Oldbones an Egyptologist, is robbed of some precious relics. The funny detective, Bat Batterton, absolutely incapable of finishing an investigation, gropes in the dark, but Zagor and Chico arrive. And they discover an Egyptian village in the desert!
Zagor and Chico come across "Smiling Joe", once the owner of a gold mine and now an pacifist who has retired to a quiet hermitage, just in time to save him from two criminals who are angry with him because of his old profession.
This is shortest Zagor story, and was also reprinted in color in 1992 by Glamour edition.
This story presents two big differences compared to all the others that preceded it chronologically on the pages of the comic books. First of all, it appeared in sequence on two different series, having begun its appearance in Tex's books and then continued in those of Zagor. In fact, on the cover flap of the issue N. 4 of Tex Nebraska series an announcement appeared regarding the interruption of the series, with a reference to Zagor's publications.
Secondly, unfortunately, its publication remained incomplete in Italy, as in issue N. 54 of Zagor's Terza Serie simply featured a cartoon in which Zagor and Cico themselves enthusiastically informed that the next booklet would only contain pages dedicated to their adventures.
Thus, both the pastimes, the stories and the other comic stories other than the cover title that had long accompanied the numerous strips released over the years disappeared from the pages of the Collana Lampo, very abruptly and without any warning.
In France the story had actually been published in full in Hondo N.102 - 108 (Editiones Lug).
