Les Proies du Volcan (The Preys of the Volcano) is a comic book by Jacques Martin. It was first published in Tintin magazine in 1977. Then it was published as a comic album in 1978. This is the fourteenth episode of the Alix series.
Alix and Enak are left on an island by rebellious sailors. They get organized to survive and to build a raft. At night, they hear strange screams. One night, a young native woman, Malua, ends up in their hut and asks for help.
Les Proies du Volcan provides examples of the following tropes:
- Appease the Volcano God: Alix and Enak come across primitive people who practice human sacrifices to a volcano god. Subverted, the victims are not really sacrificed, they are enslaved.
- Chekhov's Volcano: The volcano of the island erupts in the climax.
- Continuity Cavalcade: Enak's Dream Sequence features Arbacès, Julius Caesar, Héraklion and the pharaoh from Le Prince du Nil.
- Continuity Nod: Enak finds a place to shelter from the lava flow and says that fortunately they will not be transformed into lava statue, like the ones he saw in La Griffe noire.
- Distressed Dude: Alix and Enak are looking for Malua and they dive in the sea to look for her. Sharks show up. Fortunately, Malua see them, she dives into the sea and save them from the sharks.
- Dream Sequence: Enak has a dream when he faints because a monkey smothers him with his tail.
- Flashback:
- The revolt of the sailors is showed in a flashback.
- The episode where Enak is smothered by a monkey is a short flashback.
- The defeat of the tribe against the Phoenicians and the pact made by the chief is also depicted in a flashback.
- Girl of the Week: Malua falls in love with Alix. Alix develops feelings for her too, but finally Enak convinces him to leave her on the island. Alix is really moved when he has to leave.
- Hand-or-Object Underwear: Mulua carries some objects that hide her toplessness.
- Hollywood Natives: The natives of the island are depicted as culturally inferior to the heroes. For example, they are fascinated by the bows that Alix and Enak use. They are also very superstitious. One of them voluntarily throws himself into the lava to appease the volcano. Alix and Enak are sorry when they see how superstitious they are.
- I Did What I Had to Do: The chief explains that he accepted to hand over members of his tribe to the Phoenicians because otherwise the Phoenicians would have wiped out the whole tribe.
- In Medias Res: The story starts with Alix and Enak being left on the island. Then the revolt of the sailors is showed in a Flashback.
- Island of Mystery: The island has human-sacrifice-prone natives and a volcano.
- Literal Cliffhanger: After fighting with the sorcerer, Alix is hanging from a cliff above a lava flow.
- Made a Slave: This is the fate of the young native people who are handed over to the Phoenicians.
- National Geographic Nudity: On the island, the female natives are topless.
- The Native Rival: Malua is in love with Alix. When Alix rejects the chief's offer to marry her, Karikuora immediately proposes to buy her. The chief refuses and Alix is worried about Karikuora's irritation. In the end, he takes Malua in after Alix leaves her.
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: There are dangerous crocodiles in the river on the island.
- Robinsonade: Alix and Enak are left on an island and they have to survive in the wilderness.
- Slave Liberation: Alix and Enak free the slaves captured by the Phoenicians.
- Threatening Shark: The sharks in the sea around the island make swimming very dangerous.
- Tropical Island Adventure: The story is set on a tropical island of the Indian Ocean.
- White Man's Burden: The native people of the island are the victims of Phoenician slave traders and the very white and very blond Alix helps them.
- You No Take Candle: Malua speaks this way. She is supposed to have learned some Phoenician language from the sorcerer and the chief, so she can communicate with Alix and Enak.
