Tintin Volume 1

by Hergé
Age Range: 9-11

Follow some of Tintin’s earliest adventures in the first volume of Tintin comics. Here Tintin fights for the truth and his life in Communist Russia whilst reporting for his newspaper in Tintin in the Land of the Sovietsand uncovers crime whilst reporting and enjoying a Safari break in the Colonial Era Congo in Tintin in the Congo. Enjoy two tales of derring-do as Tintin wins through, risking life and limb against dangerous foes and even more dangerous wild animals. Accompanied by his faithful dog Snowy, the end of the story always sees him looking out for the next exciting adventure.

Setting the tone of fun and high adventure that characterise Tintin’s Adventures, the first volume of Tintin comics contains the first two stories of the well-loved series. Despite being early versions of Tintin tales (especially his exploits in Russia) which still see the character and Hergé’s artistry developing somewhat, the stories are fast-paced with lots of different action sequences and excitement and the plots are gripping. I recently took the complete collection on holiday and enjoyed them immensely because they were as well-plotted as many adult crime novels and the illustrations gave the stories a fun, comic touch that can be enjoyed whatever your age. In fact, Snowy’s sharp, slightly cynical commentary is perhaps better appreciated by older readers as a foil to Tintin’s perpetual youthful optimism.

Overall, the Tintin comics are wonderful stories, pieces of art and a really good read, but the early Tintin stories in the first volume are not without their flaws. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets is rather long and flags in places despite Tintin’s many exciting escapades. Although Tintin is a tough and resourceful character, he also seems more of a hothead here than he does in subsequent stories and is certainly a bit less pleasant. The first story is also the only Tintin comic still in black and white and Hergé’s style is less refined than in later efforts. As a result, some of the drawings are not clear to look at and seem monotonous when the action flags, especially compared to the lush, colour panels in later works.

In contrast, Tintin in the Congo is very bright and colourful and is a good deal shorter and sharper. Yet the series still has some flaws. When Tintin goes big-game hunting, he manages to accidentally kill a great amount of antelope and also kills a monkey and a giraffe in order to use their skins. Whilst the scenes are not graphic and are in some ways quite comic, they also seem a little excessive today and some children may find the implications of the scenes distressing.

Tintin also seems a calmer, more neutral character than before but he still has a couple of unpleasant traits and is very much a product of his time. In Tintin in the Land of the Soviets Tintin’s politicised status as a reporter makes him very outspokenly anti-communist. Whilst he is correct in some of his assertions about the Communist regime, says nothing offensive and can be seen as very much of his time, some may view him as perhaps too derogatory towards Russian Communist characters for a childrens’ story and he may seem too political a character for modern tastes in his earliest incarnation, occasionally scoring rather cheap points. Similarly, Hergé’s colonial, ‘paternalistic’ depiction of the Tintin and the Congolese was very much the accepted view when Tintin in the Congo was written. Although today this is merely a sign of Belgium’s colonial history rather than a valid, current interpretation of Belgium and the Congolese, this aspect of the story still makes for uncomfortable reading in places and may mar what is otherwise a very good Tintin adventure. Many editions come with a preface that explains this problem of interpretation and Hergé himself regretted his work and revised some drawings a few years after the initial publication. By Tintin’s next adventure, ‘foreign’ characters are not drawn in such a caricatured way and only occasionally do their speech bubbles contain phrases that suggest their accents are amusing or emphasise broken English, usually showing them to speak perfectly and fluently.

Despite such negatives, which are increasingly ironed out as the series grows, Tintin is a very innocent world for children. Right nearly always prevails, the violence is never graphic and there is no swearing. Later stories are also more careful in their portrayal of Tintin, politics and other characters. Although Hergé is a very good satirist and often introduces children to wider political issues, the research and detail he puts into his plots and drawings are more likely to be appreciated by adults. To enjoy these stories, readers need a sense of fun and adventure and children need to be old enough to understand that some of the earlier depictions of Tintin are products of their time and must be read and treated them as such, a problem that really only affects the stories in Volume One. The Egmont editions that come in volumes are also great value, fitting three or four stories into one book for a better overall price and a lot less shelf space.

Abby Phillips (2012)