Any fans of Tintin here?

[Dmitry]

Growing up behind the Iron Curtain I'd only heard of Tintin [no wonder - the first book was about Tintin in the Land of the Soviets]. Recently I saw an interesting tv documentary on Herge, the creator of Tintin and now I'm interested in purchasing Tintin books in English.

I am positive that a whacky collection of individuals here contains some Tinitin fans who could steer me the right way. Which Tintin book would you recommend to start me off?

[Kalo]

Great Question. I'm sure there'll be at least a few folks on the board with opinions about this.

When I was a kid, my favorite was King Ottokar's Sceptre.

Herge's own favorite and most personal work was Tintin in Tibet.

The Castafiore Emerald is certainly the funniest, as well as the closest that comics have come to P.G. Wodehouse.

There were several two-album adventures. My favorite is Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun are an excellent duo as well, cited by some as a possible inspiration for the Indiana Jones flicks.

Honestly, start anywhere. If you dig comics you'll eventually acquire them all.

[brownie]

Required reading over here for anyone from 7 to 77!

I have not returned to the Tintins for a number of years (waiting to be past 77 to enjoy the adventures of this character).

Kalo already listed some of the best ones (personal favorites are the two Moon volumes!).

I also have fond memories of 'L'Ile Noire' (The Black Island) and 'L'Affaire Tournesol' (The Calculus Affair).

But watch out, this is a very addictive susbtance!

[Kalo]

The Calculus Affair is definitely a peak.

I agree with brownie: these are highly addictive. Gotta love that "clear line."

Time for another hit...

[tjobbe]

when I was a kid I got my first one "The seven crystal balls" and started to spent my pocket money to get the others one after the other until I finally had them all but someone gave them away when I was at university believing that being 25 and reading "Comics" might be not appropriate.....

I was able weanwhile to have "some" again aside other comic classics....

Cheers, Tjobbe

@Dmitry: start with the first of a two-fer...and you'll buy the next automatically The secret of the Unicorn might be a good start as getting introduced into the characters and if you like it.. the Rackham the Red wil follow as part 2 of the story.

Edited July 29, 2006 by tjobbe

[tjobbe]

you know that official Tintin website...

Cheers, Tjobbe

[couw]

The Soviet album was only reprinted as a collector's item somewhen in the 70s. It is a bit amateurish, but a fun read if you like slapstick. There is little of the real Tintin magic in there though. Similarly the first three books of the colour series (Congo, America, Cigars) were originally published as weekly two page spreads that were usually thought up the night before deadline. So it's all a bit erratic. Only with the Blue Lotus album you get a preconceived storyline.

The Blue Lotus marks the transition from the first phase of books where Tintin the reporter just goes somewhere and has some adventures to the second phase where something mysterious happens at home and he goes out to investigate. Very good storytelling here if at times a bit straightahead.

That changes with The Secret of the Unicorn, which marks the start of the third phase that culminates in the Calculus Affair. The Unicorn is a fantastic book that has three parallel story lines that combine as one. The story about his ancestor told by Captain Haddock is a tour de force of the classic comic book, fading the borders between story teller and the story told. The second volume of this story, Rackham's Treasure hilariously introduces Professor Calculus, the cast is now complete. More fantastic story telling in the Seven Crystal Balls which is permeated by a hot broody summer evening atmosphere. Actually, the Unicorn and the Seven Crystal Balls are much better than their respective second volumes (Rackham's Treasure and Prisoners of the Sun) that only wrap it all up in a fairly straightahead way. Still all very good though.

The Black Gold is an odd duck that was started before the war, but finished only in 1950. So originally it would fit between Ottokar's Sceptre and the Crab with the Golden Claws. The Crab as well as the Shooting Star are a bit of a relapse or a developmental stand still. Rather simplistic stories that draw a straight line from start to finish. At least you get a great cast with both (Crab introduces Captain Haddock and Star has a great group of funny scientists).

Maybe Hergé was inspired by the Black Gold to make The Calculus Affair. He did the Moon saga in between, but then returned to the spy thriller stories to produce what many consider his best. This one is a fast one. Lots of running, tripping, flying, lots of following and hiding and lots of noise and explosions. Classic stuff with superb pacing. This is required reading for sure.

So the stage is set for the final phase, which is a return to the basics and an investigation of these basics and the medium itself. So you get Red Sea Sharks which is pure theatre with a surplus of characters available and just letting them get onto the stage and do their thing and see what happens. Great stuff.

Tibet was done when Hergé fell into a deep depression and instead of the characters tripping over each other like in the previous volume, there are only four main characters in this book: Tintin, his friend Chang, Haddock and Snowy. A very beautiful hommage to friendship, Haddock steals the show here.

