Category: Tintin

A TINTIN FILM BOOK
By Greg, translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Egmont)
ISBN13: 978-1-4052-0634-1

Although this tale is not strictly canonical, fans of Hergé’s intrepid boy reporter and his picturesque associates can always console themselves with this high-quality graphic adaptation of the animated feature-film Tintin et la Lac aux Requins which was originally released in 1972. Although not directly created by Hergé – who did have a supervisory role – the film was a classy piece of adventure fiction directed by publisher Raymond LeBlanc and written by Michel Regnier, who as ‘Greg’ is probably best known for his comedic anti-hero Achille Talon (translated into English both in animated cartoons and comic albums as Walter Melon).

Although lacking the satirical edge of Hergé’s comedy, action and slapstick are still well represented in this tale which turns animation stills into sequential narrative, with admittedly mixed results. Purists who love the artist’s landmark and legendary Ligne Claire style will be deterred that is laid over and across fully-rendered, moulded and painted backgrounds, but although it is initially jarring, the story does swiftly carry the reader beyond such quibbles.

Ligne Claire or the Democracy of Lines as it is sometimes called (in case you were wondering), is the term given to the dramatically simplified drawing style developed by Hergé which has influenced so very many creators. With it clear, clean lines of equal strength, thickness and importance are use to impart an almost diagrammatic value to subjects. This is in contrast to styles which might emphasise foreground or background with varying line-weights. Line-shading, hatching, feathering and the use of shadows are also ignored or down-played. It is the perfect base for bold simple colour and imparts an impressive solidity and immediacy to pictures. When combined with a stripped-down but accurate character or object design, the effect of hyper or even meta-reality is astoundingly convincing. The term was first used by creator, fan and devotee Joost Swarte in the late 1970s.

In The Lake of Sharks a series of art and gem robberies coincide with a trip by Tintin, Captain Haddock and the detectives Thompson and Thomson to visit Professor Calculus. He is sequestered at a villa on the shores of Lake Pollishoff, a huge body of water in the mountains of Syldavia, artificially created by building a dam and flooding a village. The locals believe the area is haunted. And no sooner do they arrive than attempts to kill them begin!

Calculus is in seclusion to perfect his latest invention – a 3-D duplicating machine – but a series of strange events leads Tintin to believe that sinister forces have targeted the eccentric genius once again. Spies, intruders and weird occurrences seem to be a daily threat at the Villa Sprog! Our heroes are not easily cowed, however, and with the help of two peasant children, Niko and Nushka (and their dog Gustav) a dastardly plot by their greatest enemy is revealed. This mastermind now calls himself King Shark…

This magical, fast-paced romp does the canonical adventures proud and can hold its head high even amidst the incredible legacy of one of the true Masters of the Comic Strip. And besides, your collection is incomplete without it…

Artwork © 1955 Editions Casterman, Paris& Tournai. © renewed 1983 Egmont UK Limited. Text © 1971 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.

By Hergé, translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Egmont UK)
ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2901-2

I’m going to break with format and discuss the last chapter first in this final collected volume of Hergé’s immortal classic. Tintin and Alph-Art was the story that the artist was working on at the time of his death, and reproduced at the end of this book are the sketches, layouts and translated scripts for the first two-thirds of the tale. In this fascinating raw form are incredible insights into the thoughts and working process of the creator as he crafted a mystery tale which gently lampooned modern art and its aficionados, and the growing trend of cults and new age mysticism. Even in this unshaped form it looks to be a wonderful yarn packed with social commentary, comedy and action, but will sadly remain tantalisingly incomplete.

Acting on his wishes his second wife (Fanny Vlaminck, whom he wed in 1977) closed Studio Hergé after he died on March 3rd 1983. He had been suffering from bone cancer for many years and finally passed due to complications arising from the anaemia it had caused. Since he had never wanted any other artist to draw the character, the 24th story simply ceased production. In 1986 the notes and sketches were published as they are seen here and the studio became the Hergé Foundation. In 1988 the periodical Tintin magazine ceased publication.

So the three epics here are the last full adventures from the master, although there was a book culled from the animated feature Tintin and the Lake of Sharks (directed by publisher Raymond Leblanc; the album is not strictly canonical and was produced by Greg a.k.a Michel Regnier, a friend of Hergé’s).

The Castafiore Emerald was quite a departure from the eerie and bleak thriller that preceded it (Tintin in Tibet: See Adventures of Tintin volume 7 – ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2900-5). The resolution of that tale had seemed to purge much of the turmoil and trauma from the artist’s psyche. His production rate – but not quality – slowed to a leisurely crawl as he became a world traveller, visiting America, Taiwan and many other places he had featured in the globe-trotting exploits of his immortal boy reporter. Fans would wait fifteen years for these last three tales.

When the blithely unstoppable Bianca Castafiore imposes herself on Captain Haddock at Marlinspike Hall, complete with Operatic entourage and with reporters in hot pursuit she turns the place upside down, destroying the irascible mariner’s peace-of-mind. But when her fabulous jewels are stolen events take a surreal and particularly embarrassing turn before Tintin solves the case.

This tale is very like an Alfred Hitchcock sparkling thriller from the 1950s. Light, airy, even frothy, there are no real villains but plenty of action and comedy, and Herg̩ had plenty of opportunity to take pot-shots at the media, Society РHigh and low Рand even the growing phenomenon of Television itself. The tale was published in 1961. It would be five years until the next one.

