An important thing to specify is that until the shooting star, Hergé works alone doing everything by his own. While looking for a collaborator to help him coloring the first albums, he meets E.P. Jacobs who will have an influence on the future of Hergé's works. It is him who brings him the care brought to the settings and the documentation and you can feel that influence in the 2 diptychs The secret of the unicorn/Red rackham's treasure and 7 crystal balls/prisoners of the sun . After prisoners of the sun, Jacobs leaves to devote himself to his own comic strip Blake and Mortimer, Hergé then creates the Hergé studios in which he will work with other collaborators, Jacques Martin, Bob De Moor and Roger Leloup. At this stage, it is still Hergé who is the creator, he writes the script and draws the characters, his collaborators draw the sets and ink the drawings, they also take care of advertising orders. The reason why the last 2 albums are less appreciated by Tintinophiles is that they consider that Sidney and the Picaros are more a result of the work of Hergé studios than from Hergé himself.
Excellent stuff, and so clearly laid out! I'm pinning this for the benefit of everyone, thank you! Although I will say that I am big fan of the Jacobs/ DeMoor/ Studios contributions, as evidenced in a number of my other videos! 😁
Fun fact: on the cover of the cigars of the pharaoh, one mummy has the name E.P Jacobs. And you can feel his role with all the Egyptian decorations, which can be seen as well in the Blake and Mortimer’s Secret of the great pyramid.
Hergé worked alone until Red Rackham's treasure. It was written during the 39-45 war. This is the last "handwork" album, hence its extraordinary beauty. Jacobs comes next, after the war and we can clearly feel a change in the colors in The seven crystal balls. It's the only album that has these colors brighter than usual.
I loved both parts of this mate. Really great blend of obvious and deep interest in the source material, over a lifetime of enjoyment. More videos please!
For the Love of Comics PS starting with three of my favourite series hasn’t done any harm either. Got a fan right here at this rate. But where is you Incal overview lol
Every TinTin is brilliant. The folk that say some aren't that good as others just aren't fans imo. Cigars of the Pharoah was the first TinTin i ever read and still holds a special place for me but I adore them all.
I love them all as well but fans always have their own rankings. It's not an absolute judgement, it's only relative to itself, as a collection. Like how we like some performances by an actor more than others, but doesn't mean anything is bad. For me it's about which ones I go to reread more, which ones I remember more, which ones I find myself relating to every day life etc. We all have various reasons, and nostalgia, as you correctly point out, can also be a powerful factor, making all comparisons purely subjective and only for encouraging discussion among fans! ,🙂
I for one love THE SHOOTING STAR! It is the first book I remember reading, and when I fell in love with comic books and Tintin. It still is one of my favorite Tintin. FLIGHT 714 was probably changed to have a title closer to the original french VOL 714 POUR SYDNEY.
Rangersly I have no idea why some people dislike The Shooting Star (purely anecdotal, of course). From the otherworldly doom of the start to the madcap ending, I think it’s a blast!
I think THE SHOOTING STAR is viewed by critics and detractors as too unrealistic ( instant giant mutated mushroom and spider). But it is still a very fun and thriling adventure. And the cover sure grabbed 7 years old-me when I went to the school library for the very fist time and had to pick my first book to bring home!
Thank you so much! And haha yes, even nestled in a more tree lined neighbourhood away from big roads, the constant sound of vehicles is a great irritant when makin videos. I have, since this video, moved away from the large window I was using for light to avoid the sound of passing traffic.
I am french canadian and here is your flight 714 title answer : the original french comic was titled "vol 714 pour sydney" wich really is literally "flight 714 to sidney" but i think it was a design thing, why they just named it "flight 714" just took my french flight to see... the plane was originally in the upper right corner, because "vol 714" fitted at the left because it is shorter than "pour sydney", that would fit all the way under it. graphically, just "flight 714" is longer than "to sydney" in english language, and because by the old times ways, it was much more complicated to move the plane all the way down and "bamboozling" it all to fit so i think thats why they just wrote "flight 714". But egmont updated their tintins with casterman wanting in the start of 2000s to have everything with the "Rémi Script" digital font that is really similar to the original french handwriting. And that is why, it became very easy to digitally move the plane and rearrange everything to fit well today, with all the "flight 714 to sydney" in the rectangle, being now very similar to the original french title, appart from having the plane in the lower right corner. (Please like so he sees)
Thanks so much for that - it makes complete sense, of course! I guess it's just particular nostalgia, in my case for the 'original English' title. The size of just Flight 714 also made it bolder, to my child's eye, and the unusual nature of the title was highlighted particularly by it's brevity (there's no other two-word title in the whole series!) 😁
@@ftloc thanks so much to have answered! also I now have the 90 aniversary egmont collection too and am enjoying the english ones to see how they were translated and I really liked your video showcasing it! Love from Québec, Canada!
