The Secret of the Swordfish

The Secret of The Swordfish (Le Secret de l'Espadon)
Cover of the third album, depicting the Swordfish
Date	1950 - 1953
Series	Blake and Mortimer
Publisher	Le Lombard
Creative team
Writers	Edgar P. Jacobs
Artists	Edgar P. Jacobs
Original publication
Published in	Tintin magazine
Date of publication	September 26, 1946 - September 8, 1949
Language	French
Translation
Publisher	Les Editions Blake et Mortimer Cinebook Ltd
Date	1986 2013
Translator	Jerome Saincantin
Chronology
Followed by	The Mystery of the Great Pyramid, Volume 1: Manetho's Papyrus

The Secret of The Swordfish was the first story in the Blake and Mortimer comic album series by Edgar P. Jacobs. It describes how a far eastern empire takes over the world and the adventures of two Britons as they try to bring about the development of a weapon which will enable them to fight back. Drawing elements from the recent events of World War II as well as the emerging Cold War, the trilogy is set in an alternate reality of the 1950s, in which a Third World War is played out.

The Secret of the Swordfish was first published in Tintin magazine from the very first issue in September 1946. In 1950, the first 18 pages were redrawn and reduced to 17 pages—giving more details on the background of the events leading up to the main plot—and the first half of the story was published as the very first comic album by publisher Lombard, in the later famous Collection du Lombard. A second part followed in 1953. The two part edition was reprinted 9 times between 1955 and 1982. A single volume edition was published in 1964. In 1984, the story was republished in three parts, with new lettering and colouring, and with the inclusion of a number of full page illustrations that had appeared in the magazine but were omitted from the comic albums.

The first volume, "Ruthless Pursuit," opens on the eve of a World War. Details are scarce, but the reader is told that the enemy is an Asian superpower known as "the Yellow Empire," ruled by the Emperor Basam Damdu; the free world and the Yellow Empire have been locked in a cold war for the past three years. Within the first few pages of the book, the Yellow launch a worldwide aggression with modern rockets, bombers and paratroopers that quickly destroy and conquer the world's other major powers. However, the British military has been secretly working on a new type of superweapon known as the Swordfish, in anticipation of the war. Forewarned of the attack by a traitor in the Yellow army, Captain Francis Blake, a British officer, and Professor Phillip Mortimer, the scientist developing the Swordfish, escape with the superweapon's plans, their destination being a secret base in the Middle East where they will be able to finish their work.