Flight 714 To Sydney (1966) is a return to classic adventure. Whilst en route to Australia on the eponymous journey, Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus are inveigled into joining the unconventional and somewhat unpleasant aviation tycoon Laszlo Carreidas on his personal supersonic prototype. But due to the type of coincidence that plagues heroes that plane has been targeted by the villainous Rastapopoulos whose gang hijack the aircraft and land it on a desolate island. After many dangers the prisoners escape and discover that the Island holds a fantastic ancient secret that dwarfs the threat of the villains and leads to a spectacular climax that no reader will ever forget.

Although full of Hergé’s trademark humour, this is primarily a suspenseful action thriller with science fiction roots as the author plays with the research that led to Erich von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods. Once more the supernormal plays a large part but not as a malign force and this time science and rationality, not the supernatural, are the basis of the wonderment.

Tintin and the Picaros (1975) is in all ways the concluding adventure as many old characters and places from previous tales make one final appearance. A sequel to The Broken Ear (Adventures of Tintin volume 3 – ISBN13: 978-1-4052-2897-8) it finds Bianca Castafiore arrested for spying in San Theodoros with Tintin, Haddock and Calculus lured to her rescue.

Colonel Sponsz, last seen in The Calculus Affair (Adventures of Tintin volume 7 – ISBN13: 978-1-4052-2900-5) is the Bordurian Military Advisor to the Government of General Tapioca, and has used his position to exact revenge on the intrepid band who humiliated him. When the Tintin and company escape into the jungles during a murder attempt they reunite with their old comrade Alcazar, who leads a band of Picaro guerrillas dedicated to restoring him to power.

South American revolutions were all the rage in the 1970s – even Woody Allen made one the subject of a movie – and Hergé’s cast had been involved with this one on and off since 1935. With the welcome return of Doctor Ridgewell and the hysterical Arumbayas, and even the obnoxious insurance salesman Jolyon Wagg, they bring about the final downfall of Tapioca in a thrilling and bloodless coup during Carnival time, thanks to a comedy maguffin that turns out to be a brilliant piece of narrative misdirection by the author.

Sly, subtle, thrilling and warmly comforting this tale is the most fitting place to end the Adventures of Tintin, but only until you pick up another volume and read them again – as you indubitably will.

The Castafiore Emerald: artwork © 1963 by Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai. Text © 1963 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Flight 714 To Sydney: artwork © 1968 by Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1968 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Tintin and the Picaros: artwork © 1976 by Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1976 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Tintin and Alph-Art: artwork © 2004 by Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 2004 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.

By Hergé, translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Egmont UK)
ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2900-5

Hergé’s later life was troubled but his personal problems only seemed to enhance his storytelling abilities. The three tales collected in this volume of The Adventures of Tintin are sleek, polished comedy thrillers, rife with intrigue and camaraderie, and even after decades of working, continue fresh and challenging, as the author always sought new arenas of drama to explore.

The Calculus Affair once again sees the zany Professor abducted from the palatial home of Captain Haddock, resulting in a dire and desperate chase through Cold War Europe. Our heroes are hampered in their efforts to save their friend by the introduction of the infinitely annoying Insurance salesman Jolyon Wagg and more seriously, by two rival bands of spies.

As they pursue Calculus to Geneva, Tintin and Haddock encounter not only the insidious agents of Borduria but find that their erstwhile allies of Syldavia are also trying to make the Professor “disappear”. After frantic chases, pitched battles and assassination attempts diplomatic duplicity defeats them, and Calculus becomes an unwilling guest of the totalitarian Bordurians, who are pleased to accept as a “gift” his new invention, which they intend to use as a weapon of mass destruction.

Temporarily stymied, Tintin and Haddock finagle their way into the country, and with the aid of Opera Diva Bianca Castafiore, bamboozle the secret police to rescue the Professor and save the day.

Although all the elements in play are tried and trusted ingredients of the Tintin formula, the level of artistic achievement here is superb and the interplay of tense drama, slapstick comedy and breakneck action make this brooding thriller the most accomplished of Hergé’s tales. The simple fact that the contemporary Cold War fever is absent for modern readers makes no difference at all to the enjoyment of this magnificent graphic masterpiece.

The Red Sea Sharks has also lost some of its original contemporary urgency, but again that has had no diminishing effect. Produced during the turbulent times that led to the Middle-East Suez Crisis, it reintroduces Emir Ben Kalish Ezab from Land of Black Gold (see Adventures of Tintin volume 6 ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2899-2) whose oil-rich country is in the throes of a civil war. Fearful of the consequences, he sends his son Abdullah to stay with Captain Haddock, unaware that the old dipsomaniac and Tintin are embroiled in another mystery involving General Alcazar (The Broken Ear: Adventures of Tintin volume 3, ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2896-1), war surplus aircraft and a mysterious criminal mastermind.

As eager to escape the infernal practical jokes of the incorrigible Prince as to solve the case, the heroic pair follow the trail of the arms dealers and find themselves back in the Desert Kingdom of Khemed, albeit as unwelcome intruders as the rebels have defeated the Emir and driven him into hiding thanks to their illicitly gained fighter planes. When a bomb-plot leaves their plane crashed in the wastelands the indomitable pair trek overland into enemy territory before finally finding the Emir-in-hiding.