Thank you for your insight into the world of Tintin, I have been a fan since I was 10 years old (47 years ago) , I agree totally with your interpretation.
So glad you enjoyed this video! I hope you get a chance to try out all the other videos and playlists (including 9 or 10 Tintin videos but also plenty of others) I have on this little channel! 😁
I really love your videos. I'm a diehard Tintin fan since about the age of 7 or 8, back in the early to mid 70's, when I started out with The Seven Crystal Balls. Unfortunately, I lost most of my original childhood copies through carelessly loaning them out to so called "friends" who never returned them. And the very few that I did get back ended up falling apart, because they were so old. So I'm rebuilding my Tintin collection all over again. I recently bought the Egmont original size boxset, and I'm now getting me all the ones in the original size hardcover format as well, because I just love those original size Tintin hard covers also. Yep, Tintin will forever hold a very special place in my heart.
Thank you so much! For me it was a very similar journey, although I managed to hold on to a couple of those ragged childhood copies. I didn't get the box set because I'd already bought the hardcovers one by one, but it's such a simple yet lovelyy thing, isn't it?
@@ftloc Oh yes! I absolutely love that box set. It's like a work of art. Actually if you ask me, I feel that all the Tintin books, especially in their original size, are a work of art. Because the covers alone look like paintings, especially when they are displayed on a shelf. As a kid, I remember walking into a bookshop and seeing Tintin books displayed on bookshelves. I would go absolutely bonkers and start pestering my parents to get me the books, even if they were in French. That was the effect those covers alone would have on me back then. I'm very happy to say that that childhood fascination with Tintin books is still there inside of me, and through the internet, I'm so glad to discover that I'm not alone in this.
Im not even that big of a Tintin fan... and here I am watching all these videos because you're so amazing and sharing your knowledge and passion. I vote for you to host a full budget Documentary.
Thank you for this, I'm waiting to hear more on the Blue Lotus. But anyway, I personally loved all the Tintin adventures. The Castafiore Emerald may not have taken place at an exotic location like the other Tintin books did, but it was still good and one of my favorites. It was humorous, it explored some parts of Tintin that other books may not have had the chance to explore, while taking a break from all the perilous journeys. Flight 714 was interesting concept-wise, but it didn't really grasp my full attention, probably because I didn't understand it well, or maybe because of missing elements from a typical Tintin adventure. Tintin and the Picaros was very colorful, but it changed a few things, like Tintin's clothing, and some missing elements, which made the story a bit mediocre, and a bit favorable. But I just wish Herge didn't stop at Tintin and the Picaros because it didn't really feel like a final book. If Herge had been alive for more time, he could've had finished Alph-Art for people who are dying to hear what happened, at least Rodier finished it, but I wonder how Herge would've done it. Tintin is one of those comics that got better as the story moved forward with new, colorful characters. It feels weird looking back at the earlier books after reading the new ones, because Tintin's world feels kind of lonely without these new characters.
My favorite stories are Secret of the Unicorn/Red Rackham’s Treasure, Destination Moon/Explorer’s on the Moon, The Shooting Star, Tintin in Tibet and Tintin and the Picaros, but all of them are great really.
Yes, they all are really good, picking favourtes is more a fun exercise than any serious criticism 😋 Have you checked out my personal Top 6? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-yCDBxyIxO9M.html
@@ftloc Just did, and I was surprised by your #1 pick. It’s one of the stories I’m least familiar with personally. Will have to reread that one soon :)
I love "The Shooting Star", too. In fact, contrary the what critics say, it's the over-the-top qualities of the Calystene or the unlikelihood of their escapes from danger or challenges that make it the great fun it is.
