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.

PS238 Volume 7; Daughters, Sons, & Shrink-Ray Guns

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first six volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this seventh volume as well.  It's an enjoyable comic, fun and positive; about superhero children who go to a school for superpowered beings.  The concept has been done before, but unlike other comics that have approached this (most notably several "X-men" books,) this book embraces the old-school silliness of the Silver Age, without the poor writing quality that tended to come along with it.  The stories are enchanting, entertaining and fun, and never depressing or angsty, like the aforementioned X-men books.  Characters develop and change, and stories never become too dark to be enjoyable, even when bad things do sometimes happen.  In short, it gets nearly everything right, avoids the major missteps that comic books have made over the course of comic book history, and produces quite possibly the finest series of superhero comics ever released in America.  All that, plus you can read it with kids.

Again these comics are all in black and white, and they're supposed to be that way.  Also, most of them can be found online as part of Aaron Williams' internet webcomic of the same name, though a few are only found in trade form.

Six issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 34, in which Julie and Tyler's clone go to a cookout with Suzie's family; the nuclear family.  The cookout is disrupted by both a dimensional portal, releasing some form of invading, crystalline aliens, and by the fake angels and fake demons who've been showing up over the last few volumes intermittently.  However, the ones inside the head of Tyler's clone have made the decision to free him from Tyler's control, and to do this, they'll need to grant him superpowers...

In issue 35, Tyler's clone, who comes to be known as Toby, is still wrestling with the implications of his new powers, as well as the two pesky supernatural beings who've taken up residence in his head.  Meanwhile, a plan is underway to use Julie's blood in an attempt to cure Tyler of the alien virus that may otherwise destroy the human race.

In issue 36, Malphast, realizing the horrible danger posed by the invading "angels" and "demons," recruits Tyler and Cecil Holmes to try to put a stop to it, but when their enemies take control of the minds of some of Earth's most powerful adult heroes, in an attempt to hunt them down, it looks as though they might be too late.  Even if they can survive the attacks of the heroes, how can they possibly stop these tiny enemies that no one else can see.

Issue 37 is a charming little issue in which the various characters write papers, complete with child-scrawl-like illustrations, on recent events in their lives.  It's cute, and it helps us get a window into what the kids have been thinking, planning and worrying about recently in the comic.

In issue 38, a soccer game between PS238 and the Praetorians.  At first, it all seems to be going great, until the Flea discovers an invisible craft, flying above the field, and with some help from Cecil Holmes, and a recently-returned Moonshadow (secretly Tyler,) finally comes face to face with the man who the Praetorians have been referring to as "the Headmaster."

In issue 39, Moonshadow goes to investigate the brick wall that seems to have sealed up the office of Vashti Imperia since the invasion of the supernatural entities, a few issues back.  However, in doing so, he finds himself in a world of dragons and magic, and must find some way to both rescue her, and to return home himself.

I have the same issues with the supernatural beings in this volume that I did in the last couple; namely, they're drawn like angels and demons, yet they're clearly not angels or demons.  This, however, is a minor issue, and largely superficial.  I was a little more bothered by the fact that "not caring" was apparently the solution to the conflict.  In the great battle of order vs chaos, it's generally -not caring- that encourages chaos most.  Nobody walks out their door with the -plan- of encouraging chaos.  They support it as a -consequence- of some other thing they're pursuing; because they don't care about the consequences.

Well, whatever.  I had problems with the angel/demon saga, but it wasn't a weak story, at least.

The humor of Tyler's clone having superpowers, and Tyler not having any is not lost on me, and I think a lot can be done with a character like Toby, if he's used right.

I probably enjoyed the "drawings" issue most.  It seemed to draw attention to the fact, in sort of an offhand way, that most young kids aren't as imaginative as they'd like to think, while recapping recent events from their own perspectives in an amusing way.

Well, it had to happen eventually.  In the soccer game issue, one of the praetorians cheats, and the others don't punish her for doing so, implying corruption in the ranks of the praetorian academy, and it's about time.  I was starting to wonder whether they were even supposed to be bad guys at all.

If I'm going to be perfectly frank, though, I'm still kind of wondering.  I mean, cheating at a soccer game is bad and all, but it's not against the law.  The headmaster's been caught spying on PS238 as well, but frankly... so what?  Revenant does the same thing.

I guess I just find the praetorians rather charming, for some reason; probably to do with the way they stress discipline, and maintain order in the ranks.  It's sad to see corruption in those ranks, but apart from that, you could have fooled me into thinking they were good guys.  I still have a hard time feeling threatened by them.

