Paris, 1950s. Nestor Burma s past comes knocking when Belita, a young gypsy woman, leads him to the Salpetriere hospital where he discovers the recently deceased Abel Benoit, an old buddy from his anarchist days. While Burma has chosen to move onto the (more or less) straight and narrow as a private eye, his friend had stayed on the other side of the law as a counterfeiter and worse, until his own past caught up with him, lethally. So now it s up to Malet to avenge his friend, keep the girl safe, and hopefully unravel a mystery whose roots run far and deep back into the past...

Fog Over Tolbiac Bridge is the first of four major graphic novels adapted by Tardi from the legendary French crime writer Leo Malet s original Nestor Burma novels each set in Paris, and each taking place in, and defined by, a different arrondissement. Tardi s stylish use of mechanical gray tones provides the book with a lovely period feel, and the very specific autobiographical elements of the original novel (Malet himself frequented the anarchist/vegan hostel that serves as the backdrop for the flashback sequences of Burma s youth) combined with Tardi s usual obsessive visual research give it a uniquely personal, authentic quality.

Created in the 1980s, Fog Over Tolbiac Bridge was an historic attempt on Tardi s part to inject a level of literary heft and ambition into the comics field, which back then was still struggling for legitimacy. The result is a cracking good detective yarn and a milestone in comics history.

Set in France during World War II, this is Leo Malet's first novel starring detective Nestor Burma. Burma's assistant Bob Colomer, having just arrived in France after being held prisoner in a German camp, is murdered at the Lyon station as soon as he reunites with his boss. Colomer's last words, whispered to Burma as he lay dying, are the address 120 Station Street, the same address Burma had heard from an agonizing patient in a military hospital. And thus begins an investigation that will force Burma to revisit episodes from his past he thought he had buried long ago, and that will take him from Vichy France to Nazi-occupied Paris. First published in 1942, this passionate noire novel is a description of everyday French life during World War II, where rationing, division of territory, and Nazi-imposed restrictions serve as the backdrop to this tale of intrigue. "Ambientada en la Francia de la segunda guerra mundial, esta es la primera novela de Leo Malet en la que aparece el detective Nestor Burma como protagonista. Su ayudante Bob Colomer, recien llegado a Francia del campo de prisioneros aleman en el que habia estado internado, es asesinado en la estacion de Lyon justo cuando acababa de reencontrarse con su jefe. Antes de morir, Colomer logra susurrarle una direccion, Calle de la Estacion, 120, la misma que Burma habia escuchado de un prisionero agonizante en el hospital militar. A partir de ahi arranca una investigacion en la que el detective tendra que indagar en episodios de su pasado que ya creia enterrados y que le llevara de la Francia de Vichy al Paris ocupado por los nazis. Publicada por primera vez en 1942, esta apasionante novela negra es una descripcion de la vida cotidiana de la Francia de la segunda guerra mundial en la que el racionamiento, la division del territorio y las restricciones impuestas por los nazis sirven de escenario para esta narracion de intriga."

Set in Paris during the 1950s, in a country shaken by the echoes of the Algerian war and that is still recuperating from World War II, this is the story of an anarchist attack that was never carried out and of betrayed revolutionary ideals. Abel Benoit, an elderly anarchist, dies in the hospital after being the victim of a mysterious attack, but before his death he is able to contact private investigator Bestor Burma, who will begin an investigation that will force him to remember his adolescence as a young libertarian in the Paris between wars. "Ambientada en el Paris de los anos cincuenta, en un pais sacudido por los ecos de la guerra de Argelia y que se esta recuperando todavia de la segunda guerra mundial, esta es la historia de un atentado anarquista no cometido y de ideales revolucionarios traicionados. Abel Benoit, un viejo anarquista, muere en el hospital tras ser victima de una misteriosa agresion, pero antes de su muerte consigue ponerse en contacto con el detective privado Nestor Burma, quien emprendera una investigacion que le llevara a recordar su adolescencia de joven libertario perdido en el Paris de entreguerras."