They discover that the coup has been instigated by the airline owned by the Marquis di Gorgonzola, a mysterious millionaire whose vast commercial interests are supplemented by selling Pilgrims en route to Mecca into slavery! Hot on the trail, the pair take ship for that holy city but are strafed by warplanes. Shooting one down they rescue the pilot, but when the trio are rescued by Gorgonzola’s yacht, Tintin discovers that one of his oldest foes is behind it all!

This spectacular high-adventure, despite its political and moral underpinnings, is primarily an action yarn with plenty of twists and turns and a terrific feel-good climax. This romp as well as standing proudly on its own lights serves as a subtle counterpoint for the last, and controversially different final tale of this volume…

Tintin in Tibet is not like any other story of the plucky, valiant boy reporter. At this time Hergé was ending a twenty-five year marriage, recovering from a series of nervous breakdowns and plagued by dreams of unending white. Rather than take a break or even retire he began the most eerie, mystical and personal story of his long career.

Tintin is holidaying in the mountains when he reads of a plane crash in Nepal. Inexplicably he screams the name of his old friend Chang, left behind in China at the end of The Blue Lotus (Adventures of Tintin volume 2 ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2895-4). Now preoccupied with his old friend he discovers that Chang was on the crashed airliner and is believed dead. Despite all rational argument Tintin knows he has survived and immediately sets out to rescue him, with a protesting Captain Haddock in tow.

Against all odds the duo travels through India to the mountainous borderlands and into the Himalayas. Nothing can shake the boy’s obsessive belief that Chang is alive and urgently needs his help.

How the physical and mental hardships are overcome make for an uncharacteristically bleak tale, and the mysticism, paranoia and overt supernatural content is hard to fit comfortably into the fantastic but rational universe that Tintin inhabits. Yet it does work, and no other story so well depicts the heroic qualities of the lad and the deep emotional bond between him and his true friends, Chang and Haddock. Of course, Hergé’s utter professionalism would not allow him to produce anything that was not eminently readable, captivatingly funny and stirringly thrilling. Although perhaps the oddest tale this might just be the author’s most revealing.

The Calculus Affair: artwork © 1956, 1984 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1960 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Red Sea Sharks: artwork © 1958, 1986 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1960 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Tintin in Tibet: artwork © 1960, 1984 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1962 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.

By Hergé, translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Egmont UK)
ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2899-2

With World War II over and his reputation restored, Hergé entered the most successful period of his artistic career. He had mastered his storytelling craft, possessed a dedicated audience eager for his every effort and was finally able to say exactly what he wanted in his work, free from fear or censure. But although these freedoms seemed to guarantee a new beginning the life of the creator was far from trouble-free.

In 1949 he returned to Land of Black Gold which had been abandoned when the Nazis invaded Belgium. He then suffered a nervous breakdown and could not work for four months. It is a tribute to his skills that the finished tale reveals none of his personal problems, but is an almost seamless and riveting yarn of political and criminal gangsterism, exotic, hilarious and breathtakingly exciting.

The story concerns a plot to destabilise the World by sabotaging oil. All fuel is somehow made more flammable, causing engines to explode when refuelled. Tintin traces the sabotage to the freighter ‘Speedol Star’, which he joins as Radio Officer. The Detectives Thomson and Thompson are also aboard, but are much less discreet, and soon all three are the targets of a numbers of attacks and assaults. When the ship reaches the Arabian port of Khemikhal they are all framed as drug smugglers and arrested.

But Tintin is abducted by rebel tribesmen who believe he is a gunrunner and the now vindicated Detectives go in search of their friend in the desert. After many hardships the intrepid boy and Snowy discover the villainous spy Doctor Müller (last seen in The Black Island: Adventures of Tintin Volume 3 – ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2897-8) is trying to ingratiate himself with the Oil-rich Emir. Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab is wise and tolerant but cursed with a wilful and spoiled son, Abdullah, who is kidnapped when he rejects the doctor’s offers. Tintin befriends the Ruler and goes undercover to find the Prince.

Tracking down Müller Tintin attempts to rescue the boy (whose practical jokes have made him a most unpopular captive) only to be trapped in a brutal fire-fight in the catacombs beneath the spy’s villa. From nowhere Captain Haddock effects a rescue and the plot is revealed and thwarted.

Action-packed and visually delightful, this breezy mystery-thriller is full of humour and chases, with only the last-minute arrival of the dipsomaniac sea captain to slightly jar the proceedings. Presumably the original pages were recycled as much as possible with the popular Haddock inserted at a new breakpoint. He first appeared after the original Land of Black Gold was abandoned, in The Crab with the Golden Claws (see Adventures of Tintin Volume 4 ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2897-8) and would increasingly steal the spotlight from his juvenile partner – never more so than in the next two adventures, also included in this collected edition.

On a personal note: I first read Destination Moon in 1964, in a huge hardcover album edition (as they all were in the 1960s) and was blown completely away. I’m happy to say that except for the smaller pages – and there’s never a substitute for “Big-ness” – this taut thriller and its magnificent, mind-boggling sequel are still in a class of their own in the annals of science fiction comic strips.

