Signed: Olrik

The thirtieth (and so far latest) Blake & Mortimer adventure, originally created by Edgar P Jacobs but in this instance by Yves Sente and André Juillard. Blake & Mortimer's eternal enemy Olrik is in prison, but due to overcrowding he receives two new prison chums, who turn out to be sepratists who want independence for Cornwall!

Olrik gets involved with their plot, devised by the shadowy Grand Druid (the identify of whom is pretty obvious early on in the story), who seeks the sword Excalibur and the treasure hoard of King Arthur. Both are thought to be buried underground somewhere in Cornwall, they need Professor Mortimer's latest invention which can tunnel through solid rock like it isn't there, nothing at all like the Mole from Thunderbirds oh no...

So, this is a fine Blake & Mortimer adventure, as usual mixing mad science, a past reimagined and a dose of the mystic. However, it is by no means the best volume in the series. Blake & Mortimer is somewhat notorious for heavy use of word panels to explain the story. Whilst this can be a wordy story too there were times where it was a little unclear what was going on, maybe a little more explanation was needed in this instance! Still, great fun to read.