In Review: Largo Winch - 3 Eyes Of The Guardians Of The Tao/The Way And The Virtue

Largo Winch, writer Jean Van Hamme and artist Philippe Francq's James Bond-like billionaire businessman adventurer, returns in his latest two part adventure in Cinebook's The Three Eyes Of The Guardians Of The Tao and The Way And The Virtue.

An aircraft manufacturing deal between one of the W Corporation companies and a Chinese business requires Largo to travel to Hong Kong to sign the contract personally. With Hong Kong now part of China this is a plot by the Chinese to get Largo back into the country to arrest him because of his past. Previously Largo had been imprisoned in Chinese occupied Tibet, a prison that he escaped from and the Chinese authorities want him back in it.

Largo escaped from that prison with the help of a Chinese triad arms smuggler, Tan Ming T'Sien, whose triad later helped rescue Largo's good friend Simon Ovronnaz from a Burma prison. But that help came with a price and the triad are now calling in that favour as they want an ancient religious document, the Tao Te Ching, the book of the Way and the Virtue, that is owned by the man who runs the Chinese aircraft business that Largo is dealing with.

Largo must steal from the man he is doing business with while avoiding the authorities...

This pair of titles are effectively the sequel to the much earlier book The Hour Of The Tiger but you really do not need to have read that book to understand what is going on here as Jean Van Hamme gives the reader all the information that they need in these new titles to appreciate the back story of this meticulously plotted tale of business, triads and friendship. Indeed the main story is so heavy that it is good that Van Hamme has introduced a new sidekick for Largo in the petite and pretty form of his new personal pilot Silky, as seen on the cover of the first book. As the main plot starts to get so serious, the sparring of Simon and Silky over Silky having much better luck with women than Simon gives the first book in particular some lighter breathing spaces.

Les Trois Yeux Des Gardiens Du Tao was originally published in France in March 2007 while La Voie Et La Vertu was published in November 2008 just before the release of the big budget live action Largo Winch film with Sisley Tomer and Kristin Scott Tomas. It is interesting to note that the film transposed the W Corporation headquarters from New York to Hong Kong, a fact that Van Hamme would presumably have known, and where he set so much of the spectacle of these books.

Philippe Francq's artwork plays well to that spectacle with  various Bond film-style set pieces such as a car chase between an ancient Renault 4 and a new Smart ForTwo Cabrio, or an aerial sequence with an old and unarmed Beaver float-plane being chased between the Hong Kong skyscrapers by a new and armed MD-520N Notar helicopter. It all comes together to make this story feel like the big budget action film it deserves to be.

It is easy to get used to how good Jean Van Hamme's various series can be but Largo Winch - The Three Eyes Of The Guardians Of The Tao and The Way And The Virtue are perhaps the most impressive Largo books yet. For those wanting to sample this series I used to recommend the pairing of See Venice... ...And Die! but now I would say that these are the best pair of titles in the series to date, and well worth picking up. 

• There are more details of the English language Largo Winch books at the Cinebook website

• There are more details about all the Largo Winch books, as well as the two live action films, at the official Largo Winch website (in French).

Largo Winch Artist Philippe Francq Signing In London

Belgian artist Philippe Francq, best known in the UK for his Largo Winch series with writer Jean Van Hamme published by Cinebook, will be doing a signing in London later in the month.

The French Bookshop in South Kensington, who had a signing event with Jean Van Hamme in 2010, will be hosting Philippe for a signing on Saturday 24 November 2012 from 1130 to 1300. He will be signing the latest French Largo Winch hardback, Colere Rouge, which is the recently released 18th book in the series and the second part of the story begun in Mer Noire. Neither of these latest two Largo Winch books have been translated into English by Cinebook.

There are more details of the signing at The French Bookshop's website.

Largo Winch reviews on downthetubes:

• See Venice... / ...And Die
• Golden Gate / Shadow
• The Price Of Money / The Law Of The Dollar

In Review: Largo Winch - The Price Of Money/The Law Of The Dollar

Largo Winch, writer Jean Van Hamme and artist Philippe Francq's James Bond-like billionaire, returns in his latest two part adventure in Cinebook's The Price of Money and The Law of the Dollar.