This tale begins with the boy reporter and Captain Haddock returning to Marlinspike Hall only to discover that Professor Calculus has disappeared. When an enigmatic telegram arrives the pair are off again to Syldavia (see King Ottokar’s Sceptre also in Adventures of Tintin Volume 3) and a rendezvous with the missing scientist.

Although suspicious, Tintin soon finds that the secrecy is for sound reasons. In Syldavia Calculus and an international team of boffins are completing a grand project to put a man on the Moon! In a turbulent race against time and amidst huge security the scheme nears completion, but Tintin and Haddock’s arrival coincides with a desperate increase in espionage activity. An enemy nation is determined to steal the secrets of Calculus’s atomic motor at all costs, and it takes all Tintin’s ingenuity to keep ahead of the villains.

As the incidents increase in intensity and frequency if becomes clear that their may be a traitor in the project itself, but at last the moment arrives and Tintin, Haddock, Calculus, Dr. Wolf – and Snowy – blast off for the Moon!

Cold, clinical and superbly underplayed, Destination Moon is completely unlike the flash-and-dazzle razzamatazz of British and American tales from that period – or since. It is as if the burgeoning Cold War mentality (this tale was first serialised in 1950) has infected even Tintin’s bright clean world. Once again the pressure of work and Hergé’s troubled private life resulted in a breakdown and a hiatus in the strip – but this time some of that darkness transferred to the material – although it only seems to have added to the overall effect of claustrophobia and paranoia. Even the comedy set-pieces are more manic and explosive: This is possibly the most mature of all Tintin’s exploits.

If Destination Moon was an exercise in tension and suspense, Explorers on the Moon is sheer bravura spectacle. En route to Luna the explorers discover that Thomson and Thompson have accidentally stowed away, and along with Captain Haddock’s illicit whisky and the effects of freefall, provide brilliant comedy routines to balance the eerie isolation and dramatic dangers of the journey. And lurking in the shadows there is still the very real threat of a murderous traitor to be dealt with…

Studio Hergé was formed in 1950 to produce the adventures of Tintin as well other features and Bob De Moor became an invaluable and permanent addition to the production team, filling in backgrounds and most notably rendering the unforgettable Lunar landscapes that once seen can never be forgotten. This so-modern yarn is a high point in the series, blending heroism and drama with genuine moments of irresistible emotion and side-splitting comedy. The absolute best of the bunch in my humble opinion, and still one of the most realistic space comics ever produced. If you only ever read one Hergé book it simply must be this volume of the Adventures of Tintin.

Land of Black Gold: artwork © 1950, 1977 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1972 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Destination Moon: artwork © 1959, 1981 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1959 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Explorers on the Moon: artwork © 1954, 1982 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai. Text © 1959 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.

By Hergé, translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Egmont UK)
ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2898-5

Produced in the conquered nation of Belgium and running in daily instalments in Le Soir, Brussels’ most prominent newspaper, appropriated and controlled by the Nazis, Red Rackham’s Treasure (which ran from 1943-1944) follows directly on from The Secret of the Unicorn (see The Adventures of Tintin Volume 4, ISBN13: 978-1-4052-2897-8) and topped that thrilling chase to secure three parts of a pirate map with a glorious all-out romp in search of the loot itself.

When a loose-lipped sailor is overheard by an enterprising reporter, the treasure hunt becomes a cause celebré and a horde of opportunists claiming descent from Red Rackham, as well as a deaf and daffy Professor named Cuthbert Calculus who wants to use the expedition to test his new invention, accost Tintin and Haddock. Although his offer is rejected the Professor is not a man to be easily dissuaded. With the detectives Thompson and Thomson aboard (in case of criminal activity) the small team sets sail on their grand adventure…

This is a rich and absorbing yarn in the classic manner, full of exotic islands, nautical drama, mystery and travail, brilliantly timed comedy pieces and even a surprise ending. The restrictions of Belgium’s occupation necessitated Hergé’s curtailment of political commentary and satire in his work, but it apparently freed his Sense of Wonder to explore classic adventure themes with spectacular and memorable results. Although not the greatest of stand-alone Tintin tales, in conjunction with The Secret of the Unicorn this story becomes one of the best action sagas in the entire Hergé canon.

In 1943 the artist met Edgar P. Jacobs, who became his assistant on the daily strip. They began with another extended adventure-tale which is now divided into the eerie thriller The Seven Crystal Balls (which ran from 1944-1948) and the grandiose epic Prisoners of the Sun (1946-1949). These dates might seem odd but once again the Nazi conquest holds the answers.

For Belgium Liberation day was September 3rd 1944. When the occupiers fled, workers on Le Soir were arrested as potential collaborators or Nazi sympathizers and the newspaper was closed down. For two years Hergé, Jacobs and Alice Devos were under suspicion, and spent the time adapting old Tintin adventures for release as colour albums. The Seven Crystal Balls remained unfinished and unpublished until Belgian war-hero Raymond Leblanc personally vouched for the artists. Leblanc even set up a new anthology comic called Tintin in which the tale was continued before going on to finish the epic with Prisoners of the Sun. During this period Jacobs left Hergé when the artist refused him a byline for his work. Jacobs then produced his own science-adventure strip Blake and Mortimer which also featured in the weekly Tintin.

