Written by: Léo Malet, Nicolas Barral
Illustrations: Nicolas Barral
Coloring: Nicolas Barral, Philippe de la Fuente
Publisher: Casterman
Nestor Burma #10 Gekonkel in het Quartier Latin – Comic Book Review
It’s easy to assume that most of us love a good detective story when sitting close to the fireplace, with a nice hot cup of tea. Nestor Burma is one of those classical figures that has been appearing frequently in comic books since the 1980’s. We were stoked to dive into the unraveling plot of a rather authentic detective experience, with enough content for the reader to think through every step of the way. Today we have a suicide on the menu, that seems to have a lot of back-story preceding the actual act.
Jacqueline Carrier is heartbroken and her world has been turned upside down with the untimely death of her fiancé, Paul Leverrier. While the case has been closed by the police department, as it was a clear-cut suicide dossier, Jacqueline feels as if there is more than meets the eye. She stumbles to Nestor Burma’s office, who works as a private eye, asking him to investigate the matter further and find Paul’s murderer. Even though he is doubtful that she is correct about the case being a murder, he still agrees, hoping she will lay low for the time being, allowing her to grieve properly. Nonetheless, Burma heads out to his contacts at the local police department, to see what they did with the case and what evidence they found.
As expected, the case turns out to be a suicide, since there is not a single shred of evidence that leads to other possibilities of Paul’s death. Nonetheless, Burma still decides to continue his investigation, as he feels that Paul’s desperate act might have been caused by people who made his life very difficult. When pursuing his investigation, by visiting those Paul was in contact with right before he fired a bullet through his head, Burma notices many suspicious acts. Not only does the case raise questions, all of a sudden Jacqueline is pestered by a drunk man who wants to woo her, an expensive book turns up and a shady fortuneteller enters the equation as well. Burma has his work cut out for him after all.
As these comic books count around 90 pages, the pace is a tad slower than many conventional thinner albums. Nonetheless, things move along quite nicely and we get the chance to dive into Burma’s mind, while he thinks over the things he uncovered each day of his investigation. Even though Léo Malet originally came up with a lot of the story material, this album has been adapted by Nicolas Barral, and he did a great job presenting a detective story, along the lines of other classic figures such as Poirot.
Nicolas Barral also took care of the illustrations of this album, albeit in a very rudimentary way. Characters and facial expressions are often mere lines, albeit rather clear ones. The overall detail level is rather low, but it tends to work for a story such as this. It’s clear that the backgrounds have been emphasized, making the ‘scenes’ where everything happened steal the show, rather than the actual characters. The colors by Philippe de la Fuente and Barral are rather bland, adding a serious note to the graveness of the situation that transpires in this story.
Conclusion
Nestor Burma #10 Gekonkel in het Quartier Latin proves to be a very exciting detective story, which is supported by rather basic illustrations, which form a formidable combination. The story feels as if it was taken right out of a thrilling Agatha Christie, which was then molded into the format of a comic book. Suspense, mystery and above all, a great story of uncovering secrets.
Nestor Burma #10 Gekonkel in het Quartier Latin - Comic Book Review,
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