Movie review - "The Adventures of Tintin: The Search for the Unicorn" (2011) ***

Probably the best film that could be made from a Tintin comic... or is it? There's certainly a lot of love and care, the technical stuff impresses, the casting good (Jamie Bell, Andy Serdakis), the script very respectful... But there's too much noise, chases and crash boom-bang and a John Williams score that never seems to end. That's a personal opinion of course - others may like it, especially kids. But I can't help feeling they missed a lot of the satire in the comics, the characters don't seem as rich (there's Bianca Casatfiore but no Calculus), the villain is a bit light, it... I don't know, it just doesn't get the magic. Maybe they missed out by not going to the island a la Red Rackham's Treasure. I'm glad it did well though and that there will be a sequel.

Script review – “The Year of the Comet” by William Goldman 1991 draft - re-reading

Goldman wrote this back in the 1970s – I would have loved to read that version. How much did it change? This one doesn’t work, even on the page, although with the right stars you could imagine it being quite fun. Goldman blamed the wine factor – young kids don’t really care about wine, but do they care about jewels either, and they understood Romancing the Stone, or arcs of the covenant, and they loved Raiders. I think the problem is people wouldn’t kill for wine – maybe the wine needed to be so valuable it was worth killing for, they way they do for the stone and the arc. Goldman makes it a chase for formula which is in the wine but the baddies don’t realise this until very late – too late.

The banter is okay – Goldman was better with bromance than romance, it’s very star dependent (and the film didn’t come up with the goods – the male lead feels written for Paul Newman more than anyone else). I liked the stuff in the Scottish highlands, especially with castles and in loch ness – it reminded me of the Tintin comic The Black Island. The adventures on the French riviera are less good - the final sequence with the villain aging rapidly is as dumb on the page as it was on screen. Fans of Goldman will enjoy (or be annoyed by) his little personal touches: references to Jo Jo the Dog faced boy, the hero has a back with a slipped disc (like Goldman in real life), the importance of red wine in some people’s lives.

Comic review - Tintin #23 - "Tintin and the Picaros" by Herge

The last completed Tintin is commonly held to be a disappointment. While I agree it's not the level of the ones that came before it - and some of the changes to Tintin are distressing (the absence of the plus fours,wearing a CND sticker on his bike, and most of all not wanting to go to the rescue when his friend is in trouble) - this isn't bad: the art work remains top notch, the fictitious South American country is a fun location, there are pleasing appearances by all the old gang (Jocelyn Wagg turns up as a tourist, naturally!) and the finale quite colourfuland exciting. It's kind of the level of something like The Crab with the Golden Claws. Note how camp Tintin looks holding that cat on the first page.

Comic review - Tintin #22 - "Flight 714" (1968) by Herge

A return to the more pure "adventure" Tintin last seen in Red Sea Sharks (i.e. Tintin against baddies) - until Herge throws in a major third act twist. Up til then this is simply a terrific adventure; it starts with an Aussie connection (our gang is on their way to Sydney fora conference when they stop off in Jakarta), then introduces perhaps the finest range of fresh new characters: the miserly millionaire, his pompous assistant Spalding, the two vicious pilots (we know they're mean because one of them kicks Snowy) and an evil doctor.

There is a thrilling hijack followed by an exciting plane landing on an island, where we meet Rastapopolous and Alan again. Both the two villains really cop it from then on - Rastapopolous wears a pink shirt and cowboy boots and is bound and gagged, smashes his head, have people make fun of his nose; Alan gets all his teeth removed!

It was artistically bold for Herge to introduce an all-powerful UFO connection but at times this seemed to be cheating to get Tintin out of trouble (it is literally use of a "God in a Machine" device) - their final escape seemed too easy, though Herge does make things a little more complicated with an exploding volcano. The art work in this is truly stunning: from the beautiful jets and the exotic Island and Sondonesian" locals, to the ancient carvings, the UFO and the volcano. It's one of the best Tintins but you do have to have a taste for the final twists.

Comic review - Tintin #21 - "The Castafiore Emerald" (1963) by Herge

Herge kicks off his shoes and totally surprised everyone with this delightful light comedy - it's sort of Jean Renoir meets Lubitsch, a comedy of... errors? manners?... that all takes place at Marlinspike around the visit of Bianca Castafiore, with Haddock reduced to a wheelchair, The Man Who Came to Dinner style (even though its his house - a cute idea).

It's enormous fun, whether incorrect news of Haddock-Castafiore engagement reaching the press, Calculus developing a crush on Castafiore, jewels going missing, Jocelyn Wagg and the Thompsons wrecking havoc, etc.