The Seven Crystal Balls sees Captain Haddock returned to Marlinspike Hall where he is adjusting poorly to his new-found wealth, with the exasperating Professor Calculus as his house-guest. When Tintin and Snowy visit, a trip to the theatre embroils them all in a baffling enigma wherein the survivors of the South American Sanders-Hardiman expedition all fall into comas due to an Incan curse. Tintin soon determines someone more solid than ethereal is causing the tragedies but even he can’t stop the attacks, and soon he and his friends are also on the mysterious malefactors “to-do” list!

When Calculus is abducted from under their very noses, Haddock gives up his life of luxury and takes up adventuring once more, determined to help Tintin rescue their friend and solve the mystery. Giving chase they narrowly miss the villains at a seaport but they still have a chance to beat the ship carrying Calculus. They board a sea plane for Peru…

This is classic hairsbreadth storytelling. The pace is spellbinding and the ever-present slapstick actually serves to heighten the tension of the chase. The tale ends on a cliff-hanger, which is still painful even in this glorious collected edition when the action continues on the very next page. Imagine how you’d have felt all those decades ago when the conclusion was months away in the next album…

In the Port of Callao Tintin and Captain Haddock anxiously await the arrival of the freighter ‘Pachacamac’ but when it arrives, suspected of carrying their kidnapped friend Cuthbert Calculus, it flies a plague-pennant. There is Yellow Fever aboard and nobody can approach her! Thus begins Prisoners of the Sun, the epic conclusion of the maddening mystery of Inca curses and the doomed Sanders-Hardiman Expedition to South America.

Suspecting a trick Tintin sneaks aboard and finds the Professor, only to be driven away by gunfire. Telephoning Haddock he chases the abductors, leaving the Captain and the detectives Thompson and Thomson to catch up if they can. The journey takes them deep into the beautiful, rugged country where they reunite only to become the target of many murder attempts, and other methods of dissuasion.

Undaunted, Tintin and Haddock continue towards the mountains, and are befriended by Zorrino, a young boy who risks his own life to help them cross valleys, mountains and jungles, dodging death from both beasts and men, until they are all finally captured by the last remnants of a lost and wondrous civilisation…

This is an epic staggering in scope and breathtaking in execution. Whether drawing a battle, choreographing a pratfall or delineating a golden temple the clean precise line of the art and the simplified colour palette makes every panel “realer-than real” whilst the captivating imagination of the storytelling makes this a truly graphic narrative. These are among the best comic adventures of all time and they demand a place on every fan’s bookshelves.

Red Rackham’s Treasure: artwork © 1945, 1973 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1975 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.

By Hergé (Egmont UK)
ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2897-8

With this edition of the collected Tintin albums we enter the “Golden Age” of a magnificent creator’s work. Despite being produced whilst Belgium was under the control of Nazi Occupation Forces during World War II, the qualitative leap in all aspects of Hergé’s creativity is tangible.

His homeland fell to the invaders in 1940, and Georges Remi’s brief military career was over. He was a reserve Lieutenant, working on The Land of Black Gold when he was called up, but the swift defeat of Belgium meant that he was back at his drawing board before the year’s end, albeit working for a new paper (since Le Petit Vingtième was closed down) and on a brand new adventure. He would not return to the unfinished ‘Black Gold’ with its highly anti-fascistic subtext, until 1949.

Instead, now established in Le Soir (Belgium’s premiere daily newspaper and a most valuable tool for the occupiers to control) Hergé began the first of six extraordinary tales of light-hearted, escapist thrills, with strong plots and deep characterisation that created a haven of delight from the daily horrors of everyday life then and remain a legacy of joyous adventure to this day.

The Crab with the Golden Claws ran from 1940 to 1941 (the edition collected in this fabulous little hardback was first re-mastered in 1953 by Studio Herg̩) and opens with Snowy getting his head caught in an empty crab-meat can whilst scavenging in a trash bin. When Tintin meets the detectives Thompson and Thomson they discuss their latest case and he sees that a vital piece of evidence is a torn label from a crab-meat tin Рand it matches the torn label on the can that he so recently extricated his bad dog from!

And so begins a superb mystery adventure as Tintin follows his lead to the sinister freighter “Karaboudjan” where he is nearly murdered before the diabolical Mate “Allan” (last seen in Cigars of the Pharaoh – Adventures of Tintin: Volume 2, ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2895-4) shanghais him. It is whilst a prisoner that the boy reporter meets a drunken reprobate who would become his greatest companion: The ship’s inebriated Master, Captain Haddock.

Escaping together, they eventually reach the African Coast, with Haddock’s dipsomaniac antics as much a threat to the pair as the gangsters, ocean storms, and deprivation. These trials are masterpieces of comedy cartooning that have never been surpassed. Despite all odds the heroes survive sea, sands and scoundrels to link up with the military authorities. Making their way to Morocco they track down the criminals to reveal a huge opium smuggling operation. A fast-paced tour-de-force of art and action, liberally laced with primal comedy and captivating exotic locales, this is quite simply mesmerising fare.

The Shooting Star was one of the first tales to be re-issued after World War II, due no doubt to its relatively escapist plot. Originally running from 1941-1942 it is practically an old-fashioned pulp thriller. The world is gripped in terror as a fiery meteor is detected hurtling towards Earth. The apocalypse is averted only by the sheerest chance, as the heavenly body narrowly misses Earth, although when a relatively small chunk breaks off, scientists find that it contains an unknown metal of immense potential value. And so begins a fantastic race to find and claim the fallen meteorite.

