''Le Scorpion'' is a Franco-Belgian comics series written by

Stephen Desberg Stephen Desberg (born 10 September 1954 in Brussels) is a Belgian writer of comics. In 2010, he was the 10th bestselling author of comics in France, with 412,000 copies of all his comics together sold that year. Biography Stephen Desberg was bor ...

, illustrated by

Enrico Marini Enrico Marini (born 13 August 1969) is an Italian comics artist. His works include ''Gipsy'' with writer Thierry Smolderen and '' Le Scorpion'' with writer Stephen Desberg. Biography Marini was born in (Switzerland) and studied graphic art ...

and published by

Dargaud Société Dargaud, doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud (), publishing its first comics in 1943. ...

in French and Dutch, and by

Cinebook Cinebook Ltd is a British publishing company that publishes comic albums and graphic novels. It describes itself as "the 9th art publisher," the 9th art being comics in continental Europe, especially France, Belgium and Italy. They typically tr ...

in English.

Summary

The story takes place in Rome during the second half of the eighteenth century. Cardinal Trebaldi decides to reinstate the power of the nine families, based on papacy. Armando Catalano, also known as The Scorpion, is a holy relics dealer. He is the son of a heretic who was burnt alive for misdirecting a priest from the church and Christian beliefs. Armando, the bearer of a birthmark in the shape of a scorpion known as the "mark of the devil", challenges the cardinal's authority. The cardinal, who seems to be filled with hatred for The Scorpion, sends the young gypsy Mejai, a specialist in poisons, to kill him. The adventures of the Scorpion lead him to the treasure of the

Templars , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

and to discover an interpretation of what might have happened to it. Between fiction and history, this comic distills Machiavellian theory on religious authority.

Albums

These albums are published by

: # La marque du diable - October 2000 # Le secret du Pape - October 2001 # La croix de Pierre - November 2002 # Le Démon au Vatican - April 2004 # La vallée sacrée - November 2004 # Le trésor du Temple - October 2005 # Au Nom du Père - November 2006 # L'ombre de l'Ange - November 2008 # Masque de la Vérité - August 2010 # Au Nom du Fils - November 2012 # La neuvième famille - November 2014 # Le Mauvais Augure - November 2019 # Tamose l’égyptien - November 2020 # La Tombe d'un dieu - May 2022

English Translation

Since August 2008,

Cinebook Ltd Cinebook Ltd is a British publishing company that publishes comic albums and graphic novels. It describes itself as "the 9th art publisher," the 9th art being comics in continental Europe, especially France, Belgium and Italy. They typically tr ...

has been publishing The Scorpion. Eight trade paperbacks have been released, although note that the first two correspond to two each of the French albums. # The Devil's Mark (includes The Pope's Secret) - August 2008 # The Devil in the Vatican (includes The Stone Cross) - May 2009 # The Holy Valley - April 2010 # The Treasure of the Templars - August 2010 # In the Name of the Father - May 2012 # The Angel's Shadow - August 2013 # The Mask of Truth - November 2013 # In the Name of the Son - June 2014

References

External links

Cinebook Ltd
Bandes dessinées Belgian comic strips Dargaud titles Comics set in the 18th century Fictional Italian people 1996 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1996 Drama comics Action comics Adventure comics Italian comics characters {{FrancoBelgian-comics-stub