XIII

Jean Van Hamme and William Vance’s XIII (Dargaud Benelux, 1995–present) is a taut, two-issue European thriller that launched a long-running espionage saga. The series follows an amnesiac man who discovers he is the key to a political conspiracy, with Vance’s clean, realistic linework grounding Van Hamme’s intricate, puzzle-box plotting. It matters as a foundational work of the modern Franco-Belgian adventure comic, establishing the template for the subsequent multi-volume series.