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.