The Castafiore Emerald is simply the best there is. It's a spoof of the Tintin series itself. Actually nothing happens in the book but still everyone is continually excited. As a reader you expect the thing to take off and the adventure to start at every turn of the page, but it doesn't happen. There are lots of false tracks which fool the characters as much as they fool the reader. Lots of hidden clues. Great, great, great book.

Where the Castafiore Emerald deals with the reader and expectation patterns, Flight 714 deals with the crooks of the series. A nice cast of characters is (re-)introduced and the line between good guy and bad guy isn't all that clear anymore. The classic bad guys are deconstructed, the bad guy with the colgate smile loses his teeth, the bad guy with the big nose is compared to an ape. The bad guys give off a real sorry picture in this album.

So after the reader and the bad guys, it's time for the good guys to get a spanking and we get The Picaros. The main ingredient here is that actually Tintin doesn't want to get on an adventure. Huh? The good guys are not really participating in the story. They are playballs of larger things surrounding them. The story draws them their limits. Some hate it for that, I think it's sublime.

Actually, the final story left on the drawing board when Hergé died would have dealt with the medium itself and ask the question whether it's art or just a farce.

Now my advice would be to leave the books of the first phase for what they are and start off either with some of the second or third phase. My favourites would be the Broken Ear or Ottokar's Sceptre from the second phase and The Unicorn or Calculus Affair from the third. The best stuff is in the fourth phase, but you'd need some backpacking to appreciate it. Once you start reading, you'll want to read it all anyhow, so your backpack will be filled in no time.

Enjoy!

[jazzbo]

Gosh it's been a long time since I read any of these great stories. . .I've put comics aside and have really only kept reprints of early Marvel, a complete Dr. Strange up through the stupid full-face costume Colan issues, and my Spirit collection.

From memory I think John's (couw's) plan is a good one to follow.

[.:.impossible]

I never did read the books, but remember the HBO series well. My brother and I used to watch this as kids.

[Nate Dorward]

The 8-yr-old here has methodically worked through all the Tintin books. She tells me she likes The Seven Crystal Balls + The Prisoners of the Sun best.

I devoured them as a kid. Nowadays, though I get a nostalgic blast out of them, I find the endless pratfall humour a bit much. But they're still great just to look at--that distinctive visual style.

[BruceH]

***What Kalo said.***

When I was in first grade, our weekly reader ran the entire Tintin in Tibet story in three parts. I became a confirmed Tintin fan, and that was my favorite for years. Still is in the top five for me. There's something about his drawing style and panel layouts that is pure visual crack for me. Add in the characters and globe-trotting stories and you're in graphic-novel heaven. Indeed, start anywhere. I also dig those newer, smaller, three-story reprint books.

Edited July 29, 2006 by BruceH

[BruceH]

BTW, Snowy has got to be considered a comic-book version of "Asta," the dog in the Thin Man movies. Or Asta a cinematic version of Snowy. Except that you get to see what Snowy is thinking, of course.

[Peter Johnson]

Love, love, LOVE Tintin--they never get old for me (35 now). Like others, I got one from the library (Flight 714) when I was about 12, and quickly saved my allowance to purchase the rest. I now have several in foreign languages, and other Tintin acoutrements, but I'll always love the books, and if I ever have kids, they're getting a full dose!

Couw's plan is, indeed, a good one to follow.

[couw]

my teacher in Kindergarten had all the books and she would lend me one each week when I was about 5 or 6. I have been reading these books ever since, time to pull them out again! Years ago, before I wasted all my money on music, I used to spend it on comic books and I built up a nice Hergé collection. One day, I stumbled on a pile of Petit Vingtième volumes from the early 30s, all of them with Hergé covers and installments of Tintin and Quick & Flupke; so I emptied my piggybank then and I have some of them adorning my walls these days.

good stuff.

[BruceH]

Nice teacher!

My younger kid got really into Tintin and read all of my books. The nice thing is he didn't need any encouragement from me, he just liked them on first sight.

[couw]

Bruce, get the kid some Spirou (by Franquin) and add some Lucky Luke (by Morris). You can read them yourself as well.

Besides that I'd advise you to get some Quick & Flupke for yourself. I wonder if they ever put out the B&W collection in english. That's how it's supposed to be read. The colour editions are often redrawn and have lost quite a bit of their original charm. Tintin was Hergé's job, he drew Quick & Flupke for fun. And that shows. In its own yurpean way, this reaches the same levels as Herriman's Krazy Kat slapstick.

[Dmitry]

Thanks everybody for your enthusiastic replies and advice. I just purchased the 1st. volume of 3 stories [7 volumes in total] of Tintin's adventures.

Book contains-

TINTIN IN AMERICA

THE CIGARS OF THE PHARAOH

THE BLUE LOTUS

Haven't opened it yet, as I have another book to finish, but tomorrow I'm planning to join Tintin on his adventures.

