The first Tardi I read was The Arctic Marauder, and I liked its Verne-esque steampunk-ish flavour very much. So I continued to read his bandes dessinées – or rather, the Fantagraphics English translations of them. He’s probably best known for his The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, made into a film by Luc Besson, or perhaps for providing the production design, and the actual style of the art and animation, of the steampunk April and the Extraordinary World (see here). But Tardi’s graphic novels actually cover a variety of genres, from war to thriller to crime. And Fog Over Tolbiac is this last, an adaptation first published in French in 1982 of a noir novel by Léo Malet. (Tardi has adapted nine of Malet’s Nestor Burma novels to date, but Fog Over Tolbiac Bridge is the first to appear in English.) Burma is a private detective, who receives a letter one day from a man he knew twenty-five years before when both were anarchists. But the man has been murdered, and Burma finds himself trying to puzzle out the murder, its link to an unsolved robbery in 1936 on the eponymous bridge, and Burma’s old friends from his anarchist days at the “vegan hostel”. It’s a bit thin as a mystery, to be honest, though I suspect that’s an artefact of adaptation, but Tardi’s art is eminently suited to the material, both the story and the less-than-competent Burma. To date Tardi has published thirty-one bandes dessinées, of which around fourteen or fifteen have so far been published in English by Fantagraphics. After a hiatus of several years, brought about by illness, Fantagraphic seem to be back translating Tardi’s work… and I’ll continue to buy them. ( )

In "Sluiers over de pont de Tolbiac" probeert een commisaris een moord op te lossen. Mooi getekend, dat wel, maar het verhaaltje stelt niet veel voor. Tekeningen zijn van Tardi die ik ken van Céline. ( )

'Tåge over Tolbiac-broen' er som Tardis ‘Rue de la Gare 120' en ”tegneserieficering” af en af Leo Mallets kriminalromaner fra efterkrigstiden. (Tardi har i alt illustreret syv af de kulørte Burma-romaner, hvoraf fire er oversat til dansk ved Søren Vinterberg.)

Her er vi nået til 1956, hvor privatdetektiv Nestor Burma modtager et brev fra den ukendte Abel Benoit, der er blevet overfaldet og havnet på hospitalet. Burma kender ikke Benoit, men Benoit kender tilsyneladende Burma. Snart støder vores detektivhelt også ind i sigøjnerpigen Bélita, ligesom hans bekendte fra politiet interesserer sig mere end almindeligt for en død klunser. På hospitalet genkender Burma den døde Benoit som Lenantais, en gammel bekendt fra det anarkistiske miljø, som han færdedes i før krigen, og opklaringen peger da også i den retning.

Mere skal ikke røbes her. Plottet er ikke noget særligt – selvom det er simplere og derfor også langt mere sandsynligt end i ’Rue de la Gare 120’ – men det fungerer som ramme for Tardis væsentligste ærinde: Skildringen af hans elskede Paris, der træder uimodståeligt genkendeligt frem i den sorthvide streg og som selv i konstant silende novemberregn er fascinerende.

’Tåge over Tolbiac’-broen er på 72 sider, og det er meget mere passende end de 200 sider til ’Rue de la Gare 120’. Det er, hvad plottet kan bære, så start endelig bekendtskabet med Nestor Burma her. ( )