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Crystal Balls/ Prisoners of the Sun: "Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal" v "La Malèdiction De Rascar Capac"

LeLotusBleu
Member
#1 · Posted: 30 Mar 2023 15:27
Can anyone tell me whether these two books, Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal and La Malèdiction De Rascar Capac, both by Philippe Goddin, are substantially different, or is the later one essentially an update of the first with more unpublished strips?

I have Malédiction and am wondering whether it's worth also getting Mystères.

Thanks.
jock123
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 31 Mar 2023 11:38
LeLotusBleu:
Can anyone tell me whether these two books, both by Philippe Goddin, are substantially different

Yes, they are - next question...? ;-)

To answer your question more seriously, there are actually three (or four) books involved: Malédiction is in fact in two volumes, and covers the entirety of the Crystal Balls/ Prisoners adventure; volume one is subtitled Les Mystères Des Boules de Cristal (a title similar to, but not to be confused with the earlier Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal); volume two is Les Secrets du Temple du Soleil.

Together they serve to expand upon the work done by Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal and the earlier Le Temple du Soleil - Version Originale (the first collection of the colour, landscape version of the Prisoners), and presents them in uniform editions.

When Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal came out, it was to collect the then recently re-published black and white strips, which had been run in the Belgian Le Soir, together with background material by M. Goddin, and was offered to readers.

Malédiction allowed M. Goddin to re-visit each part of the adventure and expand and revise the content with new research and material, essentially giving two completely new books.

It also allows for an easier transition between the first and second volumes: when Le Temple du Soleil - Version Originale came out, it had to explain about not only the formatting differences between the Tintin magazine iteration and the standard album, but also that the magazine had ben re-launching a story already under-way in black-and-white, in a version that some readers in 1946 might not have seen, never mind those of us picking up the tale in 1988, who had little knowledge if any of the Soir.

The Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal material, because it was serving the re-publication in the paper, also covers some of the same material for the readers who were being introduced to the black-and-white version for the first time.

It can't have helped that the B&W and colour continuation don't split neatly across Crystal Balls and Prisoners as we know them today; some over-lap and revision of the material presented in Le Soir (as well as some material that had already been prepared for Le Soir, but not published due to the end of the German Occupation of Belgium).

So (if I am still making sense to anyone), the Malédiction presentation allows for a more unified approach to the material shared between both versions, and a clearer explanation of the unfolding drama surrounding the liberation of Brussels, and the cancellation of the story.

It also has to be said that while Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal is a lovely little book, and matches the similar volumes given to the Unicorn/ Red Rackham story, Malèdiction is physically bigger (not quite double the size), so the images are larger (the colour epsiodes are pretty much the same size as the earlier collection).

I've not been through them with a fine-tooth comb, so can't say there's no actual duplication of text, but an unscientific dipping in and out hasn't turned up anything that says it's a word-for-word copy.

I've not got rid of the two early collections, but I can say unreservedly that I don't regret adding both volumes of Malèdiction to my book-shelves!

Postscript: I see I may have read your question backwards - you have the later edition, and are considering the earlier one, rather than the other way round?

If that is the case, I wouldn't see Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal as an essential purchase, as the Malèdiction material is more up-to-date, although it is a nice thing to have, especially if you want to have it match the Unicorn/ Red Rackham ones.
LeLotusBleu
Member
#3 · Posted: 31 Mar 2023 12:09
Thanks. I was aware that my Malediction was vol 1, but had somehow missed that vol 2 had been published.

So, based on what you've said (and what you did with your own copies), if I have Malediction vol 1, there's no real need (in terms of content) to get Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal too. Would that be correct?

But if I have Le Temple du Soleil - Version Originale, it's worth getting Malediction vol 2.
jock123
Moderator
#4 · Posted: 31 Mar 2023 12:22
LeLotusBleu:
if I have Malediction vol 1, there's no real need (in terms of content) to get Les Mystères Des 7 Boules De Cristal too. Would that be correct?

Yes, effectively; other than for completism, or on the off-chance that there is some small nugget of info that didn't make it into the revision, the Malèdiction is sufficient.

LeLotusBleu:
if I have Le Temple du Soleil - Version Originale, it's worth getting Malediction vol 2.

Likewise, yes - it's definitely worth getting volume 2 for all the additional information it contains.
LeLotusBleu
Member
#5 · Posted: 1 Apr 2023 19:38
Thank you.

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