Vernes, Henri
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of Belgian author Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme (1918-2021), in France 1946-1949, prolific producer of Pulp-style adventure novels in various genres from the mid-1940s. His most popular series, the Bob Morane sequence beginning with La Vallée Infernale ["The Valley of Hell"] (1953; trans anon as Bob Moran in the Valley of Hell 1960) ends, more than 200 volumes later, with L'énigme du pôle: La chose dane les glaces ["The Enigma of the Pole: The Thing in the Glacier"] (2007). Morane, whose name is given as Moran only in the English translations, is a heavily-decorated World War Two pilot who becomes involved in a range of post-war adventures, some entirely nonfantastic. But many are sf, especially those featuring his association with a shadowy organization known as the Time Patrol (see Time Police), operating normally from Earth's future in its mission to maintain the stability of our own timeline; this association is sometimes no more than tacit, but is never contradicted. His main enemy is Monsieur Ming, a rather belated Yellow Peril Antihero conspicuously modelled on Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu, who has found the secret of Immortality, employs Androids of his own manufacture, and is capable of Time Travel; other enemies include at least one Mad Scientist. The Bob Morane books have been filmed and televised, reconstructed as a Graphic Novel sequence [not translated, and not listed here], and Morane is the hero of at least one Videogame. [JC]
Charles-Henri-Jean Dewisme
born Ath, Belgium: 16 October 1918
died Brussels, Belgium: 25 July 2021
works
series
Bob Morane (highly selected; translated titles only)
- La Vallée Infernale (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1953) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Bob Moran in the Valley of Hell (London: Phoenix House, 1960) [trans anon of the above: Bob Morane: hb/]
- La Galère engloutie (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1954) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Bob Moran and the Sunken Galley (London: Phoenix House, 1957) [trans anon of the above: Bob Morane: hb/]
- Sur la piste de Fawcett (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1954) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Bob Moran and the Fawcett Mystery (London: Phoenix House, 1956) [trans anon of the above: Bob Morane: hb/]
- La griffe de feu (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1954) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Bob Moran and the Fiery Claw (London: Phoenix House, 1957) [trans anon of the above: Bob Morane: hb/]
- Panique dans le ciel (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1954) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Bob Moran and the Pirates of the Air (London: Phoenix House, 1956) [trans anon of the above: Bob Morane: hb/]
- L'héritage du flibustier (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1954) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Bob Moran and the Buccaneer's Hoard (London: Phoenix House, 1957) [trans anon of the above: Bob Morane: hb/]
- Les Chasseurs de dinosaures (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1957) [Bob Morane: pb/Pierre Joubert]
- The Dinosaur Hunters (London: Corgi Books, 1966) [trans by Jean Ure of the above: Bob Morane: pb/]
- Le gorille blanc (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1959) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- The White Gorilla (London: Corgi Books, 1967) [trans by Jean Ure of the above: Bob Morane: pb/]
- La Couronne de Golconde (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1959) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Treasure of the Golcondas (London: Corgi Books, 1967) [trans by Jean Ure of the above: Bob Morane: pb/]
- L'ombre jaune (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1959) [Bob Morane: pb/Pierre Joubert]
- The Yellow Shadow (London: Corgi Books, 1966) [trans by Jean Ure of the above: Bob Morane: pb/]
- Trafic aux Caraïbes (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1961) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- City of a Thousand Drums (London: Corgi Books, 1966) [trans by Jean Ure of the above: Bob Morane: pb/]
- La voix du mainate (Verviers, Belgium: Marabout Junior, 1962) [Bob Morane: pb/]
- Operation Parrot (London: Corgi Books, 1968) [trans by Jean Ure of the above: Bob Morane: pb/]
links
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