Appearing on a live TV business programme, The Price Of Money, Largo is as shocked as the viewers when Dennis Tarrant, the former manager of a company that Largo's W Group had taken over and caused 2500 redundancies in, puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger. With public opinion against him, Largo launches a W Group investigation of that business transaction before travelling to Tarrant's funeral. There he attempts to offer his condolences to Tarrant's blind daughter June but he receives a cold rebuff from her followed by a severe beating from some of the men of the town.

The accounts of Tarrant's company appear to have been altered to cause the redundancies and Largo beings to dig deeper just as June Tarrant launches a court case against him for compensation of $50 million. When the former accounts secretary of the company ends up dead, Largo is framed for her murder and, on the run from the law and with American public opinion turning against both him and the W Group, Largo is forced to go to ground.

Jean Van Hamme's name on a book is a sure sign of quality and when it is a Largo title then that normally means a James Bond-like action fest, except that this time it isn't really. Don't get me wrong, punches are traded, guns go off and there are motorbike and helicopter action sequences, but on the whole this is slightly more sedate and talky Largo story than normal and, if anything, it is to the story's advantage.

Van Hamme emphasises the insider trading/stock options information in the first book and repeats it as a text introduction in the second as an understanding of it is vital to the machinations of the plot. While it makes for a Largo story that is perhaps heavier on exposition than the previous episodes, it also makes for a story that requires more thought than the more normal Largo romps and I enjoyed that.

Philippe Francq's artwork is as slick as ever covering helicopters, bikes and even Mounties on horseback when Largo goes to ground in Canada yet, despite all the panels of talking heads explaining the intricacies of the plot, he never gets into a rut and his work is always enjoyable to look at.

These are translations of the 13th and 14th French Largo Winch albums originally published in 2004 and 2005. In France the series has just reached its 18th book, Colère Rouge, this month meaning that Cinebook have only two sets of two books each still to go before they are up-to-date. The first of those, and the next Cinebook Largo Winch title, is due out in February 2013 under the mouthful of a title The Three Eyes of the Guardians of the Tao.


Largo Winch - The Price Of Money/The Law Of The Dollar is not quite the runaround that we have become used to in the previous Largo books but it is no less of an intriguing read for it.

• There are more details of the English language Largo Winch books at the Cinebook website

• There are more details about all the Largo Winch books, as well as the two live action films, at the official Largo Winch website (in French).

 

In Review: Largo Winch - Golden Gate / Shadow

Largo Winch, writer Jean Van Hamme and artist Philippe Francq's James Bond-like billionaire returns in his latest two part adventure in Cinebook's Golden Gate and Shadow.

Winch's old friend Simon Ovronnaz has been hired to play Mike Shadow in a new TV series called Golden Gate, a series that is being made by one of the W Group's companies. However Ovronnaz isn't a great actor and the series is phenomenally expensive which leads the W Group to believe that it is a cover for money laundering and they send in a financial investigator, Sarah Washington, who quickly goes missing. With the series being bankrolled from the gambling den of Reno, Winch sets off meet his old friend, find the missing Sarah and get to the bottom of just what is going on.

Jean Van Hamme is so good at writing modern thrillers that it is virtually a foregone conclusion that any Largo Winch story will be both intriguing and action-packed and, with the luxury of being spread over two books, the reader is given time to get to know the characters and situations a little better before the climax. Golden Gate and Shadow are no different and we are taken on a roller coaster ride of money laundering, kidnapping, prostitution, people smuggling and snuff movies all told at the sort of non-stop pace that we have become used to from Largo Winch books. Yet despite the frantic pace the story does takes long enough to play out to allow Winch to be arrested and imprisoned (as the cover of the second book reveals) as well as finding himself literally up to his neck in trouble in the Nevada desert.

Philippe Francq's artwork rides the same roller coaster with 1930s style car chases (as part of the TV series), modern day motorbike chases, helicopter chases and even horseback riders chasing a train and he covers it all with his usual accuracy and eye for a pretty lady.

Largo Winch books are always great entertainment and there is almost a danger when reviewing them of getting complacent - I expect them to be a great read and they always are but how can the next story top the last? Yet, having said that, Golden Gate and Shadow continue the series trend of cracking Bond-like adventure and leave me hankering for the next pair to be published.

There are more details of the English language Largo Winch books at the Cinebook website.

There are more details about the Largo Winch series of books as well as the films at the official Largo Winch website (in English).