalcum is Brutus.
- Salt the Earth: In the flashback, after the end of the siege of Carthage, the Romans salt the earth.
- Secret Underground Passage: There are many of them in the ruins of Carthage. Corus Maler tries to seal them all, but there are so many of them that the Carthaginians are still able to escape.
- Shout-Out: There are several references to Gustave Flaubert's Salammbô.
- Temporary Love Interest: Samthô falls in love with Alix and she decides to escape with him, but she dies when she falls from a ladder while escaping.
- Thunderbolt Iron: Orichalcum comes from a meteorite and it can be used to create powerful weapons.
