The Adventures of Tintin, Vol. 1

Tintin #3-5

by Hergé

Join traveling reporter Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy, along with well-known friends such as Captain Haddock, as they embark on extraordinary adventures spanning historical and political events, fantasy and science-fiction adventures and thrilling mysteries. These full-color graphic novels broke new ground when they were first released and became the inspiration for countless modern-day comic artists.

This repackaged hardcover volume contains 3 classic Tintin stories, Tintin in America , Cigars of the Pharaoh , and The Blue Lotus .

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Graphic Novels Comics, Classics

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Georges Prosper Remi (22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist.
His best known and most substantial work is The Adventures of Tintin comic book series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, leaving the twenty-fourth Tintin adventure Tintin and Alph-Art unfinished. His work remains a strong influence on comics, particularly in Europe.

"Hergé" is the pseudonym of George Remí, making a game with the initials of his name inverted. Throughout the evolution of his star character, Tintin, we can see the progress of this author: from the first titles marked by the ultraconservative doctrine of the director of the newspaper Le Petit Vingtième, to the breaking of conventions embodied from The Blue Lotus , as well as the evolution of the society of his time. The research carried out by Hergé to historically contextualize his Adventures, as well as his implicit social criticism, have made Tintin a masterpiece of the 20th century.

Series on Goodreads:
* The Adventures of Tintin
* Quick & Flupke
* The adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko

Reviews

[রিফাত সানজিদা · Rating 5 out of 5]

টাকা-পয়সা নিয়ে অতোটা কষ্ট করিনি কোনদিন। মেঝেতে দুপদাপ আওয়াজের বরাতে বাড়িওয়ালার গাল খেতে হয়নি কখনো। সবজি খাবো না বলে নাক সিঁটকেছি, মা অফিস থেকে ফিরেই কষ্ট করে আবার মুরগির ঠ্যাঙ ভেজে দিয়েছে পাতে। যতো গল্পের বই কিনতে চেয়েছি, সে আবদার মেটানো হয়েছে যতোটা সম্ভব। কম জ্বালাইনি সব মিলিয়ে যা হোক!

কিন্তু তাও রকিব হাসানের কিশোর পাশা, শিশুপত্রিকা বা পিপলী বেগমের চাইতে তুলনামূলকভাবে 'টিনটিন' একটু কস্টলি ছিলো তো বটেই। ও নিয়ে বায়না জুড়তে সাহস জমাতে হতো খানিকটা, পাশের বাসা বা পাড়াতুতো ভাইদের থেকে এনে হাতবদল করে পড়া হতো এ জিনিস। পাওয়াও যেতো না সব, সবসময়, সবখানে। সিরিয়ালি সিরিজ করে পড়েছি পরে, অনেক পরে। নিজেই কিনে, ই-বুক নামিয়ে ইত্যাদি ইত্যাদি।

স্প্রিং ব্রেকের বদৌলতে অগাধ না হোক, কিছুটা অবসর তো আছেই হাতে, সে সুযোগে অনেক অনেকদিন পর ফের ধরেছি টিনটিন। পুরো ২৯টা, আসল-নকল মিলিয়ে.. এক নেটতুতো গ্রন্থকীট ভাইয়ের দেয়া লিঙ্কের বরাতে। রুমমেটও বইভুক, সেও ঝটপট নামিয়ে নিলো সবগুলো। দু'বেলা খাবারের সময় মুখোমুখি দুজন ল্যাপটপে দুটো বই খুলে বসি, একটু পরপর হাসির ঠ্যালায় নাকেমুখে খাবার আটকে আসার উপক্রম হয়। জনসন-রনসন, বিয়াঙ্কা দ্য কোকিলকন্ঠী, নেস্টর, হ্যাডকের গালিগালাজের তুবড়ি আর ছোট্ট কুট্টুশ। চারকোনা এক একটা পাতায় আটকা একটা আস্ত জীবনের আসমুদ্র ছোঁয়া ছেলেমানুষি সুখের সেইসময়টুকু!