Probably my biggest issue with this volume is in the last issue, however, because there's a scene in which Vashti Imperia admits to having kidnapped a young girl from her home, for the purpose of bringing about a future event in her life.  I don't know about her, but where I come from, you may not do evil, so that good might come of it, and kidnapping a poor, little girl is clearly an evil act, regardless of who she is, or what results from it.  I may have a hard time feeling threatened by the Praetorians or the Headmaster, but I'm going to be looking suspiciously at Vashti for a while.

I really enjoyed this volume, and I think it's considerably better than volumes 5 or 6.  It's not without its flaws, but it's still a far better comic than most.

PS238 Volume 6; Senseless Acts of Tourism!

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first five volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this sixth volume as well.  It's an enjoyable comic, fun and positive; about superhero children who go to a school for superpowered beings.  The concept has been done before, but unlike other comics that have approached this (most notably several "X-men" books,) this book embraces the old-school silliness of the Silver Age, without the poor writing quality that tended to come along with it.  The stories are enchanting, entertaining and fun, and never depressing or angsty, like the aforementioned X-men books.  Characters develop and change, and stories never become too dark to be enjoyable, even when bad things do sometimes happen.  In short, it gets nearly everything right, avoids the major missteps that comic books have made over the course of comic book history, and produces quite possibly the finest series of superhero comics ever released in America.  All that, plus you can read it with kids.

Again these comics are all in black and white, and they're supposed to be that way.  Also, most of them can be found online as part of Aaron Williams' internet webcomic of the same name, though a few are only found in trade form.

Six issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 28, in which Poly Mer and Julie, suspecting Miss Kyle of planning to leave the school for good, convince Zodon to help them follow her to her vacation destination; Las Vegas.  Also, the flea is still following the goons in gold armor.

In Issue 29 the Gold Armor goons ambush Miss Kyle and the kids again, and try to abduct Zodon.  Zodon is also caught by a casino owner called "the Crystal Skull," for cheating at cards.

In issue 30, the Crystal Skull hires Zodon to help him track down another, worse card cheat, and in the end, Tyler (the non-powered main character) is visited by Tom Davison again (the student who travels through time,) and told that he's going to be given the choice of whether human beings continue having superpowers.

In issue 31, Tyler begins listening to the testimonies of various people in preparation for the choice that he has to make, but for some reason, he also seems to have been released from stasis with a clean bill of health.  Could Angie and Von Fogg be responsible for this?  Did they cure the alien virus that had infected Tyler in volume 5?

In issue 32, the new Tyler, now revealed as a clone of the one who's still in stasis, is possessed by two entities closely resembling a small angel and a small demon.  Also, Ron is accepted into Praetorian Academy, by his old enemy; Charles.

In issue 33, the Revenant has taken Cecil Holmes on a mission to visit a series of suspected metas, and after some more testimonies, the time has come for Tyler to make his decision.  Will human beings continue to have powers, or will they not?

This is probably my least favorite volume of PS238.  I didn't think the Vegas issues worked all that well, although it was nice to see some development for Julie, and the Crystal Skull is an interesting character.  They're not -bad reading.-  PS238 never is.  I just felt that thusfar, they represent the weakest leg of the series.

Also, we begin to see the "angels" and "demons" start to have an effect in this issue.  I put those in scare quotes, because it's later revealed that they're nothing of the kind; just extradimensional entities that serve beings called "chaos" and "order," rather than real good and evil.  I wish they hadn't looked like angels and demons, since they're clearly not, but apart from that, I don't mind this too much.  It's an okay plot.

I still can't seem to find the Praetorians threatening.  So far, they seem a lot like PS238, except with a heavier emphasis on structure, discipline and earning the things you enjoy, which are all -good- life lessons.  They're very military as well, which has a special charm for me.  Of course, I'm sure it'll later be revealed that some supervillain is behind them, or that they're cheaters or something, but if done right, I really think the praetorians could be compelling heroes in their own way.

Fortunately, this volume also contains Tyler's extra-temporal decision about humans and superpowers, which, in my view, is the strongest story in the volume, and it's spread out over several issues.  I really enjoyed it, if only for the moral questions it discussed, regarding those with power.  However, I don't think the character of "paradox" needed to exist.

Paradox shows up to get self-causing temporal events started to begin with, and I really don't think this is necessary.  Just because an instance of causation may not be temporally-linear, it doesn't follow that it's a paradox, or that it needs an origin point, apart from the atemporal one it already has, and Williams used this principle to great effect in all of his other time travel stories, where events cause one another in a -very- non-linear way.  I just don't see the need to bring "paradox" into it, is what I'm saying.

