VANCE - Lot 79

VANCE WILLIAM VANCE XIII Le Jour du soleil noir (T.1), Dargaud 1984 Original plate no. 36, prepublished in Le Journal de Spirou n° 2411 of June 28, 1984. Signed. India ink and white gouache on paper 35.4 × 49.4 cm (13.94 × 19.45 in.) Starting with the Kennedy assassination, finding an unfortunate amnesiac who is accused of the assassination and who doesn't know himself whether he's really the perpetrator or not, was a pretty formidable starting point, since he was going to have to do two things," analyzed Jean Van Hamme, "on the one hand, try to find out who he was and, on the other, clear his name if possible, even though he doesn't know whether he's guilty or not. Still, it's a rich starting point." This sequence from the first volume sets the scene for the saga to come. The hero thinks his name is Jake Shelton, but he knows, just as well as his interviewer, that it's an alias. Colonel Amos is the head of one of the clandestine U.S. intelligence services whose existence would come to light in 1986 with Irangate, two years after the creation of XIII. Hence the James Bond feel of the opening sequence. A beautiful plate in which William Vance proves himself a master of atmospheres, seventies automobiles and interior architecture. A marvel.