'সেই তো সব আছে, সেইসব স্কুলবাড়ি, মাঠঘাট, দোয়াত, কলম, পা- দানি...
একসময়ের দিনরাত, শরীরের অংশের মতো যাদের চিনতাম!'

আলকাজারের সুতির মোজা জিন্দাবাদ! ^_^

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

It obviously took Herge some time to find his legs with the Tintin series. Tintin one and two (Tintin in the Land of the Soviets & Tintin in the Congo) were so racially insensitive that they have rarely been reprinted, and weren't even included in this collection.

Tintin in America, the first story in this volume, isn't quite that bad, but it is a fairly lackluster Tintin story, with a simple, repetitive plot, and a lack of depth when compared to the the other two stories in this volume, Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Blue Lotus. The latter two are amazing stories, with plenty of laughs, great social commentary, and actual character development. The Blue Lotus is a continuation of the story started in Cigars of the Pharaoh, which only adds to the depth and complexity of the story, and is, quite frankly, rather epic.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tintin has been around for so long that it's easy to take him for granted. I never read these growing up, though I knew of them. It wasn't until my young adulthood when the local comics shop started carrying these 3-in-1 volumes that I got around to checking them out.

Tintin is a globe-trotting reporter with a knack for stumbling across adventures involving all manner of eccentric characters. The stories are a pleasing blend of adventure and comedy. The effect is similar in some ways to such classics as Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse, Carl Barks' Donald Duck, Roy Crane's Wash Tubbs & Captain Easy, maybe E.C. Segar's Thimble Theater … There may be comics and strips that are *kind* of like Tintin, but none close enough to quite match Hergé's magic combination of clear line and light tone.

True, Tintin does get out of scrapes by luck and coincidence as often as skill. The story isn't in any of the three volumes collected in this particular book, but I vividly remember one adventure where he was saved by a chance bolt of lightning. It doesn't get any more deus ex machina than that! But the stories are so fun that I'm willing to forgive stuff like that.

And yes, there are moments of racial and ethnic stereotyping that make me wince, though, for the most part, Hergé comes off better in this respect than many of his contemporaries. These tales were originally written in the 1930's. Just compare them to cartoons, comics, or newspaper strips of a similar vintage and you'll see what I mean.

The Tintin comics are beloved by millions. Reading these stories, it's easy to see why. Recommended!

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I think 2 stars is super generous, but this was significantly more readable than the first Tintin book I read, so 2 it is.

I get that these stories are a product of their time, and I really think these will get better as I go, but here's a list of the stupid shit that happens in this book:

○ Tintin saws the door off of a taxi to escape from a Chicago gang member kidnapping him. Every other scene/panel featuring this taxi is perfectly intact
○ A gang member (from the aforementioned gang) fucks up a cop by throwing a BOOMERANG at him ahahahaha
○ There are trap doors e v e r y w h e r e
○ Tintin mistakes a crying baby for his dog, Snowy's, barking (Tintin u dumb)
○ Tintin makes a lifelike dummy of himself so that gangsters shoot it with a sniper rifle instead of him (????????)
○ Tintin steals a train and there are zero repercussions
○ Tintin learns to speak elephant (what. the. actual. fuck)
○ Tintin beats the shit out of pretty much everyone
○ He also routinely has entire parades dedicated to him

Can someone tell me when Tintin actually gets good? Because this ain't it.

[Katie Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

**A Graphic Novel**
Always a fun story!

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to say.

I know this will offend the fans of Tintin but it's not intended. I don't mean to diminish the importance of these characters and this writer.

But, setting aside how important and influential Tintin is and just reading the stories without adding that weight to them, they feel a little stilted. I want to put Tintin in the same category as Lord of the Rings or Poldark. They are of their time and in my opinion are interesting today but not particularly entertaining.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tintin stories for anyone who has read them and understands their history can't be viewed as anything other than groundbreaking. The beginnings of these stories have been around as long as the Lord of the Rings, the illustration and environments in the Tintin books are accurate and extremely detailed. Anyone who has spent even a little time exploring Herge (Georges Remi) can see the painstaking research and adversity he worked through to compose the world around Tintin. His ideas were ahead of his time (Exploring the moon, Industrialization, South American political conflict, modern slave trade, extraterrestrial life) and he made certain every detail for every object would be realistic (after the third book at least). Herge's work can certainly be cited as an influence for any modern day graphic novel or comic book.