A party of European scientists charters the survey ship “Aurora”, with Captain Haddock commanding and Tintin aboard as official Press representative. Frantically sailing north to the Pole, they discover that they are in competition with the unscrupulous forces of the evil capitalists of the Bohlwinkel Bank, whose rival expedition uses every dirty trick to sabotage or delay the scientists.

After a truly Herculean effort and by sheer dint of willpower – not to say spectacular bravery – Tintin is the first to claim their floating prize and successfully defend it from the villainous Bohlwinkel crew, but the star itself is a menace as its mysterious composition induces monstrous gigantism. Tintin and Snowy must survive assaults by mutated insects and plants before the breathtaking conclusion of this splendid tale.

After the dramatic if far-fetched exploits of The Shooting Star, Hergé returned to less fantastical fare with The Secret of the Unicorn (re-mastered in 1946, this originally ran from 1942-1943). Tintin buys an antique model galleon at a street market, intending to give it to Captain Haddock, but even before he can pay for it an increasingly desperate number of people try to buy, and even steal it from him. Resisting all efforts he presents it to his friend ‘though not before a minor accident breaks one of the masts. The Captain is flabbergasted! He has a portrait of his ancestor Sir Francis Haddock, painted in the reign of King Charles II, in which the exact same ship features!

When he returns home Tintin finds the model has been stolen but on visiting the first and most strident of the collectors who tried to buy it from him he discovers that the man already has an exact duplicate of the missing model. After much hurly-burly Tintin and Haddock find that Sir Francis was once a prisoner of the pirate Red Rackham, but escaped with the location of the villain’s treasure horde. Subsequently making three models of his vessel “The Unicorn”, he placed part of a map in each and gave them to his three sons…

Someone else obviously knows the secret of the model ships and that mysterious mastermind becomes ever more devious and ruthless in his attempts to obtain the complete map. Events come to a head when Tintin is kidnapped, which is a big mistake, as the intrepid lad brilliantly turns the tables on his abductors and solves the mystery. With the adventure suitably concluded, the volume ends with our heroes ready to embark on the no-doubt perilous voyage to recover ‘Red Rackam’s Treasure’…

For which we must turn to the next volume in this glorious repackaging of one of the World’s greatest comic strip treasures… Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin!

The Crab with the Golden Claws: artwork © 1953, 1981 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai. Text © 1958 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Shooting Star: artwork © 1946, 1974 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1961 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Secret of the Unicorn: artwork © 1946, 1974 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1959 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.

By Hergé, translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Egmont UK)
ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2897-8

Hergé was approaching his mastery when he began The Broken Ear: His characterisations were firm in his mind, he was creating a memorable not to say iconic supporting cast, and the balance between crafting satisfactory single instalments and building a cohesive longer narrative was finally being established.

The version reprinted in this delightfully handy hardback compendium was repackaged by the artist and his studio in 1945, although the original ran in two page weekly instalments from 1935-1937, and there are still evident signs of his stylistic transition in this hearty, exotic mystery tale that makes Indiana Jones look like a boorish amateur.

Back from China, Tintin hears of an odd robbery at the Museum of Ethnography, and rushing over finds the detectives Thompson and Thomson already on the case in their own unique manner. A relatively valueless carved wooden Fetish Figure made by the Arumbaya Indians has been taken from the South American exhibit. Bafflingly, it was returned the next morning, but the intrepid boy reporter is the first to realise that it’s a fake, since the original statue had a broken right ear. And a minor sculptor is found dead in his flat…

So begins a frenetic and enthralling chase to find not just who has the real statue but also why a succession of rogues attempts to secure the dead sculptor’s parrot, with the atmospheric action encompassing the urban metropolis, an ocean-going liner and the steamy and turbulent Republic of San Theodoros, where the valiant lad becomes embroiled in an on-again, off-again Revolution. Eventually though, the focus moves to the deep Jungle as Tintin finally meets the Arumbayas and a lost explorer, getting one step closer to solving the mystery.

Whilst unrelenting in my admiration for Hergé I must interject a necessary note of praise for translators Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner here: Their light touch has been integral to the English-language success of Tintin, and their skill and whimsy is never better seen than in their dialoguing of the Arumbayas. Just read aloud and think Eastenders…

The slapstick and mayhem build to a wonderfully farcical conclusion with justice served all around, and a solid template is set for many future yarns, especially those that would perforce be crafted without a political or satirical component during Belgium’s grim occupation by the Nazis.

However, Hergé’s developing social conscience and satirical proclivities are fully exercised here in a telling sub-plot when rival armaments manufacturers gull the leaders of both San Theodoros and its neighbour Nuevo-Rico into a war simply to increase their sales, and once again oil speculators would have felt the sting of his pen – if indeed they were capable of any feeling…

The Black Island followed. It ran from 1937-1938, (although this is the revised version released in 1956) and the doom-laden atmosphere that was settling upon the Continent even seeped into this dark tale of espionage and criminality. When a small plane lands in a field, Tintin is shot as he offers help. Visited in hospital by Thompson and Thomson, he discovers they’re en route to England to investigate the crash of an unregistered plane. Discharging himself and with Snowy in tow he catches the boat-train but is framed for an assault and becomes a fugitive. Despite a frantic pursuit he makes it to England, still pursued by the murderous thugs who set him up as well as the authorities.

