Martin - Lot 128

Martin JACQUES MARTIN ALIX Vercingétorix (T.18), Casterman 1985 Original plate no. 10, prepublished in Le Journal de Tintin no. 499, April 2, 1985 India ink on paper 36.5 × 48.3 cm (14.37 × 19.02 in.) Vercingetorix is, in a way, a sequel to La Légion perdue, one of the narrative highlights of the Alix series. At the time, Jacques Martin was writing the grammar of the "Brussels School", with meticulously documented clear lines and perfectly legible, coherent strokes. The inking process is particularly noteworthy: thicker in the foreground, it becomes successively finer as the subject moves further away, with the boxes often offering long focal lengths. This precision of execution is part of the legend, but it also has a marketing objective: to position Alix as a historical reference. And, in fact, since that time, every Alix script has crept into the interstices of history to build a credible fiction. In this one, Jacques Martin imagines Pompey, one of Caesar's rival senators, commissioning him to break Vercingetorix out of prison to prevent him from being paraded by Caesar during his triumphant return to Rome. He clearly wanted to pull the rug out from under the victor of Alesia. All of this is historically plausible, although the author does introduce some fantastical elements, such as the pack of wolves protecting Alix. All Jacques Martin's savoir-faire is present in this superb plate: skilful narration, sumptuous settings and the great and small history of Rome.