I'm still enjoying PS238, but as I said, this is not my favorite volume of the series.  It's still a lot better than most other, American comics, it's just not quite up to the level of the others.

Where Should Catholics Look For Answers?

At times, it gets truly sad, what supposed Catholics will stoop to in their effort to pretend that we don't need to react to the problems in the world; especially those who have, or think they have, an audience.

I won't say the name of this particular Catholic, partly because I don't know it, but my father pays attention to what he says from time to time, and I can't say I'm pleased by that, since I've often found him to be unwilling to speak the hard truths.  Today, however, he crossed a couple of big lines.

The subject under discussion was whether or not government should have more surveillance authority over its citizens, or something along those lines.  I think the issue is an important one, but not the reason I'm making this post.

First, this Catholic seemed to be implying that the bible contains conflicting accounts of "government."  In other words, that there are passages that imply that government is our friend, and is appointed by God, and passages that see the government as an evil, consuming beast.

Putting aside the fact that this is an independent interpretation of these passages, and therefore carries no weight -in the Catholic Church,- such a statement gives the impression that the bible is filled with irreconcilable contradictions, and it's precisely this kind of careless language that once encouraged me to turn to agnosticism (the worst ten years of my life.)

In reality, of course, scripture passages that -seem- to contradict, actually don't, and instead, are used to draw attention to subtle distinctions in God's law, and in our world.  For example, there are passages of the bible that speak of -specific- governments doing -specific- evil things, and passages that speak of the loyalty that we owe to those appointed by God to serve in governing others, but no scripture passage says that "government," as such, is our friend, and no scripture passage says that -all- governments are good or evil.  These things depend on the circumstances, and a really good discussion could be had on this subject alone.  Just so long as we can avoid implying that the scriptures are full of contradictions.

But of course, that's not enough.  We also need to imply that the -doctors of the Church- are full of contradictions as well.  This individual claimed that Saint Augustine saw the government as evil, which Saint Thomas Aquinas saw it as chosen by God, and then said that obviously, one of them thought one thing, while the other thought something different.

This is, in fact, far from obvious.  After all, Lucifer was chosen by God for an -exceptionally- high position, and he turned out to be evil, didn't he?

I simply fail to see any contradiction between an authority figure being chosen by God, and the same authority figure being evil.  Look at King Saul; the first king of Israel.  It's -repeatedly- said that he "did evil in the sight of the Lord."  Yet, he was clearly God's appointed.  No contradiction is obvious, to me, between Augustine and Aquinas on this subject.  In fact, Saint Thomas Aquinas quoted Augustine incessantly in his masterwork; the Summa Theologica.  More than anyone else.

Worse yet, however, is the attempt to paint St. Thomas as the kind of man who rolled over when the government was doing evil.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  St. Thomas Aquinas was well aware of the existence of unjust laws.  In fact, on the subject, he said the following...

-----

"On the other hand laws may be unjust in two ways: first, by being contrary to human good,"

"Secondly, laws may be unjust through being opposed to the Divine good: such are the laws of tyrants inducing to idolatry, or to anything else contrary to the Divine law"

"The like are acts of violence rather than laws; because, as Augustine says (De Lib. Arb. i, 5), "a law that is not just, seems to be no law at all."

"Wherefore such laws do not bind in conscience, except perhaps in order to avoid scandal or disturbance"

-----

Now, here we see quite clearly that not only does Saint Thomas acknowledge that some laws are fundamentally unjust and are therefore not laws, and aren't binding on our consciences, but he quotes Saint Augustine in support of this claim.  Therefore, there is no contradiction here.

But perhaps the most damaging thing said by this Catholic, at least from the section that I heard, was that "Catholics are good at self-examination," implying that this is the method that we should use to find answers to these moral questions.

If any Catholic turns to self-examination to figure out whether something is moral or immoral, he's missed the point of being a Catholic.  We -have- people to determine whether things are moral or immoral.  They're called the Pope and the Magisterium.  We -have- a reference document for what things are moral or immoral.  It's called the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Telling people that they should look within themselves for the answers instead is not only wrong; it's dangerous.  People are not as isolated from the secular world as they like to think, and without a firm connection the the rue-bricks of our Catholic faith, we will all be lost.

Normally, I'd take a moment to question the loyalty of this person to the actual teachings of the Church.  After all, if we're not going to refer to the Church's teachings on difficult, moral questions, then what, precisely, is the point of having a Catechism in the first place?

