Tintin times three

 

(Sorry for the delayed post — had no electricity for over 24 hours due to that last storm!)

This weekend was my first free weekend in a long, long while, and it was spent vegging out, bargain book hunting, and watching more episodes of The Big Bang Theory (as well as Bounty Hunter and I Hate Valentine’s Day). I wasn’t in the mood for heavy-duty reading, but I did manage to squeeze in the three Tintin comics I bought (20% off!) during Free Comic Book Day: The Seven Crystal Balls, Land of Black Gold, and Tintin and the Picaros.

The Seven Crystal Balls is the first volume of a two-part adventure (concluding in Prisoners of the Sun) that begins with news about an archaeology expedition that uncovered the Inca mummy of Rascar Capac. A mysterious malady appears to be striking the members of the expedition one by one, as they all appear to have fallen into a deep sleep, and the only clue to their condition are crystal shards found near the sleeping victims. The victims appear to sleep peacefully until a certain point of the day when they go into a frenzied trance, until they fall back asleep.

The last remaining conscious member of the expedition is Professor Hercules Tarragon (French: Hippolyte Bergamotte), who happens to be a friend of Professor Calculus. Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Calculus pay a visit to Prof. Tarragon, who is in possession of the mummy. Shortly after they get there, they are attacked by a ball of light, the mummy goes missing, and by the next morning, Prof. Tarragon is unconscious, and Prof. Calculus is kidnapped!

The clues lead them to a shipyard, where Tintin runs into General Alcazar (earlier in the book he is seen in a knife-throwing attraction at the Hippodrome), who reveals that his  sideshow partner Chiquito (conveniently gone missing) is one of the last descendants of the Incas.

The book ends with Tintin and Captain Haddock flying to Peru to get to the bottom of the mystery, which wraps up in Prisoners of the Sun.

It’s more expository than anything else, as most of the action happens in the second book, but  it’s full of Captain Haddock gags and cute Snowy moments, like this one:

 

Haddock freaks out after some Calculus hallucinations brought on by the whisky so he throws the bottle out.
Tintin is scolding a naughty Snowy, who has already caused much havoc chasing after a Persian cat.
Snowy spots the tub of water in which the whisky has fallen and inadvertently gets his happy hour.

 

In Land of Black Gold, Tintin is in the Middle East investigating some tainted gasoline that causes explosions, not knowing he is stumbling onto a conspiracy pushing the world on the brink of war. Tintin is abducted by the men of a rebel sheikh who mistakes him for a gun courier (there is apparently a plotline involving a Tintin doppelganger that did not make it to this edition of the book), and is later abandoned in the desert.

Tintin comes upon a group of bandits sabotaging an oil pipeline, and comes upon an old nemesis: Dr. Muller (from The Black Island) who knocks Tintin on the head and then escapes. Luckily Tintin runs into Thomson and Thompson (going around in circles in the desert — hilarious!) in a sandstorm and they make their way to the city.

Tintin meets Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, whom Muller (in the guise of an archaeologist) is trying to pressure into selling oil to competitors. Muller also  kidnaps the emir’s rascal son Abdullah.

Tintin must get Abdullah back and stop Muller from his dastardly plans to cause an oil war.

I love the introduction of Abdullah in this book, and the reappearance of characters such as Bianca Castafiore (who is also in The Seven Crystal Balls, by the way — she’s in a lot of Tintin books outside of her starring role in  The Castafiore Emerald); the Portuguese seller Oliveira da Figueira (from Red Sea Sharks, and doesn’t that name translate to ‘olive oil’?) and the sheikh from Cigars of the Pharaoh.

Other highlights of the book for me were Captain Haddock’s appearance towards the end of the book (some sort of secret mission), Thomson and Thompson’s strange aspirin, and of course, Abdullah driving everyone crazy, even Tintin! I couldn’t stop laughing when Abdullah started calling Haddock “Blistering Barnacles!”

 

Thomson and Thompson exhibit, erm, side effects from taking some strange aspirin.

 

Meanwhile, in Tintin and the Picaros (the last completed Tintin adventure, also the one where Tintin starts wearing pants instead of the usual plus-fours), Bianca Castafiore and her entourage, and Thomson and Thompson are all arrested for espionage in San Theodoros, where the capital (now named “Tapiocapolis”) is currently ruled by General Alcazar’s nemesis General Tapioca.

Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus are accused as conspirators and are challenged to come to San Theodoros to explain themselves. Tintin thinks it’s a trap but Haddock and Calculus fly to San Theodoros anyway, where they are (as Tintin suspects) kept under lock and key (an elaborate scheme for revenge evenge cooked up by the Bordurian Colonel Sponsz) until Tintin joins them. They escape by joining Alcazar and the Picaros, who are planning an uprising against Tapioca’s rule.

The fly in the ointment for Alcazar is Tapioca’s steady supply of Loch Lomond whisky, dropped off by choppers in crates in the Picaros jungle hideaway, which keeps his ragtag band of rebels perpetually intoxicated. Calculus solves this problem with a special formula he has secretly been testing on Captain Haddock (which explains his peculiar, long-running distaste for alcohol).

Aside from Castafiore and entourage (Irma and Wagner), Alcazar, Tapioca and Sponsz, Pablo and Ridgewell (from The Broken Ear), and the salesman Jolyon Wagg also make an appearance in this book. We also meet Alcazar’s wife, the cantankerous Peggy, who has Alcazar wrapped around her little finger.

Plot-wise, I enjoyed this the most of the three comics, as it is fast-paced and action-packed, with a lot of funny scenes. I also loved this parade scene with little  comic cameos:

 

Can you spot Mickey Mouse and Asterix?

 

Tintin comics are always a pleasure to read. I’m missing a few more Tintin books in my collection; hopefully I complete my magazine set by next year.

***

Magazine-style (paperback) The Seven Crystal Balls (3.5/5); Land of Black Gold (4/5); Tintin and the Picaros (5/5 stars)

Books #82-84 for 2010

[amazonify]::omakase::300:250[/amazonify]

 

8 thoughts on “Tintin times three”

  1. Haha I had to go upstairs and check:

    Land of the Soviets
    Crab with the Golden Claws
    Shooting Star
    Explorers on the Moon
    Tintin in Tibet
    Tintin and the Alph-Art
    Tintin in the Congo (apparently pulled out due to racism)

  2. OK, thanks. I’m never sure of what you don’t have yet, but I’m sure I’ve seen some of those titles already.

    Gaaaah, every time I comment on your blog, it still links to my LiveJournal, not my more appropriate WordPress blog!

  3. My son has always loved Tin Tin; but I don’t think I have gotten him any new ones this past year or two. Now I know what to surprise him with on his birthday. Thanks for reminding me. :)

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