Tintin & The Crab with the Golden Claws by Herge

Title: The Crab with the Golden Claws
Author: Herge
ISBN: 9780316358330
Publisher: Little, Brown Books/1974
Pages: 62

The Crab with the Golden Claws introduces us to one of our all time favorite characters: Captain Haddock. A bumbling drunken wretch, he enderas himself to us right from the beginning and stays through all the Tintin Albums.

The plot is great too what with drug smuggling rings in north Africa. These really present Tintin with so many challenges, and TIntin gets out of all those with his usual aplomb!

Tintin and The Shooting Star by Herge

Title: Tintin and The Shooting Star
Author: Herge
ISBN:978-1405206211
Publisher: Litle, Brown Books/1984
Pages: 62

The Shooting Star tells the story of Tintin's voyage to the Arctic Ocean to recover a meteor that is composed of Phostlite, an unknown metal.

Walking home one night, Tintin sees a large star in the sky, a star that hadn't been there before. The astronomers have spotted it too, and predict that it will collide with the Earth and that would be the end of it.. The meteor causes an earthquake on impact but nothing else. The astronomers believe the meteorite is made of a mysterious new metal, and decide to make a trip by boat, led by Captain Haddock, to the Arctic Ocean to investigate. An oil company from Sao Rico has also decided to visit the meteor, to take the new metal for themselves. It becomes a race filled with sabotage and seasickness. Tintin and the astronomers have to beat them, no matter what.

It has got a few elements of sci-fi to it and a dream sequence. And It is always a pleasure to read about Captain Haddock. Another good Tintin album.

Teaser Tuesdays: Tintin & The Secret of the Unicorn by Herge

TItle: Tintin & The Secret of the Unicorn
Author: Herge
ISBN: 978-0316358323
Publisher: Little, Brown Books/1974
Pages: 62

Tintin buys a boat model of an old ship for Captain Haddock, but soon after, two man try to buy it off him. The first is a Mr. Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, and the second is, Barnaby. Sakharine calls on Tintin at his flat, seeking to convince him to sell his ship, and leaves his card. Sometime later,the mainmast of the model ship gets broken, thanks to Snowy, and Tintin repairs it.

When the Captain visits Tintin, he sees the ship and reacts with astonishment. Haddock takes Tintin back to his apartment and shows him a portrait of one of his ancestors, Sir Francis Haddock, the captain of a 17th century naval vessel. In its background is the very same ship, called "the Unicorn". When Tintin and the Captain return to Tintin's flat, they find that the model boat has been stolen. Tintin visits Sakharine, accusing him of having stolen it and discovers an identical ship in Sakharine's collection, but it is a different one, as the mast has not been broken. This ship too carries the letters "Unicorn" on the back. When Tintin returns home, he finds that his flat has been ransacked, and while cleaning up he finds a mysterious parchment. He realizes that it must have been hidden within the mainmast broken by Snowy, and subsequently rolled out onto the floor. He guesses that the parchement holds the clue to finding treasure and rushes back to the Captain's flat.

The boat model which was stolen is just one of three constructed by Sir Francis for his three sons. Each one holds a parchment which, when placed together, will give the treasure's location. Tintin and Haddock then visit Mr. Sakharine, hoping to examine the parchment in his model, but find him unconscious in his apartment and the parchment taken from the model. Sakharine's description of his attacker matches Barnaby.

Tintin is later kidnapped by the perpetrators of the shooting, by two unscrupulous antique dealers who believe that he possesses the parchments. They are behind the theft of Tintin's model, having discovered the third parchment and have figured out that they needed all three to decode the clue to the treasure's location.

Tintin later escapes. Captain Haddock and Thompson and Thomson arrive to help their friend and they capture one of the kidnappers. As their prisoner confesses, which ultimately enables them to capture the fugitive at the national border. This was one of the favourite albums of Herge too. Very adventurous, hilarious and rollicking fun! Go for it!

Tintin and The Broken Ear by Hergé

I have re-read 8 Tintins and have been slacking in posting reviews. Here is another one. I still have 14 Tintin Albums to re-read and of course a lot reviews pending.


Title: Tintin and The Broken Ear
Author: Hergé

The Broken Ear 1937, is set in a fictional part of South America. A wooden "Arumbaya" statue with a broken ear is stolen from Tintin's local museum, replaced with a fake, while a man who had made the fake is killed. Tintin is compelled to investigate, and he and his dog Snowy end up travelling to South America to solve that mystery. Things aren't too well down there, revolutions and counter-revolutions leave things politically confusing, and even the citizens aren't really sure who they're supposed to be following. The fact that foreign companies are encouraging war for their own profit doesn't help either.

