Tintin in America (1932)

Fluffy. Not terrible - though the Indians get a raw deal - but what a heap of coincidences and fumbling idiots. Just to top it off - how did the dumbbell get there? How did whoever brought it not notice it was the wrong one? Sheesh. And the train. And the oil. And how did Tintin keep picking up the trail - how did he get to the mountain? And and and. And a huge heap of stereotypes. Very silly, but less annoying than The Castiafiore Emerald. ( )

Things are getting closer to the Tintin I remember. Still a bit of stereotyping going on but at least the white Americans weren't portrayed as being the nice guys. This time Tintin travels to America to investigate the mobs whose activities he disrupted in the Congo. A bit shorter than the first books and the first in colour. Onwards to the next adventure! ( )

Fun but very, very silly (and, um, a little racist, but this is to be expected). ( )

Belgium

I had never read a Tintin book before, so I was delighted to learn that Hergé was Belgian and that I could read one for my world books challenge. I enjoyed the illustrations, including some clever incidental material. It was easy enough to figure out relationships and a certain amount of the characters' history, but I imagine that there would be slightly better flow if I had more familiarity with the series. However, even allowing for this, I thought the plot was rather disjointed. There is some racism that would not appear in a contemporary comic, though considering the era, the attitude is more sympathetic than I would imagine a U.S. comic to be. ( )

A disappointing start to the Tintin series. A simplistic series of incidents strung together by unlikely coincidences onto a threadbare plot. Tintin is one-dimensional and uninteresting in this story.

I know that the series gets better as I read some of the later ones to my children when they were younger. Therefore, I will persevere and hope that Hergé hits his stride quickly. ( )