Brilliantly played out by a master at the top of his game; the resolution about the magpies is surprisingly satisfying.

Comic review - Tintin #20 - "Tintin in Tibet" (1960) by Herge

Perhaps Herge's most personal Tintin, which followed a nervous breakdown by the author and dreams of white. I do admit though while it's good, I prefer things like the Red Sea Sharks. Tintin goes to Tibet to search for his old Blue Lotus friend, Chang, whom he is convinced has survived a crash. There are no baddies apart from the elements, which are bad enough - avalanches, freezing to death, etc - plus the yeti who turns out to be not too horrible, just lonely! So this is one of the sappier Tintins - Tintin's love for Chang, Haddock willing to cut himself free from a rope to save Tintin, the ultimately non-scary yeti, the Nepalese porter and monks who are impressed by Tintin risking his life to save a friend. The art work is again very strong, particularly the stuff involving the Monks.

Comic review - Tintin #19 - "Red Sea Sharks" by Herge

After the solid-rather-than-sensational Calculus Affair, Herge chalks up another masterpiece here, a brilliant adventure involving weapon smuggling, Arabian coups, exploding planes, sheiks in exile, shoot outs with planes, millionaire yachts, slave trading and submarines. The action never lets up, with Tintin and Haddock in constant danger. The art work remains of an incredible level, with recreations of the Middle East(particularly the hidden city based on Petra), and the action scenes in the Red Sea being particularly good.

Long-term fans will be delighted with the way a variety of characters from previous adventures re-appear: Alcazar, Abdullah and his father, Col Muller, Dawson, Wagg, Bianca Castafiore, Alan, etc - it's like this wonderful dividend for reading all the previous books. One bung note - the portrayal of Africans, who on the whole are shown to be simple and stupid. This is the first book to have a really positive portrayal of America in the form of the nice US navy.

Comic review - Tintin # 18 - "The Calculus Affair" by Herge

The Moon series launched (if you'll excuse the pun) Herge to a whole new level of artistic excellence, which he maintained towards the end of his career. The art work in this is stunning, crossing Marlinspike to Switzerland to mysterious European countries (loosely based on Yugoslavia and Hungary).

The plot is less strong - it's basically Calculus gets kidnapped and they chase after him, just like the last act of The Seven Crystal Balls, so the adventures do have something of a mechanical ring about them. There are moments of genius, though - such as the tankc rashing through the building at the end, the re-appearance of Bianca Castafiore, and most of all the marvellous Jolyon Wagg, the perennially cheerful insurance salesman - a wonderful creation.

Comic review – Tintin #16 – “Destination Moon” by Herge

Part one of Herge’s true Tintin epic, where the author became so confident he decided to send his characters to the moon… and what’s more he pulled it off. We never are quite told why the Syldavian government (a) has enough money for a space program and (b) is happy for Tintin, Haddock and Snowy to go to the moon instead of someone from their own country (presumably Calculus trusts them and Tintin would make a sensible adult – but the others are bound to cause trouble and they do).

Herge treats the whole thing seriously and it works extremely well – though he does fall in love with his research at times resulting in some lumpy exposition. Haddock and the Thomsons bumble their way through the story, Calculus is offended by the word “goat” and has a magnificent tantrum, and there of course are baddies out to stop the mission. The launching is extremely tense. The piece has such ambition and sweep you forgive any of its flaws.

Comic review – Tintin #15 - “Land of the Black Gold” by Herge

Herge famously started work on this comic before the war and was using it to attack imperialism again – notably the presence of the British in Palestine, with the Irgun featured. War intervened and in coming back to it later Herge rewrote the story so it was set in a fictitious Arab country. (This long gestation period explains why Haddock is hardly in the story at all).

All that aside this is a real first-rate Tintin – the basic idea (mysterious explosions to oil disputing the world economy) is excellent, the pacing superb, the villain (Col Muller) is worthy adversary (dangerous, smart and ruthless), the Thomson Twins have never been better particularly facing mirages (Tintinologists have pointed out this was a wonderful last hurrah for them as main supporting actors – the role of bumbling sidekick was soon hogged by Haddock), the Arab settings are wonderful and most of all there is Abdullah, the brattish prince whose antics make for a hilarious and thrilling final chase sequence, one of the best in the whole series.

Comic review - Tintin #14 - "Prisoners of the Sun" by Herge

This Tintin has a flawed idea at its centre - Calculus has been abducted by a lost tribe of Incas who take him all the way to their secret hideout in the jungle in Peru so they can sacrifice him... because he wore some Inca jewellery.

It seems to be an awful lot of trouble to go to (especially since they don't want anyone to know they're around) for a relatively small offence. I can understand wanting to attack the expedition who dug up their treasures but not poor old Calculus.

