Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5
Enjoyability: 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 5 contains three stories, and they're among the most memorable Tintin stories, though not, perhaps, as exciting as some of Herge's earlier work. I've said before that Herge seemed to have a great appreciation for cultural distinctiveness, and this shows through strongly in the first story "Land of Black Gold," where Tintin travels to the middle east, trying to figure out what's causing the gasoline supply to explode from -inside- the gas tanks of various cars. There's a familiar villain, a silly chemical with bizarre effects, and a young, bratty prince to rescue. The prince, oddly, may be my favorite part of the story, because he's a very good demonstration of what happens when you never tell a child "no."
The second story is "Destination Moon," in which Tintin's friend, Professor Calculus, has made some new technological advances, which, he believes, will give him the power to launch a rocket all the way to the moon. There are, of course, complications involved in getting the rocket set up and launched, and an unnamed foreign power keeps trying to seize control of it. Plus, they don't actually get to the moon in this book. That honor is reserved for story three.
"Explorers on the Moon" is a moon rocket adventure, in which Tintin and his friends are on the way to the moon, but quickly discover stowaways, meaning that their air supply is more restrictive than they'd planned for. Furthermore, someone onboard the ship is out for revenge against Tintin.
On the whole, I'd say that the second and third books might as well be grouped together, since they're two halves of the same story (preparing a rocket/using the rocket.) By necessity, of course, Tintin doesn't need to face nearly as many human opponents in these issues, and the ones he does face often don't make much sense, in terms of their motives. One wonders, for example, why a revenge-obsessed thug would follow Tintin to the moon, as opposed to just trying to bludgeon him while he was on Earth. Still, they're enjoyable stories, in spite of the questions they raise.
I really enjoyed the moon stories when I was younger, and I still do, but having read them over again, I have to say that I think "black gold" is my favorite of the three, if only because it stuck closest to the classic Tintin formula, and let's be honest here; it's a formula that worked.
Still, all three stories were very enjoyable. I never felt the characters were used badly, and I never felt uncomfortable reading them, which is more than can be said for most American comics these days.
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