The first Cliff Burton story is divided into two parts; 'Mystery in Whitehall' and 'The Spirit of Victoria'. It is 1921. London is startled by a number of brutal murders. The Yard doesn’t have a clue and ask private investigator Cliff Burton to unravel the mystery and catch the killer. It soon becomes clear that it has something to do with a secret society that Burton eventually leads to India. Although India fell under the Great British Empire since 1858, there were several groups that plead for the independence of India. In England there were also voices heard in favour to gradually give India back its independence.
Rodolphe writes a straight forward detective story. Burton is presented with a problem, he finds some clues and some nice distraction from an attractive lady, gets in trouble and brings it all to a good end. It sounds like a routine job for Rodolphe, who had already had experience in writing detective comics. In the 1980s he wrote the 'Commissioner Raffini' comics in.
Frédéric Garcia's realistic drawings look good. Both the characters and the sets are very detailed. He has not drawn so many different comics, but of the series that he made quite a lot of parts have appeared.
In itself this first Cliff Burton comic is oké if you do not expect a who-done-it or hard-boiled detective stories. My main reason for starting to collect this series was because the stories are set in the 1920s. A time that fascinated me, because of the design and fashion. And Garcia has certainly done his best to draw the fashion, cars and settings veracity.
Rodolphe on European Comics
Rodolphe on the Comiclopedia
Frédéric Garcia on the Comiclopdia