[Victor The Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hergé’s Tintin comics definitely have a lot of adventurous thrills and are full of dialogue for such small speech bubbles. The young reporter and his faithful dog Snowy travel out of Belgium and see many places and get entangled with very shady people and must come up with a way to get out of it while also getting a great story. The art is very unique and lively, and Tintin and Snowy are a good pair who will always outwit the bad guys. A (97%/Outstanding)

[Devin Willson · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fair introduction to Tintin, i’ll probably check out more stories soon

Tintin In America - 3/5 stars
Cigars of the Pharoh - 4/5 stars
The Blue Lotus - 3.5/5 stars

[Grace Mal · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there weren't egregious racial stereotypes, this would be five stars. It really is fun to see him get into randomly terrible situations and outsmart them. I will always love Snowy.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Tintin in America:
Succeeds in catching 335 of Al Capones's gangsters in Chicago.

2. Cigars of the Pharaoh:
Fights a drugs gang in Egypt who hide their drugs by selling Flor Fina Cigars.

3. The Blue Lotus:
Whilst in holiday in Mumbai, Tintin is called to Shanghai to deal with an opium gang run by the Japanese, whose opium hub is called the Blue Lotus.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the references were a tad dated and wouldn’t fly nowadays, but otherwise it was a cute read.

Reading Scavenger Hunt: a book featuring a dog

[Moses · Rating 3 out of 5]

TINTIN IN AMERICA is extremely weak, even by the standards of the time. I disliked it as a kid and I remember having the thought, "If this is how bad Hergé's portrayal of America seems to an American, what about his portrayals of faraway lands that seemed so wonderful when I was a kid?" However, after going on a Tintin binge, I can confirm that Tintin in America is an outlier. 1/5

CIGARS OF THE PHARAOH is also one of the weaker Tintin books. It is a lesser effort even alongside the other "prequel" books (Secret of the Unicorn, Destination Moon). Written much later as a prequel to The Blue Lotus, it certainly works in setting up the story, and is entertaining enough in its own right. But it will never be one of the greats. 3/5

THE BLUE LOTUS is incredible. So suspenseful that reading it was quite an ordeal when I found these books in 2nd grade, but even now, seventy-three years after publication, this is an extremely well-written and captivating story. Hergé's art was not at its peak, but the verisimilitude certainly is. Hergé is sometimes called a racist, and "Tintin in the Congo" doesn't do him any favors. However, the Belgians have always been extremely racist *wink* and by those standards Hergé was quite enlightened for his time. In The Blue Lotus there is a little excursus that is meant to dispel European myths about the Chinese. The Japanese, perhaps not surprisingly given the time period, do not fare so well. 5/5, one of the greatest.

[Pavle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erže je često duhovit na način da punchline vidiš iz daljine, čim je krenula fora, ali uživaš da čitaš kako do njega dolazi. Imamo fakira kojem prinose jastuk, ali ga on žulja, pa mora da se prebaci na igle, na primer, ili Indijance koji pale lulu mira kraj ratnih sekira, itd.