[DatDere]

I've just re-read 'Tintin and the Castafiore Emerald', very enjoyable. I need to dig out some of my other Tintin books.

As a kid, I loved both volumes of the 'Moon' adventure a lot.

Edited July 30, 2006 by DatDere

[Jazzmoose]

I must confess that there are a few Tintin books on my shelf...

[Alexander]

I don't own any Tintin books (although I'd love to get some, both for me and for my daughter) but I did read a bunch of them when I was in high school. My friend Henry is a serious Tintin fan and he lent his books to me...

[couw]

I've just re-read 'Tintin and the Castafiore Emerald', very enjoyable. I need to dig out some of my other Tintin books.

pity that the little twist of the original french "Les Bijoux de la Castafiore", with a red and a green jewel adorning the cover instead of the two "O"'s, translates so bad. The book is permeated with the letter "O" being substituted ("Gounid, I mean Gounod!") as well as with the colours green (Verdi) and red (Rossi). The english title completely fails to address this little finesse and the Dutch only has one, green jewel on the cover. This is the only cover where Tintin looks at the reader, telling him to be quiet as the show is about to begin! Another nice wink from Hergé, who is playing with the expectations of the reader he created.

Edited July 30, 2006 by couw

[BruceH]

Bruce, get the kid some Spirou (by Franquin) and add some Lucky Luke (by Morris). You can read them yourself as well.

Besides that I'd advise you to get some Quick & Flupke for yourself. I wonder if they ever put out the B&W collection in english. That's how it's supposed to be read. The colour editions are often redrawn and have lost quite a bit of their original charm. Tintin was Hergé's job, he drew Quick & Flupke for fun. And that shows. In its own yurpean way, this reaches the same levels as Herriman's Krazy Kat slapstick.

Thanks couw, I'll have to look for these.

[couw]

Bruce, get the kid some Spirou (by Franquin) and add some Lucky Luke (by Morris). You can read them yourself as well.

Besides that I'd advise you to get some Quick & Flupke for yourself. I wonder if they ever put out the B&W collection in english. That's how it's supposed to be read. The colour editions are often redrawn and have lost quite a bit of their original charm. Tintin was Hergé's job, he drew Quick & Flupke for fun. And that shows. In its own yurpean way, this reaches the same levels as Herriman's Krazy Kat slapstick.

Thanks couw, I'll have to look for these.

best place to start would be "Spirou and the Heirs", drawn by Franquin and introducing the Marsupilami. Franquin is a master beyond every single one of them, I can still look at single panels for hours on end. Seriously, no one reaches the same level of graphic control over the single stray brush. Besides Hergé, Franquin is the other GREAT one to establish himself when the time was right in the 50s and the euro comic book culture grew and spread from Belgium and France. His is "the other Belgian school".

From the same school: The Lucky Luke stuff is all drawn by Morris and it's all good. This is bound to be fun: Western stories with recognisable american film actors drawn and written in Belgium.

Also and of course (from France this time): Astérix by Goscinny and Uderzo. Avoid the later stuff by Uderzo alone, he is not a good story teller (he only did three or four albums out of at least 30 total, so you're relatively safe). The Goscinny stories are hilarious. At times the humour may be too french, but you pick up on some Latin for that, so ey.

[DatDere]

Besides Hergé, Franquin is the other GREAT one to establish himself when the time was right in the 50s and the euro comic book culture grew and spread from Belgium and France. His is "the other Belgian school".

I also like Franquin's "Gaston Lagaffe" (Guust Flater) comics a lot. I don't know if these exist in English translations, but it is one of my favorites.

[couw]

Besides Hergé, Franquin is the other GREAT one to establish himself when the time was right in the 50s and the euro comic book culture grew and spread from Belgium and France. His is "the other Belgian school".

I also like Franquin's "Gaston Lagaffe" (Guust Flater) comics a lot. I don't know if these exist in English translations, but it is one of my favorites.

I guess this humour is too specific to go very far. Gaston didn't make it beyond Belgium and the Netherlands and already the French market was small, just like the German market. According to Wikipedia: "The series is very popular in large parts of Europe, but except for a translation of a few pages by Fantagraphics in the early 90's, there is no English translation. In this translation, he was called Gomer Goof."

Gaston, to Franquin, is sort of like Quick & Flupke to Hergé: lots of stuff to draw as a job, but this one is just for fun. There are a lot of similarities in the slapstickiness, also with a lot of the fun based on familiarity with the characters. Once you get inside of it, it is the best there is.

Especially with Franquin doing the drawing. The guy draws soooo many lines and all of them are da shit. Besides being amazed by the raw stuff of the Gaston books, I can only marvel at the "cleanliness" of the Spirou volumes. The guy had an incredible knack for leaving out the stuff that could be left out, just like Hergé really.