Biggles in de Oriënt (Biggles in the Orient) was the fifth in the series of Biggles comic strips in the Flemish/Dutch language by the Belgian company "Studio Vandersteen". The comic strip probably first appeared in the daily newspaper De Standaard and was later collected into an album released on 1 June 1966.
Oriënt was probably written and drawn by Karel Verschuere although only Vandersteen is credited and never the individual artists.
Synopsis[]
The comic strip book is a loose adaptation of Biggles in the Orient and is distinct from the direct translations of the original Johns novel into Dutch by other publishers which are also titled Biggles in de Oriënt.
The comic strip book differs from the original story in several significant respects. Biggles is, as in the rest of the Vandersteen series, with the International Air Police and based in Hong Kong so the entire action is set in the 1960s rather than during the Second World War. Instead of relief supplies being flown to China, this time the relief effort is on behalf of UNICEF and the supplies are for starving children in villages cut off by floods. But there is the same theme of relief aircraft crashing mysteriously. There is a wholly original preambular section set in Tokyo involving kidnapping and attempted intimidation of the pilots flying the relief supplies.
Some of the pilot characters are different but there are also familiar names like Sergeant Gray, Lal Din and Larapindi.
Plot[]
Note: For a detailed summary of the plot, click here.
Characters[]
The Special Air Police[]
- Biggles
- Algy Lacey
- Ginger Hebblethwaite
Others[]
- Tug Smith
- Mioko
- Commissioner Homado
- Selang
- Yosame
- Molog
- Colonel Lottison
- Colonel Browlow
- Angus Machail
- Conrad White
- Lal Din
- Tahil
- Larapindi
- Rex
- Tommy
- Johnny
- Ted
- Sergeant Gray
Aircraft[]
- Lockheed C-130 Hercules
- Supermarine Spitfire
Places[]
Visited[]
Research notes[]
Illustrations[]