The Adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko - by Herg (3 PDFs)

The Adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko is a comic book series created by Herg, the
Belgian writer-artist who was best known for The Adventures of Tintin. The heroes of the
series are two young children Jo and Zette Legrand and their pet monkey Jocko.

In 1935, six years after Tintin had first appeared in the pages of Le Petit Vingtime,
Herg was approached by Father Courtois, director of the weekly French newspaper
Coeurs Vaillants (Valiant Hearts). Coeurs Vaillants also published Tintin's adventures,
but while Father Courtois enjoyed Tintin, he wanted a set of characters that would
embody classical family values a young boy, with a father who works, a mother, a
sister and a pet in contrast to the more independent Tintin who, the whole of his
career, has had no mention of relatives at all.

Inspired by a toy monkey called Jocko, Herg created Jo Legrand, his sister Zette and
their pet monkey Jocko as well as their engineer father, Jacques, and housewife mother.
Their first adventure, The Secret Ray, appeared in the pages of Coeurs Vaillants on
January 19, 1936 and ran until June 1937.

Between 1936 and 1957, three complete Jo, Zette and Jocko adventures would be
published, spread across five albums. Herg however often felt restricted by the family
set-up: whereas the older, more independent Tintin could just head off on any adventure,
either alone or with Captain Haddock or Professor Calculus, this was not possible for Jo,
Zette and Jocko whose parents had to figure large in any adventure usually to act as
their rescuers. The stories also lacked the social and political messages of the Tintin
stories. In the end, these constraints led him to eventually abandon Jo, Zette and Jocko in
the late-1950s.
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Included in this torrent (in English):

1. Mr. Pumps Legacy (Le Testament de Monsieur Pump) - Volume 1 of The
Stratoship H.22
Killed while exercising his love for speed in a racing car, millionaire John Archibald
Pump leaves behind ten million dollars (a large sum in those days). It will go to the
builders of the first aeroplane to fly from Paris to New York at 1000 kilometres per hour.
Jo and Zette's father sets about designing such a plane, but the project comes under threat
from a gang of saboteurs led by William and Fred Stockrise, Pump's passed-over
nephews, who go to all lengths, from theft to bombing, to prevent it. (A framed photo of
Captain Haddock can be seen hanging on the wall of the Legrand living-room just before
Mr Legrand switches on the light to confront intruders.)

2. Destination New York (Destination New York) - Volume 2 of The Stratoship H.22
When the Stratoship H.22, designed by their father, is the subject of an attempted
bombing from the air, Jo and Zette fly it out of its hangar but are unable to get back.
Crash-landing in the North Pole they face a race against time to get the plane back home
and win the trans-Atlantic challenge. But the Stockrise brothers and their gang are still
determined to thwart the operation even if it is successful.
3. The Valley of the Cobras (La Valle des Cobras)
The Maharajah of Gopal is a bad-tempered sort of person, whose behaviour ranges from
the childish to the eccentric, and his long-suffering secretary Badalah is usually on the
receiving end. Nevertheless, Jo and Zette's father agrees to build him a bridge in his
kingdom. The problem is there is a group of scoundrels led by Prime Minister Ramahjuni
and the evil fakir Rabindah who aren't too keen on the idea.
Note: These three are available elsewhere on the Internet in CBR format. As far as I
know, these are the only PDF versions.
Jo, Zette and Jocko adventures not included in this torrent The first two are available only in extremely limited editions in English because of racial
concerns, while the third was never completed.
1. The Manitoba No Reply (Le Manitoba ne Rpond Plus) - Volume 1 of The Secret
Ray
2. The Eruption of Karamako (LEruption du Karamako) - Volume 2 of The Secret
Ray
3. Le Thermozro - a sixth, incomplete, Jo, Zette and Jocko adventure

If you like these, be sure to check my earlier torrent:

Tintin's (Very) Complete Adventures in English
And check my other torrents for a range of books on religion, linguistics, and other
subjects rather far removed from these books.