The Adventures of Tintin: Volume 4

Volume 4: Red Rackham's Treasure (1944), The Seven Crystal Balls (1948), Prisoners of the Sun (1949). This is fourth instalment of my reviews of each of the seven volumes. By now, the core members of the Tintin series have been assembled, though further secondary additions will be made. Tintin, the volatile Haddock and the deaf, distracted Calculus, and of course Snowy, Tintin's dog, will be inseparable friends throughout the rest of the series. There are some parallels between Haddock and Snowy, such as a love of booze and vulnerability to temptation, and Haddock's appearance has taken some of the spotlight off Snowy, but the dog still has its day - or days - as the series matures. The Thom(p)sons and the Castafiore adorn the circle of friends, while Dawson, Mueller, Allan and not least, Rastapopoulos, come back at times as foes. Red Rackham's Treasure rounds out the adventure commenced with the Secret of the Unicorn (see my review for the previous volume). Professor Calculus, who enriches the series no end, makes his inaugural appearance, in which he is the inventor of a mini-submarine. A great adventure with pirates, treasure, submarines, and scaphanders. Oh yeah, and Nestor, too. Wouldn't want to omit him... The Seven Crystal Balls begins another two-parter, with American Indian mysticism pitted against soulless European rationalism, and the most terrifying sequence I have ever seen in a comic book. Good god, I couldn't sleep after reading that one. After reading this adventure and its sequel, and not before, check out the official Tintin site for a striking analysis of a single panel, so that you can understand the pure richness of Hergé's creation. The sequel, Prisoners of the Sun is a pinnacle in the series, with the heroes' labyrinthine course into and out of trouble, culminating in a magnificent twist on the mysticism vs. rationalism theme set out in the prequel.

In 1929 Georges Remi, who worked under the pseudonym "Hergé," was in charge of producing material for "Le Petit Vingtième," a weekly supplement for the Catholic newspaper "Le XXe Siècle." Hergé decided to create his own comic strip, adopting the recent American innovation of using word balloons. On January 10, 1929, the first installment of "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" was pubished in "Le Petit Vingtièm," telling the story of a young reporter named Tintin and his pet foxhouse Snowy (Milou) as they journied through the Soviet Union. The character of Tintin was modled on Paul Remi, Georges' brother, who was an officer in the Belgian army. The result was one of the most universally beloved comic book characters in the history of the world, and this book is the fourth volume in a series that collects three of the Adventures of Tintin. Of course, you have been reading these in order, because if for some strange reason you start with Volume 4 then you begin with the second-half of an adventure that began in "The Secret of the Unicorn" (see Volume 3). Although Hergé offers a bit of a recapitulation in the form of a conversation overhead in a bar at the beginning of "Red Rackham's Treasure," you will really not be up to speed on this one. The main thing is that having collected all the clues regarding the titular treasure, Tintin and Captain Haddock are prepared to go forth and find it. However, almost as important as the search for the treasure is our introduction to the final pivotal member of the Tintin family, as Professor Cuthbert Calculus offers the service of his small shark-proof submarine for exploring the ocean floor. Tintin refuses the offer, but it turns out that Professor Calculus always hears somkething other than what somebody is really saying. Adding to the fun are the Thom(p)sons, who come alone with orders to protect Tintin. "Red Rackham's Treasure" is mostly a pure adventure story, with Tintin using the small submarine and a deep sea diving suit to look for the treasure of the Unicorn. But there is still some detective work left to be done to decipher the final cryptic clues left by Sir Francis Haddock concerning the treasure's location. I still like Hergé's two-part adventure that sent Tintin to the Moon, but this two-parter is not far behind. This is the last of the Tintin stories Hergé wrote during World War II, and after this point we will definitely see his stories become much more allegorical in terms of post-War Europe. But this time around it is just Tintin, Snowy, and company out having fun beneath the deep blue sea. Tintin's next two-part adventure is included here as well, beginning with "The Seven Crystal Balls" and concluding in "Prisoners of the Sun." The story begins with Tintin on the train reading how the Sanders-Hardiman Ethnographic Expedition has returned a trip to Peru and Bolivia. The gentleman reading over Tintin's shoulder predicts trouble, drawing a parallel between what happened with the cur

Tintin is the best comic ever and here you have three of his adventures together: Red Rackham's Treasure - In the previous volume Tintin and Captain Haddock put together a 200 year old mystery left by Haddock's ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock. Now they are off to recover Red Rackham's Treasure. But Max Bird, the antiques dealer turned criminal, has escaped from prison. Will he make an appearance? The Seven Crystal Balls - Tintin and Captain Haddock go to a psychic show. There an Indian fakir puts his assistant into a trance. She forsees a mysterious illness striking a photographer on a recent expedition to recover Incan artifacts. One by one the researchers on the expedition fall into mysterious comas. Near each lies a shattered crystal ball... Prisoners of the Sun - The previous installment of this story, The Seven Crystal Balls, left Tintin ad Captain Haddock in pursuit of kidnappers on a ship bound for Peru. In Peru Tintin catches a brief glimpse of the professor but is unable to rescue him. He and the captain continue the investigation. Local Indians are uncooperative, until Tintin rescues a local boy and finds sympathetic people who point him toward an Incan curse... These are all good stories and have jokes for adults as well as children. Additionally The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun constitute a single longer story and have to be read together to know what is going on in each. So if you buy one then you will want to buy the other with it anyway. Be aware that these are printed on smaller size paper than the separately bound stories, which is more economical but makes them harder to read and doesn't do the graphics justice. This is an economic edition for families, but invest in the larger separately bound stories if possible.

Watch out, this 3-in-one comes in a smaller size than the regular single adventures. Makes it harder to read and harder to enjoy the graphics.

in my opinion among the Funniest Tintins, are these three. Captain Haddock is in inimitable style, and Prof. Cuthbert Calculus, is as deeply unfathomable as his subjects! :) Funny, and Fun if you enjoy the adventures of Tintin and Snowy you'll not stop grinning with these three! awesomely illustrated and penned..really nice.