Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5
Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5
Tintin is one of the finest comic series that I ever had the pleasure of reading as a boy, and not long ago, a seven-volume set was published, collecting the best and most memorable works about Tintin, though a few were left out (either because of overall poor quality art and controversy, such as the first two Tintin books,) or the last books, due to not being published in the lifetime of their author, and most likely not being entirely written by him either. If you've got the books in this collection, you've got the cream of the crop, and the best that Tintin has to offer.
The collection is hardcover, and faithfully reprints the various Tintin works in their original, full-color form, although the book itself is smaller that the original printings, meaning that at times, the text is a bit difficult to read, due to the reduction in size that everything took in the transition. It would, I think, be very hard for children to enjoy this collection, but as a budget choice for adults who want to re-experience their favorite childhood stories, it's good option overall.
Volume 6 contains three stories, and unfortunately, they're not the best of the lot, though none is horrible. The first; "the Calculus Affair," is easily the best. Professor Calculus is abducted by international agents after he makes a few breakthroughs in the use of sound as a weapon, and Tintin, Captain Haddock and Snowy go off in pursuit. Adventures and hijinks ensue, and a good time is had by all.
The second story; the Red Sea Sharks, is probably the worst story in the volume, for a couple of reasons. First is its treatment of the black passengers on the freighter "the Ramona." They speak very limited english, and sound very much like the Indians from Peter Pan, or like Bizarro Superman in terms of the way they talk. I suspect that this is just because Herge himself (or the translators, perhaps,) didn't know how real people would talk if they had a limited knowledge of the language that Tintin speaks (French in the original publications,) but it does come off as kind of corny. Because of this, they also fail to understand the Captain's initial warnings to them, and seem a bit dim, as a result. Still, this part could have been a great deal worse, since they -do- try to defend themselves when they feel they're being attacked, and one of them saves Captain Haddock from the knife of a slave-trader. Tintin, in turn, saves many of them from being sold as slaves, and eventually exposes the slavery ring responsible for the travesty. It's a bit uncomfortable to read, but not nearly as bad as it could be.
The second problem with this story is all the guest-stars from previous books. Alcazar, Abdullah, Castafiore, Allan, etc, etc... There's a point at which the fun of seeing a familiar face becomes more of a sales hook for the previous books than an integral part of the story. Allan's role in particular was unnecessary, and could have been played by any generic sea captain in the region. Too often, in this one, I just didn't feel that the guest stars added anything to the story.
The final story really only had one problem, that I can see; its continual reliance on dreams/visions to drive the plot. Tintin is alerted to the fact that his friend is alive, and in danger by a dream, and later on, a Tibetan monk experiences multiple visions that assist Tintin in his quest, complete with spontaneous levitation and everything. It got annoying to me.
In every other respect, the third story is positively magnificent; another tale of Tintin repeatedly putting his life on the line to save his friend, and really, isn't that where all the best stories come from? Tintin's friend Chang is a Chinese boy who crash-lands in a plane, and everyone is sure he's dead; except for Tintin himself, so off we go on more adventures!
Though I enjoyed these stories as a kid, I found myself enjoying them even more as an adult. Tintin's world is a refreshing one, in which American cultural imperialism hasn't yet crushed the individuality of independent national identities, and in which each nation has its own unique style and culture. I find this to be one of the most appealing aspects of the books; their appreciation for international distinctiveness. Though I think that there should only be one -religion- in the world, I find the idea of -cultural- diversity very appealing, and apparently, so did Herge. I just wish that people would realize the grave threat that America and its mass media poses to that cultural diversity on a global scale.
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