He is eventually captured by the gangsters – actually German spies – and uncovers a forgery plot, which leads him to the wilds of Scotland and a (visually stunning) “haunted” castle on an island in a Loch. Undaunted, he investigates and discovers the gang’s base, which is guarded by a monstrous ape.

This superb adventure, powerfully reminiscent of John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps, highlight the theme that as always virtue, pluckiness and a huge helping of comedic good luck lead to a spectacular and thrilling denouement.

Older British readers have reason to recall the final tale in this tome. Many of them had an early introduction to Tintin and his dog (then called Milou, as in the French editions) when the fabled Eagle comic began running King Ottokar’s Sceptre in translated instalments on their prestigious full-colour centre section in 1951. Originally created by Hergé in 1938-1939, this tale was one of the first to be revised (1947) when the political fall-out settled after the war ended.

Hergé continued to produce comic strips for Le Soir during the Nazi Occupation (Le Petit Vingtième, the original home of the strip was closed down by the Nazis), and in the period following Belgium’s liberation was accused of being a collaborator and even sympathiser. It took the intervention of Resistance hero Raymond Leblanc to dispel the cloud over Hergé, which he did by simply vouching for the cartoonist and by providing the cash to create the magazine Tintin which he published. The anthology comic swiftly achieved a weekly circulation in the hundreds of thousands.

The story itself is pure escapist magic as a chance encounter via a park-bench leads our hero on a mission of utmost diplomatic importance to the European kingdom of Syldavia. This picturesque Ruritanian ideal stood for a number of countries such as Czechoslovakia that were in the process of being subverted by Nazi insurrectionists at the time of writing.

Tintin becomes a surveillance target for the enemy agents and after a number of life-threatening near misses flies to Syldavia with his new friend. The sigillographer Professor Alembick is an expert on Seals of Office and his research trip coincides with a sacred ceremony wherein the Ruler must annually display the fabled sceptre of King Ottakar to the populace or lose his throne. When the sceptre is stolen it takes all of Tintin’s luck and cunning to prevent an insurrection and the overthrow of the country by enemy agents.

Full of dash, as compelling as a rollercoaster ride, this is classic adventure story-telling to match the best of the cinema’s swashbucklers and as suspenseful as a Hitchcock thriller, balancing insane laughs with moments of genuine tension. As the world headed into a new Dark Age, Hergé was entering a Golden one.

These ripping yarns for all ages are an unparalleled highpoint in the history of graphic narrative. Their constant popularity proves them to be a worthy addition to the list of world classics of literature.

The Broken Ear: artwork © 1945, 1984 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1975 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Black Island: artwork © 1956, 1984 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1966 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
King Ottokar’s Sceptre: artwork © 1947, 1975 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1958 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Hergé (Egmont UK)
ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2895-4

By the time Georges Remi, known the world over as Hergé, began the third adventure, Tintin in America (which ran from 1931-1932), he was well on the way to mastery of his art but was still growing as a writer. Although the periodical format meant that a certain degree of slapstick and seemingly directionless action was necessary to keep the attention of the reader, his ability to integrate these set-piece elements into the building of a complete narrative was still developing.

Following directly on from Tintin in the Congo (see Adventures of Tintin vol 1, ISBN 13: 978-1-4052-2894-7) the valiant boy reporter heads for Chicago to sort out the gangster Al Capone, whose diamond smuggling enterprise he had scotched in Africa. But Capone and his hoods are ready and waiting…

Thwarting the plots and schemes of the legendary gangster make for thrilling, uproarious reading, full of chases, fights and hairsbreadth escapes, but events take a darker turn – and broad diversion – once Capone’s biggest rival Bobby Smiles enters the picture. Head of the Gangsters Syndicate of Chicago, Smiles first tries to buy Tintin off, and when he is furiously rebuffed, tries repeatedly to have him killed.

Setting a trap with the police, Tintin smashes the GSC and chases Smiles out west to Redskin City, only to fall foul of a tribe of Indians the mobster has hoodwinked into attacking the indomitable lad. Hergé had a life-long fascination with the American West, and it featured in many of his works (‘Tim the Squirrel’ and ‘Popol Out West’, for example). It’s also clear that he watched a lot of movies, as the signature Western set-pieces are all featured in a thrilling pursuit involving a railroad chase, dynamite sabotage, a prairie wildfire and even tying our heroes to the tracks before Tintin and Snowy finally capture the desperate thug.

Returning to the city Tintin is once more the target of the remaining criminal gangs but they prove no match for his resourceful ingenuity, and he leaves America a better, cleaner place.

With this somewhat long and rambling series of exploits; still not quite a cohesive narrative, Hergé begins to pepper the instalments with sly, dry social commentary, beginning the process of sophisticating the stories, and adding satire to the slapstick – an acknowledgement that adults too, were devout fans and followers of the strip. The comedy of such moments as the rush of speculators when oil is found on the Indian Reservation, or the inept way in which cowboys try to lynch Tintin and Snowy (is that PC these days? – still, it is awfully funny), is graphically interesting but surely aimed at a more worldly and cynical consumer.

