The adventures of Tintin. Volume 1

Read Tintin and Snowy’s adventures: Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and The Blue Lotus.

If this is your first foray into Hergé’s body of work, then I ask for you to please read completely until the end before passing judgement on some of his less favorable drawings. If you are already a fan, then you already know (and love) the wit of Tintin, the spunkiness of Snowy, and the carefully crafted web of mysteries that Tintin works to solve.

Tintin in America (1932): My thoughts? Tintin goes through quite a lot extremely quickly in this story and as someone who lives in America (keep in mind Hergé’s audience is mainly European during this time) it is fascinating to see how a European views Americans (fast, brash, obsessed with money—is he wrong?). I have read that Hergé wrote this story because he was appalled by America’s treatment of its Native American populations at the time (The Meriam Report aka “The Problem of Indian Administration” of 1928 detailed the overall conditions on land reservations, in boarding schools, and criticized the Dawes Act of 1887). The people of Blackfoot are featured albeit they seem like villains for a few pages due to the actual villain’s trickery (a common theme for Hergé). 

Cigars of the Pharaoh (1934): DEFINITELY READ this story BEFORE The Blue Lotus. I once read The Blue Lotus on its own which was fine, but you are left a little confused. Cigars of the Pharaoh fills any holes you have when reading The Blue Lotus alone. Please see my individual review of this book as I wrote too much for Tintin in America. 

The Blue Lotus (1936): PLEASE READ Cigars of the Pharaoh before you read The Blue Lotus. Hergé would occasionally continue storylines in Tintin’s next adventure, this being the first of that lineal fashion. Please see my individual review of this book as I wrote far too much for Tintin in America.