GIL JORDAN, PRIVATE DETECTIVE: TEN THOUSAND YEARS IN HELL #1

Fantagraphics is proud to follow up 2010’s inaugural edition of Maurice Tillieux’s classic early-1960s Gil Jordan adventures Murder by High Tide with a new double dose of classic stories. “Ten Thousand Years in Hell” marks a sharp departure from the moody, urban detective thrillers of Jordan’s previous adventures: Instead, after a feint in that direction, it turns into a rollicking, comedic South American prison escape yarn. The second story, “Boom and Bust,” finds the duo’s countryside jaunt turned into an ad-hoc investigation by a spectacular vehicular washout and a suspiciously noisy enclosure. Tillieux’s freewheeling storytelling and masterful graphics remind the reader why he was considered one of the top Franco-Belgian cartoonists of the time — indeed, of any time. Readers of all ages who are eager to dig deeper than Tintin and explore the history of other cartoonists working in that distinctive, cleanly drawn comedy/adventure register will enjoy the Gil Jordan books.