Juillard - Lot 85

Juillard ANDRÉ JUILLARD BLAKE AND MORTIMER The Staff of Plutarch (T.23), Blake et Mortimer 2014 Original cover. Signed. India ink on paper 30 × 45 cm (11.8 × 17.72 in.) Aviation has always fascinated me. When I was a kid, we used to go to Orly, because I had an uncle who was an Air France steward. From the terrace, we could see the Super Constellations. Another uncle was a reconnaissance pilot in the French Air Force. A.J. This cover illustration was inspired by one of the key sequences in Plutarch's Stick: the suicide attack on the British Parliament by the Horten brothers' Ho 229 flying wing. In a descending spiral, condensation trails emerge from the nozzles, conveying the speed and power of the enemy aircraft. "I like to draw movement," adds the artist. Aboard a prototype of the Golden Rocket, set off to rescue a handful of Seafire fighters, Captain Francis Blake attempts to cut off the Nazi plane's course and thus prevent the destruction of one of the jewels in the Empire's crown... In the background, unperturbed, Big Ben, the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster, continues to tick away the hours. On this spring day in 1944, nothing less than the future of the free world is at stake! I thought the script for Plutarch's Rod, the prequel to Swordfish, was absolutely fantastic! For me, it's no sacrilege to tackle what came before Swordfish. It allowed me to redesign the Golden Rocket. I love drawing planes, like this aerial combat with the German Horten, a sort of cousin of Olrik's Red Wing. A.J.