Places to Chat
Tintin, the Adven
Chatterbox: Chirp at Cricket
Tintin, the Adven
Tintin, the Adventures of. (This is the title, Admins!)
So, this is yet another of my (admittedly feeble) attempts at a Tintin thread. Any fans? Which is your favorite book? What's your preferred adaptation? Anyone, with anything to say, is welcome (implored, rather) to say it.
submitted by Esthelle, age Anonymous, Schokolade
(February 11, 2018 - 10:54 am)
(February 11, 2018 - 10:54 am)
We used to love those books! We had like three three-story collections, and we would read them over and over again. I haven't read them in a while, probably because they're so loved that they're falling apart, but I still have fond memories. As for adaptations... we had a Wii game..... also, one time we went to see the movie on my birthday. I think it was my tenth. Anyways, all I remember about that is that it was in 3-D and it hurt my eyes. So I don't think I can have an unbiased opinion XD
Luna says "rrun" I know I should run today..... it's rainy though... you don't understand.
*Fine. I'll have to chase you then.*
That's one way to do it......
(February 11, 2018 - 12:13 pm)
Oh, I love Tintin!!! My Dad's kinda a Tintin freak, and has the whole book collection! I think that I have to say that either Cigars of the Pharoh or Flight 714 are my favorites, but I also like Shooting Star, too. I like the movie Tintin, the one based off of the Red Racam's Treasure books, and we used to have an ipad app for Red Racam's Treasure too. Billions of blue blistering barnacles! (;) I had to) I have to cut this short right now, but I promise to come back later!
(February 11, 2018 - 9:45 pm)
Yes!!! Tintin! (I even read it with the Japanese accent baha) I used to read those so often, but I can’t choose a favourite. Maybe I’ll get back to you on that one. ;)
(February 11, 2018 - 10:09 pm)
Oh, I love Tintin! I think I've read all the ones that have been translated into English. I've been into Tintin since I was about eight or nine. I think my favorites are Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon, because the first is absolutely hilarious and the second, while a little more somber, is still extremely funny. I also like the Red Rackam's Treasure series and Prisoners of the Sun. I haven't actually seen the movie, but I plan on seeing it eventually.
(February 11, 2018 - 11:36 pm)
YESSSSSSS!!!! Thank you all so much for commenting! :D :D :D
I've read Herge's more popular books-- Tintin in America through Tintin and the Picaros. So 21 of 24. There are technically three others, said to be of interest mostly just for scholars, and another he never finished.
Did you know, the study of Herge's graphic novels is a profession? It's commonly known as Tintinology. It sounds ridiculous to say so, at first, but the books are actually suprisingly deep and insightful-- not just into the culture of the 1900s, but also into literature and story-telling in general. Great Snakes! Who'd have thought it?
It's difficult to choose a favorite, but I'll have to go with Cockleburr: Explorers on the Moon probably comes out top, along with Destination Moon, which is necessary to set the scene and tone. I love the sci-fi-dabbling Herge does here. Tintin walked on the moon about 17 years before Louis Armstrong! The story is also a little more overtly psychological, with the character of Wolff and the strange moon-setting.
I really enjoy the 2011 film adaption. Besides gorgeous animation and competent acting, the directors, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, put in a lot of thought and effort. Reporters quoted Herge as saying that he thought Spielberg was the only one who could ever do Tintin justice. Obviously, the film isn't perfect-- they changed some of the characters, notably Captain Haddock, but I can see why they did what they did, and maybe it's for the best. Anyhow, I much prefer the 2011 adaption to the 1991 TV version, which made the (I think) grave mistake of Americanizing everything. I mean, part of the books' charm is their 1920s European aura. And I know Tintin was originally in French, but, for us English-speakers, he's just not the same without his British accent.
(February 12, 2018 - 6:31 pm)
I love Tintin! I never watched the movie, though. Has anyone here read any of the older ones, from before Tintin in America? I think I've read one of them. They're usually very hard to get ahold of.
(February 12, 2018 - 8:55 pm)
The older ones from before "in America" were "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" and "Tintin in the Congo." Herge wrote them as political statements for his superiors. I haven't read either, but I've seen pages from the first. "in the Land of the Soviets" is basically an anti-Communist primer, and "in the Congo" was to garner sympathy for Belgium's colonies in that particular area. It wasn't until "in America" that Herge got to send Tintin to a location of his choosing.
(February 13, 2018 - 8:06 pm)
Tintin (and Asterix and Obelix) was my childhood! I love them. I'm not sure how many I've read, but my first memory of them was flipping through my grandma's old copy of Flight 714 (or maybe it was Prisoners of the Sun...) - and it was so well-loved that half the pages were missing and I couldn't find out what happened next!
