1936
ONCE
MORE, THE NYCTALOPE (LE SURHOMME EST-IL FRANÇAIS?)
An
Invisible Man named Jacques enters the mansion of his friend Leo
Saint-Clair, the Nyctalope, and sees an oil painting of Leo and his
late wife Sylvie. Leo introduces Jacques to Briar Rose, also known as
Belle and the Phantom Angel, alongside whom Leo fought Belphégor.
Jacques’ children have been kidnapped; the mastermind behind the
abductions is Professor René
Belloq. Below the house are a series of secret rooms that were used
by Sylvie’s stepfather Mathias Lumen in his fight against Leonid
Zattan, which have been converted by Leo into a laboratory. Leo uses
a device that allowed him to overcome Lucifer in the early ‘20s to
prevent the kidnappers from tracking Jacques’ aura. The three
attend a lecture given by Belloq, whose other guests include
archaeologist Artistide Clairembart and Tryphon Tournesol. Also in
attendance are journalist Jerôme
Fandor and Dutil-Parot, Jacques Roll’s predecessor as President of
the Council of Ministers. Belloq announces Doctor Haushofer of the
Thule Society will tell the audience the results of his research on
the use of Vril
as
a psychic energy source. Leo’s friend Gno Mitang initiated him into
the Japanese fighting disciplines.
Short
story by Emmanuel Gorlier appearing as “Le
Surhomme est-il français?”
in Les
Compagnons de l’Ombre
(Tome
14),
Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Rivière Blanche, 2014, and then
in English in Tales
of the Shadowmen Volume 11: Force Majeure,
Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier, eds., Black Coat Press, 2014. Jacques
Roll (formerly known as Joe Rollon) and Dutil-Parot are from Jean de
La Hire’s book Joe
Rollon, the Invisible Man.
The Nyctalope is the hero of a series of novels by de La Hire.
Sylvie, Mathias Lumen, Leonid Zattan, Lucifer, and Gno Mitang are
from the Nyctalope series. The Phantom Angel has appeared in several
stories by Randy Lofficier in the Tales
of the Shadowmen series,
and is meant to be the title character of the French fairy tale
“Sleeping Beauty.” Belphégor
is the title character of a French film serial; she encountered Leo
and Belle earlier in the month in Gorlier’s story “Une Voce Poco
Fa.” Professor René
Belloq encountered Indiana Jones in the film Raiders
of the Lost Ark.
Aristide Clairembart is from Henri Vernes’ Bob Morane novels, while
Tryphon Tournesol (Cuthbert Calculus in English translations) is from
Hergé’s Tintin comics. Jerôme
Fandor is one of the greatest foes of Marcel Allain and Pierre
Souvestre’s villain Fantômas,
and may in fact be the “Lord of Terror’s” illegitimate son.
Doctor Karl Haushofer was a real person whose geopolitical views may
have influenced Hitler. The Vril
energy
is from Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s novel The
Coming Race.