Cigars of the Pharaoh (which ran from 1932-1934) is stylistically much more of a designed thriller, with a solid plot underpinning the episodic hi-jinks. Tintin and Snowy meet the first in a string of absent-minded professors (which would culminate in the outlandish but lovable Cuthbert Calculus) Sophocles Sarcophagus whilst on a ship to Egypt. This archaeologist has divined an ancient mystery that is somehow connected to a ring of ruthless drug smugglers. Tintin first encounters the detectives Thompson and Thomson here, when narcotics are planted in his cabin, and a complex drama unfolds as the lad and Professor Sarcophagus discover a lost pyramid is not only the smuggler’s base but the foundation for a much darker game – the overthrow of nations!

Hergé introduced many other recurring and supporting characters in this tale. As well as the Detectives, there was the villainous seaman Captain Allan, the trader Oliveira da Figueira and the Movie Mogul Roberto Rastapopoulos, who would all return in later stories. He was gearing up for the long creative haul, and also began inserting plot-seeds that would only flower in future projects.

When Tintin’s investigations take him to India, where the villains are attempting to topple a Maharajah trying to destroy the Opium poppy industry, he befriends the potentate and thwarts the plan of a crazed Fakir. This villain uses a drug called Rajaijah, which drives men mad forever, and is connected to the Egyptian gang.

The contemporary version of this tale was revised by Hergé in 1955, and sharp-eyed fans will spot a few seeming anachronisms, but the more open-minded will be able to unashamedly wallow in a timeless comedy-thriller of exotic intrigue and breakneck action. Although the mystery of the Cigars of the Pharaoh ends satisfactorily with a climactic duel in the rugged and picturesque hill-country, the threat and relevance of Rajaijah would not be resolved until Hergé’s next tale, and his first masterpiece.

The final album collected in this delightful little re-compilation is The Blue Lotus (which was serialised from 1934-1935): A tale of immense power as well as exuberance, and a marked advance on what has gone before. Set in a China that was under colonial assault by Imperial Japan, it is imbued with deep emotion and informed by the honest sentiment of a creator unable to divorce his personal feeling from his work.

Set amidst ongoing incursions into China by the Japanese during the period of colonial adventurism that led to the Pacific component of World War II, readers would see Tintin embroiled in a deep, dark plot that was directly informed by the headlines of the selfsame newspapers that carried the adventures of the intrepid boy reporter.

Whilst staying with the Maharajah of Gaipajama, Tintin intercepts a mysterious radio message just before a visit by a secretive oriental from Shanghai. This gentleman is attacked with Rajaijah, before he can introduce himself or explain his mission, so the lad sets off for China to solve the mystery.

At the conclusion of Cigars the creator stated that Tintin would go to China next, and he was promptly approached by Father Gosset of the University of Leuven, who begged him to avoid the obvious stereotyping when dealing with the East, and who introduced him to a Chinese art-student named Chang Chong-chen (or Chong-jen or possibly Chongren). They became great friends and Chang taught Hergé much of the history and culture of one of the greatest civilisations in history. This friendship also changed the shape and direction of all Hergé’s later work. The unthinking Colonial superiority of the white man was no longer a casual given, and the artist would devote much of his life to correcting those unthinking stereotypes that populated his earlier work.

Chang advised Hergé on Chinese art and infamously lettered the signs and slogans on the walls, shops and backgrounds in the artwork. He also impressed the artist so much that he was written into the tale as the plucky, heroic street urchin Chang, and would eventually return in Tintin in Tibet.

As Tintin delves into the enigma he finds a web of deception and criminality that includes gangsters, military bullies, Japanese Agent-provocateurs, and corrupt British policemen. He also took an artistic swing at the posturing, smugly superior Westerners that contributed to the war simply by turning a blind-eye, even when they weren’t actively profiting from the conflict.

As Tintin foils plot after plot to destroy him and crush any Chinese resistance he finds himself getting closer to the criminal mastermind in league with the Japanese, and we see a valiant, indomitable nation fighting oppression in a way that would typify the Resistance Movements of Nazi-occupied Europe a decade later, with individual acts of heroism and sacrifice tellingly mixed with the high-speed action and deft comedy strokes.

An altogether darker and oppressive tale of high stakes, the villains in this epic of drug-running and insidious invasion are truly fearsome and despicable, and the tradition of Chinese wisdom honestly honoured. After all, it is the kidnapped Professor Fang Hsi-ying who finally finds a cure for Rajaijah – once rescued by Tintin, Snowy and Chang. But despite the overwhelmingly powerful subtext that elevates this story, it must be remembered that this is also a brilliant, frantic rollercoaster of fun.

It’s hard to imagine that comics as marvellous as these still haven’t found their way onto everybody’s bookshelf, but if you are one of this underprivileged underclass, this lush series of hardback collections is a very satisfying way of rectifying that sorry situation. So why haven’t you..?

Tintin in America: artwork © 1945, 1973 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1978 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Cigars of the Pharaoh: artwork © 1955, 1983 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1971 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.
The Blue Lotus: artwork © 1946, 1974 Editions Casterman, Paris & Tournai.
Text © 1983 Egmont UK Limited. All Rights Reserved.