Of the 24 shown on the back of one I just grabbed from the bookshelf, I've read all but Alph-Art and Tintin in the Congo. I don't think I can pick a favourite, I haven't read them in a while and I remember them all being so good, but if I start rereading them I'd probably start with The Calculus Affair (I don't remember much at all, perhaps I only ever read a well-loved half-copy of it as well...), King Ottokar's Sceptre (I know we used to have the old animated videos that started with Tintin and Snowy running in a spotlight, if anyone knows what I'm talking about, because I remember parts of this one from the video), and then maybe the Seven Crystal Balls, because I remember it scared me a lot and I want to know why.
Also, coyotedomino, I have no idea how (perhaps amazon?) but I own a newish copy of Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, which I think was the first one Herge wrote? It's a bit weird at first because the drawing style is slightly different and it's black and white and Tintin's character is slightly different, but the story's pretty good, and it's cool to see how Tintin started out.
I can think of more to say, especially about the movie adaptations, but I have to go now. I'll be back, fellow Tintin lovers!
(February 13, 2018 - 8:28 pm)
Hi, Pied Piper!
The animated adpation you mentioned is the 1991 TV series. The spotlight- thing is sort of a trademark of the series; it was used in the 2011 film in reference.
The Calculus Affair was probably my favorite until I switched to Exporers on the Moon. King Ottokar's Sceptre has been critiqued as one of the most polished and accomplished adventures, as well as one of the best of Herge's pre-war stories. I was a little frightened by The Seven Crystal Balls when I first read it, too. It's strange and mystical, with some weird phenomena, a mummy, and an Incan curse. Everything is explained in Prisoners of the Sun.
I read the first few pages of "In the Land of the Soviets" on Amazon. If you say it's good, perhaps I ought to look into it more seriously-- you're right, it did look interesting. It's the only Tintin adventure Herge didn't later re-draw and re-color.
(February 13, 2018 - 9:33 pm)
I loved The Seven Crystal Balls! True, it's creepy and weird but I tend to love the sort of story that sends the hair prickling on the back of your neck! I remember being a bit freaked out the first time I read it, but simultaniously fascinated. I'm pretty sure I enjoyed Prisoners of the Sun, too. Some of those running jokes are just so funny! (When llama angry, senor, he always do that!)
I own Tintin in the land of the Soviets. It's cool to see how Tintin began and how his character changed and became more developed. In the first story he's much more gung ho, and the plot is mainly driven by exageratedly ugly Russians trying to blow him up, followed by Tintin's flying-leap-of-logic excapes. It's much more propaganda-ish than the later stories as well.
(February 19, 2018 - 10:14 pm)
Oh! Asterix and Obelix! Yes! I thought no one knew about those!
(February 13, 2018 - 10:01 pm)
Oh! Asterix and Obelix! Yes! I thought no one knew about those!
(February 13, 2018 - 10:01 pm)
Billions of blue blistering barnacles in a thundering typhoon! TOP! Please.
(February 19, 2018 - 4:53 pm)
I am a HUUUUGE Tinitn fan, I have read every single book (Even Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin in the Congo and Tintin and Alph-Art which aren't part of the main series). I didn't know this many people even KNEW about Tintin! I originally was introduced to the series when I lived in England, and my favorite one then was The whole Moon story arc (Explorers on the Moon and Destination Moon) but re-reading them (which oftne happens when I'm bored), my favorite is Red Rakhams Treasure, but the Broken Ear, Shooting Star, Flight 714 and the Blue Lotus are pretty good too. The characters are so well developed and I love how quite a few of them reappear throughout the seires (Bianca Castofoire, General Alcazar, etc.). The cartoon form the 90's was OK, and it stayed a little more focused than the movie (which was still better than the cartoon), but the books triumph all on the Tintin Hierarchy Scale.
Kilp says uczt.
You Crazy Turtle? I guess that's slightly insulting.
(February 20, 2018 - 6:19 pm)
Thanks for commenting, General!
My current favorites are the Moon adventures, though that may be subject to change, given time. That's fascinating, that you lived in England! I hear Tintin is really popular there. Hence the British accent!
I would enjoy the 90s TV adaptation better if it weren't all Americanized. I just don't feel the early 20th-century, European-adventure atmosphere without it. And the characters loose their heart.
Is there an English translation of Alph-Art? For some reason, I thought we only had the original French-draft edition.
(February 23, 2018 - 8:28 pm)