Once Tintin gets to South America, there is a fair bit of satire infused into the plot. The made-up nation of San Theodoros is in constant civil war and revolution. The General would rather play chess than lead his people, and thanks to his personal promotions, has more colonels than corporals in his army. Tintin too is made a colonel! The instability is taken adventage of by western oil companies and weapons merchants, who persuade the General to go to war against his neighbour for their own gain. This satire is just as relevant today.

It's a pretty engaging adventure, and a must read for Tintin fans!

Tintin and The Blue Lotus by Herge

The Blue Lotus,1936, is a sequel to Cigars of the Pharaoh, where Tintin continues with his struggle against a major gang of drug smugglers. The title, Blue Lotus, is an opium den.

In those times, Japanese troops were occupying parts of the Chinese mainland. Shanghai was a trading base in China for Western nations i.e., British and Americans. Hergé based his narrative upon the events of the time, which includes the blowing-up of the South Manchurian railway.

The Blue Lotus was the most important album in the sense that it depicted Tin Tin the way we know him now. In a way, it sets the mood of the subsequent albums.

Here in this album, the intrigue with the smugglers takes Tintin, from India to Shanghai where his life is constantly in danger as the smugglers try to stop him from finding a cure for their secret poison of madness.

Tintin's friendly adversaries, the twin Thompson brothers, detectives, make their appearance in this album and there is a very humorous scene where they disguise themselves as Chinese in pre-reform costumes and become the centre of attention. Wang and young Chang, two remarkably clever and resourceful allies, along with Tintin can overcome anything.

This album depicts the world between the two wars. The adventures are well crafted and the colour illustrations are sumptuous in detail. Shanghai marvelously comes to life in this book with its opium dens, busy streets, and tea shops. All this, considering that Herge had not visited Shanghai at that point of time. He went there much later.

Tintin & Cigars of the Pharoah by Hergé

How about this as a teaser?!

~Tintin, Prof. Sarcophagus & the Fakir


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title: Tintin & Cigars of the Pharoah
Author: Hergé
ISBN: ISBN 1-4052-0615-2
Publisher: Methuen/1971
Pages: 62

In this album, Tintin and his dog Snowy are on a holiday cruise where they meet an absent-minded professor Sarcphagus, a movie producer Rastapolous, and the twin Thompson brothers detectives. Tintin is arrested by the Thompsons (introduced in this album) because someone plants heroin in his room. He manages to jump ship and runs into the professor in the jungle.

He agrees to help the professor who wishes to find a hidden Egyptian tomb. When they do find the tomb, it is full of mummified archaeologists and cases of curiously labeled cigars. Both they are drugged, captured and put on a ship.

A series of escapes and captures keeps the story moving with Tintin running into the professor, the Thompsons, and the movie producer, while trying to escape from an international gang of smugglers and making his way from Egypt, Arabia to India, where we meet a Maharaja and many fakirs. (Despite being an Indian I am yet to meet any!). And of course, Tintin along with Snowy solves the mystery of Cigars of the Pharaoh.

As usual, the album doesn't disappoint and I had rollicking fun re-reading it for the nth time!

Tintin in America by Hergé

Title: Tin in America
Author: Hergé
ISBN: ISBN 1-4052-0614-4
Publisher: Methuen/1978
Pages: 62
Series: The Adventures of Tin
Genre: Graphic Novels

It was first published in 1931 in French and translated into English in 1962. Being third in the series of Tintin comics, it shows the 1930s America with gangsters and all. The streets of Chicago are ruled by gangsters. The onus lies on our journalist Tintin and his dog Snowy to take care of Al Capone , Mr Smiles and other gangsters, taking him from Chicago to the Wild West where he meets Indians and Cowboys. He is almost lynched, his dog kidnapped but somehow is saved in the nick of the time.

It might be considered racist by some but considering the times (1931), it sure makes sense. The suspense, mystery, action are all there and Tintin fans would love this book, even though it is not one of the best Tintin books. The illustrations do not disappoint and that is what any comic book lover desires irrespective of political statements.

As a die-hard Tintin fan, I am currently re-reading the series and in no particular order. As all books do stand alone. If you haven't read it, then I say, go for it. Start with the later books and come back to it.