The Shooting Star (Tintin)

By Georges Prosper Remi (Hergé)

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5

This was another of the Tintin books that I most enjoyed when I was younger, and for the same reasons I enjoy it now.  I liked the Phosilite, I liked the exploding mushrooms, the quick-growing apple tree, and the giant bugs.  It's curious and exciting, even if it makes very little sense.

Also, like all Tintin books, and especially the ones which contain human opponents, as this one does, I really enjoyed it, and thought it stayed true to the successful Tintin formula, while giving us the fun of an expedition to locate a newly-discovered mineral.

The premise is that a meteor crashes to Earth, and soon, an expedition is underway to discover it, and recover the odd, newly-discovered mineral, which it's made out of.  However, another ship, funded by a successful bank, is also looking for the meteor, and is ready to do whatever it takes to reach it first.

In the end, I suppose I didn't really enjoy this one as much as some of the other Tintin books, because there's not a whole lot of action on one end, and most of the book doesn't take place at the meteor on the other end.  I still enjoy it, and for largely the same reasons as when I was young; just not as much as some of Tintin's other adventures.

Tintin in America

By Georges Prosper Remi (Hergé)

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5

Tintin in America is the third Tintin book I ever read, and as a child, I really enjoyed it more than the others, and couldn't explain why.  In hindsight, I suppose it was because the book consists almost entirely of action, adventure, daring escapes and victories over people who seem, at first, to have the upper hand.

The story is that Tintin lands in Chicago, fully intending to clean the place up, and bust some crooks.  The crooks, for some reason, take him seriously, and Al Capone tries to have him killed.  Al Capone himself gets away, of course, (we have to leave something for Eliot Ness to do, after all,) but that's not the end of Tintin's adventures.  There are many more gangsters in Chicago who want to make him offers; his help or his head.

The rest of the book is a series of nonstop conflicts between Tintin and the gangsters.  Some throw traps in his way, and others try to attack him directly, but Tintin wins out against his opponents in the end, and major busts occur.  Ultimately, Tintin's visit in America ends rather abruptly, just as his last conflict with the gangsters does.

I still enjoy Tintin in America more than most of the other Tintin books, but now that I'm older and more savvy, my reasons are different.  I enjoy it because, as I see it, there are two major, positive sentiments behind it.

The first major positive sentiment is a love for Old America; the America in its infancy, and indeed, this is the primary thing that Tintin runs into in America.  Chicago gangsters, cowboys, indians, steam locomotives and being tied to railroad tracks, oil wells hidden deep underground, beautiful plains, and towering cityscapes.  Herge seems to have attempted to work in every piece of American culture that was widely-known at the time, to create a sort of "mythical" America, because I truly think that he wanted America to be a beautiful culture, which could be seen and enjoyed.  As unrealistic as this is, and as unhistorical as it may be to have all of these things in the same place and time period, I can appreciate the desire to write this kind of story, and in this way.

The second major positive sentiment is humor.  Let's be honest here; the humor in "Tintin in America" is so far over-the-top as to be absolutely absurd, and it's often the little things that clue you in.  Tintin, for example, coming to Chicago with the intent of "cleaning the place up," or a gangster walking into a building with a "speakeasy" sign outside of it, loudly proclaiming that it's a speakeasy, as much as the saloon doors that he enters through.  There's no way that this stuff wasn't intended to be humorous, just because of how blatantly-ludicrous it all is.  In fact, my own view is that "Tintin in America" was intended as something of a parody of American culture; to draw attention to the many cliches and silly elements in the popular American fictions of the time, not unlike Mystery Science Theater in its day.

However, although Herge seemed to want to paint a mythical, culturally-distinct picture of America, he was also somewhat realistic in his understanding of how much America had begun to distance itself from its cultural identity, and he shows this, when he has an entire section of a city pop up over a newly-discovered oil well, literally overnight.  I don't think streamlined, industrial business is what wiped out America's identity as a culture.  I think it was cultural suicide, motivated by the misguided desire not to "offend" others.  Still, I can sympathize with the desire to see America's soul return to something distinct from other nations again; something that can be enjoyed.

Unfortunately, Tintin does do some things in this book that are clearly wrong, such as ambushing someone from behind a corner (who turns out to be a policeman,) and stealing (and subsequently wrecking) a train, so I'm afraid I can't give it a perfect grade, no matter how much I enjoyed it.

The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 5

By Georges Prosper Remi (Hergé)

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.

The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 6

By Georges Prosper Remi (Hergé)

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.