Vidim da dosta ljudi na Goodreads-u potežu pitanje političke korektnosti i da li je reprezentacija raznih nacija koje Tintin sreće dobra. U ove tri epizode, ja nisam video neke probleme. Strip je vrlo star, te ne poštuje uvek sva pravila izražavanja današnjice, ali je očigledno protiv rasizma. Naravno da u Indiji sreće fakire, a u Americi indijanske poglavice. Naravno da su u stvarnosti osobine koje imaju ovi likovi blaže, i fakiri predstavljaju prilično mali procenat populacije Indije (i zapravo su im jastuci udobni). Pa opet, ja ovde više vidim predinterentsku decu iz pedesetih koja radoznalo gledaju koga će Tintin sresti u Indiji ili Kini, i koji kroz to otkrivaju neke osobenosti njihovih kultura. Ne na nivou koji će biti dovoljan kad budu odrasli, ali na nivou koji će ih učiniti radoznalim i željnim znanja o tim kulturama. Dodatno, mislim da bi bilo potpuno nefer proglasiti Tintina "belim spasiocem" ili nešto slično - on je samo putnik koji sreće i upoznaje, on je super pošto je glavni lik, naravno, ali ljudi koje sreće, raznih naroda, pozitivci i negativci, takođe su super. Ovde uzimam u obzir samo ova tri izdanja - ne znam dovoljno da komentarišem druge.

Na kraju, posle ovog i preozbiljnog i predugačkog pasusa, vratimo se na poentu - Tintin je mnogo zabavan. Samo trči tamo - amo, tu su detektivi šeprtlje, tu su ljudi sa svih krajeva sveta, stalno se nešto dešava, prosto - lepo ga je čitati.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herge's art is amazing and lovingly detailed. The plot of the first one included here, Tintin in America, is pretty formulaic (Tintin gets in trouble... he's about to die... but, lo! A last-minute stroke of luck saves him!) but the other two get a bit more creative in terms of plot and characterization. The racial attitudes here, as others have noted, are an odd mixed bag: nonwhite characters are almost always disparaged or expressed as caricatures, but The Blue Lotus seems very sympathetic to the Chinese and even mocks the racial arrogance of white colonialists (the Japanese are decidedly the villains in this piece, however, depicted with the standard upturned pig noses and coke bottle glasses of racist caricature).

[Baylor Heath · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is an interesting progression across the three books collected in this volume originally released between 1932-1935. Tintin in America is this plotless, cat-and-mouse chase through America riddled with distasteful portrayals of people (especially Native Americans) and almost no redeeming qualities. But Hergé internalizes these criticisms and by The Blue Lotus in 1935 has assembled a coherent narrative set in the socio-political tension of Japanese invaded China, in which the villains are racist colonizers and the resolutions come through our characters overcoming their prejudices. I thought about giving up at first, but now I know I'll be returning to the swash-buckling fun, silliness, and intrigue of Tintin's adventures soon.

[Seung Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some books become outdated with time. This was one of those cases. My kid did not like it because of the violence and, true enough, there were gun shootings, stabbings, and people getting killed left and right. I give it two stars because, as a grown-up, it does give us a glimpse of what sold graphic novels in that era. It was also interesting to see how different cultures were depicted in that era as well.

[Philip Gipson · Rating 3 out of 5]

America: Very bad. Herge seems to think that Al Capone-era Chicago was contemporary with (and geographically close to) the Cowboys-and-Indians frontier period.

Cigars of the Pharaoh: I like this one. There's actually a plot instead of a series of tedious "Tintin gets in trouble but he escapes but oops he's captured again" scenes.

Blue Lotus: Not as good as Cigars. It does do a better job as humanizing some of the local characters he meets.

[David Schwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book in a group of 7 featuring the Tintin graphic novels. I've seen the animated versions but this is my first time reading them. Even though there are ethic races portrayed in what might be less than ideal situations, Tintin is presented as a neutral person which is probably why no big effort to sanitize these works.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

In addition to the WOW! levels of racial stereotyping, which I expect everyone is aware of, these are pretty heavy-handed in their brand of humor and definitely not as fun as when I was a little kid. But still, good drawing and pretty entertaining ridiculous mystery-adventure.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

"They haven't aged well and the movie's way better. Tintin is far too lucky in the comics, instead of skilled. And there's not enough Snowy. My fish liked it though, which is important. I think we'll read more comics together, but maybe not these. But maybe. She gets to choose."

[Isaac Jensen]

5 stars for the comic, 0 stars for the racism.