Also this adventure tends to be episodic in nature, with the story basically consisting of a series of misadventures as Tintin, Haddock and Snowy track down their friend. Having said that, the exotic location of Peru (teaming cities, mountains, jungles) really works and it gets better and better the more "lost" our heroes become - we really feel they are in danger and cut off from everything. It is a real roller coaster adventure, with odd creatures, avalanches, villainous Indians, freezing cold, cemeteries, sacrifices and Haddock hilariously doing constant battle with llamas.

The portrayal of the jungle compensates for some of the slack work Herge did in The Broken Ear. The idea of the lost Inca civilisation is a strong one - it's very H Rider Haggard, and there is another Haggard touch when Tintin gets out of a spot of bother by predicting an eclipse (which surely the Incas knew about). Herge's take on the Inca civilisation is an odd one - while they're bloodthirsty and very strict, and spend most the book trying to kill Tintin, their point of view is sympathetically portrayed - they just want to protect their secrecy and their ancestors' belongings, and the little orphan boy whom Tintin befriends (rid your mind of impure thoughts when I write that! He's just another version of the Chang character from The Blue Lotus) decides to stay with them in the end. I would argue against Tintin's contention, though, that the archaeological expedition members were just trying to promote Inca culture - they were grave robbers.

Comic review - Tintin #13 - "The Seven Crystal Balls" by Herge

There had been two other two part Tintin's before, but this is the first one that was very much a Part 1, i.e. it doesn't really stand on its own. It gets off to a strong start, with creepy illnesses striking survivors of a Inca expedition, and mysterious balls of fire, but the last third or so is just running around looking for Calculus, and since you know we won't find him because you need him gone for the sequel, it feels all kind of pointless. It's done with pace, speed and accomplishment but I wouldn't count it in the first rank of Tintins. He's not living at Marlinspike at this stage, incidentally - Haddock is shacked up with Calculus.

Comic review - Tintin#12 - "Red Rackham's Treasure"

One of the most famous Tintin's - I would say only The Moon series would have a better known cover - and it is great fun, with Tintin, Haddock and co on a treasure hunt. Professor Calculus is an engaging addition to the main cast (there had been several eccentric scientists in the series til now but he took their place from this point on). Haddock is in glorious form in this one, really reaching full flower, swearing or bumbling; the shark submarine is charming as is the island. I'll put my hand up and admit, though, I didn't like it as much as The Secret of the Unicorn - it lacks villains (they mention the Birds, the baddies from the previous comic, having escaped from prison but don't use them - it would have been a better story with some human baddies), and while it is a bit more grown up to have them not find treasure on the island, it is a little anti-climactic.

Comic review - Tintin #11 - "The Secret of the Unicorn"

Glorious installment into the series: fast moving, funny, a real thrilling adventure. What could be romantic than a story about buried treasure? Although this is set mostly in town, there are flashbacks to Haddock's ancestor, and the wonderful Marlinspike Hall. It's simply great fun, close to perfection as these things go, and when Tintin says come back for Red Rackham's Treasure, you nearly want to cheer.

Haddock has thrown off the weaknesses of The Crab with the Golden Claws and the tentativeness of The Shooting Star to become a fine, flourishing character - you can feel Herge get increasingly excited by the possibilities of him (the writer increasingly identified with the stressed-out captain in later years).

Comic review - Tintin #10 - "The Shooting Star" by Herge

This comic got Herge into no end of trouble after World War Two and is the chief basis for all those Tintin-was-a-Nazi stories. Tintin takes part in an expedition to the Arctic Sea to track recover a meteor - the expedition has representatives from most European countries (including Germany), and the baddies are from a ficticious country but the chief baddy looks Jewish (in the original edition the country was America).

I don't think Herge was a Nazi, just a Belgium who was distrustful of all other countries except Belgium and, later, England - up til then he'd had digs at imperialism by America, Japan, Germany, Russia and England (but not Belgium) - but the drawing of the baddy is a bit anti-Semitic and makes the story a bit uncomfortable.

Having said that, this is a top quality entry - the opening scenes of impending apocalypse (heatwaves making tires burst, a creepy telescope) being particularly effective. Ditto the visit to the meteor, where there is spectacular action including a fight with the spider - this is weird, too - science fiction-ish but still has firm roots in reality, making it very effective. The setting of the Arctic Sea is higly effective - this Tintin looks like no other in the series. Haddock has a strong reason for being in this one as captain of the boat - he soon wouldn't need one apart from being Tintin's friend.

