Lets start with the latest Blake & Mortimer which has been translated here into English mere months after the original French publication. "Plutarch's Staff" is a prequel of sorts, the events of the book deal with the end of WW2 and the start of WW3 which was covered in the Secret of the Swordfish saga (which began the Blake & Mortimer story back in the 1950s) so the strip can be considered as having travelled full circle.
Though to be honest i'm finding the current obsession with filling in gaps and continuity-porn a bit tiresome with this volume and the previous couple it would be nice for future volumes to explore new territory. "Plutarch's Staff" does cover some interesting origins though, especially for one of the series' major characters.
The criticisms aside the story is very good, and drawn beautifully of course. This story sees Blake more to the fore and so is less mystical and more action and intrigue based. At the risk of contradicting myself in the previous paragraph the events that lead up to Secret of the Swordfish are very interesting and fit in perfectly well with the later stories even though they were written by another author (the original master Edgar P. Jacobs of course) and over 60 years before. So a great addition to the Blake & Mortimer saga and very recommended, but lets hope we can explore something a little fresher next time.
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