BOB MORANE RESURRECTION VOLUMES 1 & 2

"RARE EARTH" | "THE VILLAGE THAT DIDN'T EXIST"
Writers: Luc Brunschwig & Aurélien Ducoudray
Artist: Dimitri Armand | Colorist: Hugo Facio
Based on the novels of Henri Vernes

As I discovered (and mentioned) while looking at the third RIC HOCHET book a few weeks ago, this Bob Morane character was a contemporary of Ric's, having been created around the same time -- albeit in a series of novels rather than comics. But Morane eventually branched out into graphic novels as well (plus a TV show and other media adaptations over the decades). However, unlike Ric, who appeared to remain forever set in the 1960s (at least in the recent books I looked at), Morane's adventures seem to always be set in the modern day (again, at least per these two new volumes).

And as it happened, I had picked up two BOB MORANE books -- the only two available in English, so far as I can tell -- in some Comixology sale or another a while back. The stories were originally published in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and comprise one single story arc which, while somewhat resolved by the end of book two, ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Book one opens with our hero, French soldier Bob Morane, standing trial over an event that occurred in the recent past, when he was part of a U.N. peacekeeping detail in Nigeria. We quickly learn that Morane defied orders to save the life of a Nigerian presidential candidate, which landed him in hot water with his superiors. But when that candidate, Oussman, is elected, he negotiates Morane's pardon and invites the ex-soldier to come work with him as an advisor. The story then skips ahead six years, as we find that a French tech company, Belfon, is working to provide aid to Nigeria, under Morane's auspices. But things go a bit crazy when an extremist group assassinates the French president during a televised unveiling of France's gift to Nigeria: a headset which allows information to be "uploaded" into the wearer's brain, and which is intended to jumpstart the nation's educatinal system. Morane begins investigating the extremists and book one ends with him finding a city called Zamosho in the north of Nigeria, which looks like something inspired by Ryan Coogler's vision of Wakanda from BLACK PANTHER -- but given when these books were originally published, it seems any resemblance to the 2018 blockbuster is unlikely. And of course, the idea of Wakanda has existed for more than half a century at this point -- I just don't know that it was ever depicted as an advanced utopia prior to the movie. Every time I've ever seen it in the comics, it has looked very traditionally African and not futuristic at all.

Anyway -- book two finds Morane unwelcome in Zamosho, which is run by a ruthless Chinese warlord who came to Nigeria decades ago. The citizens of Zamosho are the extremists, who don't want colonialism to resume in Nigeria -- and through them, Morane learns that he's been a pawn in Belfon's attempt to do exactly that. Morane escapes from the city with the aid of a woman named Tania -- the warlord's neice. The second book ends with Morane on the run, having revealed Belfon's treachery to the world, and looking to lay low.

There's also a sub-plot in these books following Morane's former subordinate, Sergeant Ballantine, as he is released from prison following his role in aiding Morane six years earlier to rescue Oussman, and joins up with a private military group that goes around killing civilians who try to steal from an oil pipeline. When the second book concludes, it appears Morane plans to go find Ballantine.

I have to admit, in a weird way I was a bit let down when I started reading BOB MORANE and had to readjust myself back to the modern day. A large part of my enjoyment of RIC HOCHET and MISS OCTOBER was simply due to their being set in the sixties. As I mentioned when I covered those books, I love stories from the early-mid-twentieth century. The 1920s through 1960s. The pulp/noir era, I suppose. There's something about that period that really speaks to me in terms of fashion, style, and so forth. So to jump from those wonderfully immersive stories into the contemprorary twenty-first century was a bit jarring.

But I persevered, and read all the way through both BOB MORANE volumes. And, having digested them I have to say that I really just don't think they're for me. I mean, they're fine thrillers, I suppose, with very nice artwork. But they're a bit too political for me. I don't dislike politics in a story necessarily; in fact I can get really immersed in stories about political maneuvering. It's just that I prefer fictional politics like those of the Old Republic or the kindgoms of Westeros. The geopolitical balance between France and Nigeria, even presented in a fictional setting, is not something that appeals to me in any way, shap, or form.

Nonetheless, the story itself is well crafted, and it's not the fault of Luc Brunschwig and Aurélien Ducoudray that my eyes start to glaze over when they get into discussions about French colonialsim. I'm sure these stories appeal to someone out there. I'm just that person!