Comic review - Tintin #9 - "The Crab with the Golden Claws" by Herge

Following King Ottakar's Sceptre, Herge began work on what was to become Land of the Black Gold, but put that on hold due to WW2. Instead he came up with this adventure tale, which is a strong effort though a dip from Ottakar. This was presumably due to adjustments in Herge's working methods - for instance the story is so short that there are a number of drawings converted into full page ones to pad out the length.

The plot involves Tintin tracking down opium smugglers in North Africa: the African locations are pleasing, especially the hustle and bustle of the towns. This was Haddock's debut: he is a pitiful creature here, very alcoholic, so much so his drinking almost causes Tintin's death on a few occasions, though his temper and bravery are present and they would come through more in other adventures. The fact this was written in wartime may explain why there is a sympathetic Japanese character (a detective) - although to be fair there are sympathetic English, too (Haddock) and the look the French colonial offficers in Africa are kindly portrayed.

Comic review - Tintin#8 - "King Ottokar's Sceptre" by Herge

Brilliant Tintin, the last one without Haddock and easily the best - excellent drawings, a first-rate adventure tale with plenty of twists, and terrific atmosphere. It owes a little to The Prisoner of Zenda with its quiet mid European kingdom full of peasants and intrigue, theatrened by invasion from a brutal neighbour. The action sequences are fast and furious, Tintin is in a lot of danger, the Thompson Twins are in good form (I love the way they keep getting assigned to important jobs), and we meet Bianca Castiafore, one of the greatest Tintin support characters. The way the baddies steal the sceptre is genuinely clever - they are an imposing lot of antagonists (clearly inspired by fascists making this the most explicitly anti-fascist Tinin after The Blue Lotus). I particularly loved the history of Syldavia, with its story of Turk invasions and old pictures.

Comic review - Tintin #7 - "The Black Island" by Herge

The Blue Lotus is commonly considered the first classic Tintin but I've always been a bit cold on it (never quite known why - maybe the anti-Japanese stuff is a bit too full on and the Chang plot too icky). For me this is the first great one - beautifully drawn with wonderful British locations (especially the highlands and the mysterious island), with a solid story and consistent pacing throughout. To be fair on the other earlier comics the edition I have was rewritten extensively in 1966. But the charm would have been there all along. The Thompson twins are in excellent form, whether failing to arrest Tintin or taking over a plane, Snowy's method of rescuing Tintin (causing a goat to charge the baddies) is very clever, and the baddies are a tough bunch, worth adversaries. Great stuff.

Comic review - Tintin # 6 - "The Broken Ear" by Herge

I have a lot of affection for this Tintin, written at a time Herge was growing in confidence. It starts with a bang, with a missing piece from a museum and various people chasing it, and keeps strong as it goes off to South America - Tintin gets really drunk, gets caught up in a revolution, we meet General Alcazar, there is some brilliant satire over the horrible Gran Chaco Wars of the 1930s.

But as the action goes on Herge seems to run out of puff - the drawings get more simple (note how he doesn't even bother with backgrounds for some) and all the exposition comes in a big rush at the end (except for one plot point which Tintin admits he'll never find out - this was a bit slack). The final sequence with the American millionaire is a sequence too many - it feels as though the story should have ended in South America. Plenty of pace, fun and colour and the spoof banana republics is fun - there is a higher body count than usual (a solider is blown up, two people drown)

Comic review - Tintin # 5 - "The Blue Lotus" by Herge

This is often heralded as a major turning point in the Tintin series as Herge started to get a bit more serious about his plotting and art. It's hard to tell because Cigars of the Pharaoh, for which this is a sequel, was re-drawn so you can't tell the great leap in Herge's artistry. But he did try to make more of an effort with the drawings, especially to increase accuracy and base his opinions less on local Belgium prejudices.

Tintin goes to China to try to find a cure for madness and clashes with Japanese and also nasty Westerners. The story is very anti-Japanese (to be point of racism, really) and gives Western imperialists in Shanghai a hard time (the head of police is corrupt, an American businessman is a bully and a racist), while the Chinese are mostly nice and brave. The story is more closely tied in to a historical event than any other Tintin - to wit, the Mukden Incident, where a blown up rail line gave the Japanese an excuse to invade Manchuria. The stakes in this one are huge - Tintin really feels to be in a lot of danger, in a war torn country (China) chased by the force of a whole nation (Japan) and the police force of the international settlement - the Chinese govt don't really help him, only a (good) secret society. So you really feel Tintin is in peril a lot of the time. And the Chinese setting mean it really feels exotic and the insanity injections are genuinely terrifying. I admit though I've never been as fond of this story - don't know why, maybe the Japanese are too monkey like, and the stuff with Chan a bit too sentimental.