I can understand that everyone makes mistakes, however, and I'll be charitable and suppose that's all it was. That said, if you're Catholic, and you've got a public voice, beware of this kind of thing.  Your slightest misstep can speak volumes to those hovering on the edge.

PS238 Volume 5; Extraterrestrial Credit

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first four volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this fifth volume as well.  It's an enjoyable comic, fun and positive; about superhero children who go to a school for superpowered beings.  The concept has been done before, but unlike other comics that have approached this (most notably several "X-men" books,) this book embraces the old-school silliness of the Silver Age, without the poor writing quality that tended to come along with it.  The stories are enchanting, entertaining and fun, and never depressing or angsty, like the aforementioned X-men books.  Characters develop and change, and stories never become too dark to be enjoyable, even when bad things do sometimes happen.  In short, it gets nearly everything right, avoids the major missteps that comic books have made over the course of comic book history, and produces quite possibly the finest series of superhero comics ever released in America.  All that, plus you can read it with kids.

Again these comics are all in black and white, and they're supposed to be that way.  Also, most of them can be found online as part of Aaron Williams' internet webcomic of the same name, though a few are only found in trade form.

Six issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 22, in which a whole lot of things happen, relevant to a large number of plots.  Cecil Holmes has a new weapon and a new boss, Tyler has given Captain Clarinet some advice about the divorce of his parents, but if anything, CC seems to feel even worse (again, a realistic portrayal of what divorce does to children,) some of Charles' old henchmen are rescued, hints are dropped that there will be a superhero career day coming up, and on top of all of that, a strange, new type of alien appears on Earth.  A lot happens in this issue, so you really have to be paying attention.

Issue 23 is the "career day" issue, in which the students go to meet various types of superpowered people, and see what they do for a living.  Also, Charles resurfaces in this issue briefly, and finding out where he's been and what he's been up to opens the door for another long-lasting storyline in the PS238 universe; the Praetorian Academy.

In issue 24, Tyler is trapped in another place, which looks a lot like a rock in space, and Malphast and Cecil Holmes team up to try to rescue him.  However, Cecil suffers repeated mutations while he's off-world, until finally, they need to seek help from Malphast's parents, in exchange for a favor...

In issue 25, the battle with the aliens finally begins.  The aliens approach Earth and attack PS238, provoking a battle in which both the students and teachers quickly become involved.  However, in the process, the real plan of the aliens is revealed; infecting Tyler Marlocke (the only non-powered student at PS238,) with a virus that with turn all future human babies into aliens.

In issue 26, the battle continues to rage, as the students Whiz and Poly rush to get Tyler into quarantine.  Zodon, however, has a plan that may succeed in defeating the aliens for good, if it doesn't vaporize the rest of them in the process.

In issue 27, Tyler is in stasis; a sort of dream state not unlike a coma, but meanwhile, Principal Cranston's headband has started to come undone, allowing some of his psychic powers (and thoughts, and memories) to seep out.  Tyler soon finds himself living out the principal's memories, and realizing just why Cranston has always worn the headband, and who his teachers really are.

I'm just going to come right out and say it.  On the one hand, no issue of PS238 is substandard or boring.  They're all good comics.  On the other hand, this is not my favorite volume.  Part of me wants to say that my favorite issues were 25&26, but really, the combat is somewhat frenetic and hard to keep track of, in comparison to the battle against Charles in the last volume.  Likewise, the first few issues, while certainly fun and entertaining in their own right, don't have the same oomph as Guardian Angel's death, or the announcement of the divorce of Captain Clarinet's parents (again, in volume 4,) especially not the career day issue, which mainly serves to set up plot points for future issues.

Also, speaking personally, I've yet to find the praetorian academy all that threatening.  The aliens that take center stage in this issue are far more threatening and seem more dangerous, and they're about as basic and evil as bad guys come.

Still, I feel that the last issue makes up for these minor shortcomings, since, again, like issue 6 of the series, it deals with topics that have the potential to be heavily-political, and yet, ultimately deals with them in a way that's entertaining, rather than disturbing or controversial.  It's this light touch in dealing with political topics that continues to earn Williams my respect, every time he steps into this particular arena.  This is not, after all, a political propaganda book.  It's a comic book.

On the whole, I don't consider this volume to be quite as good as volume 4, but the difference in quality is so small, that I don't feel justified in giving it a lower grade.  It was and is fun to read, and it gives a few new characters the chance to show what they can do.  I'm still reading PS238, and I'm still impressed.

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.