[Ro · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's snowy's book

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it with my Dad before sleep everyday. It was my first tintin. I like it because TinTin is traveling a lot but I didn’t like that he meet a lot of criminal. I was disappointed with the Japanese in the blue lotus.

[Rannveer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I heard of Tintin was actually on a trip to Europe that included a stop in Belgium. One of the friends I was traveling with said that we must MUST stop and get something Tintin related, and then was horrified when I didn't know who/what that was. (And then there was an entire shop dedicated to Tintin and we spent about two hours comparing Tintin socks). I was a little confused to say the least.

Here you go, Helen. Ten years late, but I've read some Tintin now.

Golly, that dog is cute. Just...so cute.

Aside from Snowy, I mostly appreciated this as a historical read rather than something I'd just read for enjoyment. I'm a little too old for the intended audience and, as people have said, the depictions of certain racial groups is...cringe-worthy. Although, it seems like some of it was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, which if you're reading it more as a piece of comic history, is interesting. We've come a long way in a short amount of time. And Hergé adds a few very well-placed jokes on the subject, which feels like the first winds heralding those changes.

The artwork is what really stands out. The style is simple, but expressive and clear. Everyone looks different! Even the horrible racial stereotypes! I wouldn't be so fascinated by this, but I swear there are only, like, five different faces that people draw in comics these days and you just have to...guess or bank on the fact that no one changes clothes. And, yes, that dog is super-cute.

All in all, I'm happy I read it and would definitely recommend checking it out.

[Maclean H]

The world has something special in mind for Tintin. Tintin is a man I do not know the age of but his is so adventures and curious that if something happens he needs to get to the botton of it. my favorite part of volume 1 is when he has to run away fron the native americans because he hoops in a hole which actually gets him stuck or not? You should read this book if you are intrested in a book all about a man and you love Adventure books!

[A Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

These three works are solid Tintin adventures - it seems that Herge was trying to get a feel for what he wanted Tintin to be in Tintin in America which makes the work less interesting with much less character development. These works are also products of the time, so some of the depictions of certain races and stereotypes are definitely considered offensive today. The adventures and shenanigans are quite interesting and make for an enjoyable read.

[AudreyMM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it! Tintin is AWESOME!

[Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This omnibus collects the stories Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Blue Lotus. Technically, Cigars and Lotus do form one story. However, I will review each of these stories separately below. As for the omnibus in general, everything is a bit smaller in comparison to the individual releases, but as this was the only available way to consume these at the moment, it works fine.

Tintin in America: Like "Land of the Soviets" and "Congo" before it, Tintin in America is more a series of connected set pieces with a general throughline, than a solid story. It's 1931 and Chicago is ruled by gangsters. Picking up from Tintin in the Congo, where Tintin disrupted Al Capone's diamond racket (I haven't read Congo and have only seen a French version), the plot sees Tintin clean up Chicago before chasing gangster Bobby Smiles into Blackfoot territory. Here, our hero is captured by natives, discovers oil and eventually takes down the gangsters. It's fine, better than Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, but isn't the polished Tintin Adventure of later books.

Cigars of the Pharaoh: This sees Tintin and Snowy on holiday, however a chance meeting with an absent-minded archaeologist leads Tintin into an adventure involving opium smuggling. The plot moves from Egypt across Arabia to India. This one was a favorite as a kid because of my fascination with Ancient Egypt. At times, it's a bit silly, but I find it an enjoyable adventure. It also introduces characters that will reoccur at times over the series, including the bumbling detectives Thompson and Thomson.

The Blue Lotus: This one is really good. I've read that Hergé, the author met a Chinese friend during the writing of this and therefore created a story respectful to the culture (whereas Congo, and to a lesser extent, America where more stereotyped). The story is primarily a continuation of the previous story, picking up where we left off in India before traveling to China where bulk of the story takes place. It deals heavily with the Japanese involvement in China in the lead up to World War II, and portrays some of the colonials as brutes who mistreat the natives while boasting of their bringing progress to a backwards people. An enjoyable story that for the time of writing (mid-1930s) is surprisingly fair and modern in its depiction of the native culture.