I have to agree! That's really part of its charm, and what gives it such a unique identity. I guess it is that uniqueness that people find not to fit in with the other stories?
It is fascinating just to recall the story that I have read long ago, let alone for a child! It gives a certain hope that the world could just be magical!
Every tintin album is great, very different themes are written, as a huge tintin fan I love all of them, when I was a kid, only flight 714 was kind of weird to me, but as an adult I re-read it and actually it is great! Every tintin album is special and masterpiece !
Haha they are indeed a much loved set of books! 😁 We also moved around a lot when I was a kid, so it certainly didn't help that they always traveled with us!
Great work man. I am a big lover of Tintin after all this years. My first Tintin was Cigars of pharaon, back in 1993(i think). It s my favorite one. It was so dificulte to find Tintin in serbian. But I manage to get most of it. I think everyone is great exept the first two, bouth drawing and stories.
Oh yeah, they all have something to recommend them, in the comments of my various Tintin videos, I've also met people who say Congo or Soviets are their favoruites! 😋 I'm glad to enjoyed these videos and if you get the time, do check out my other videos, including my most recent edition comparison - of Cigars of the Pharaoh! 😁
I collect Tintin books in different languages and I usually buy an album whenever I travel abroad. Incidentally, one of the last additions to my collection was "The Cigars of The Pharaoh" and "The Blue Lotus" in Serbian! Bought them both in Belgrade last year.
You should have mentioned the graphic novel adaptation of the animated film _Tintin and the Lake of Sharks._ For completists: Casterman (Fr) / Methuen (En) also put out a couple storybooks [same format as the comics] based on the live-action films: _Tintin and the Golden Fleece_ and _Tintin and the Blue Oranges._ Hergé was around for all of these.
P.S. It would be nice to do a retrospective on Hergé's other mini-series: _Jo, Zette, and Jocko,_ as well as _Quick & Flupke._ Both of which are excellent.
Yes, I always end up leaving out _The Lake of Sharks_ just because it wasn't done in the same way and I don't own a copy. And I've never been able to get my hands on the _Golden Fleece_ or _Blue Oranges_ books, although I have kept an eye out for them. I remember _The Valley of The Cobras_ but have never gotten to read any other Jo ,Zette or Quick and Flupke but have heard good things. One day! 😁
To me there's a lot of American crime/noir influence mixed into in a lot of Herge's stories so I would not at all be surprised to know he liked Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, James M Cain and others, or the movies based on their works!
@@ftloc It is said also, that Herge was influenced by silent comics too. We can certainly see that with the slapstick involving the hapless Thompson Twins!
Hergé could not be influenced by this 1941 film because at the time Belgium and France were occupied by the Germans who banned American films. The Secret of the Unicorn was released in 1943, and American films from this period did not reach Europe until the end of the war in 1945-1946.
@@blacksad1287 yes, thank you for the clarification. The artwork in Tintin in America though, seems very influenced by '30s gangster movies starring James Cagney & Edward G. Robinson.
@@philiphalpenny9761 Hergé himself said that Tintin in America had been influenced by American movies about prohibition of the late 20's and early 30's (1931)
Yes! What he wore before are apparently called 'two-by-fours' and in Picaros he's in bell bottoms. I'm guessing if Herge had completed Alph Art, Tintin would have been in bell bottoms, or different pants, in that one too.
It is really difficult to select one favourite from the entire set of Tintin stories, but I'm really particular about 2 - Flight 714 and The Calculus Affair! I find these two stories really far fetched and stretching the usual standards of imagination. There is another book though, which is not as good as the others in my opinion - Tintin in the Lake of Sharks! Do you have that?
I completely agree on Flight 714: In spite of (or because of?) its more out-there elements, I find it endlessly re-readable and full of great character moments including Carriedas, Haddock, Rastapopulous and Calculus in particular, with a lot of great callbacks in Skut and Alan, terrific planes and guns and jungles and all that delicious Tintin-y stuff! 😀. But The Calculus Affair - which, as you know I love - is in some ways one of the least 'far-fetched' of them all. It is completely set in the real world, with no supernatural or sci-fi overtones; the central idea of people competing to develop a new weapon is painfully realistic; and all the set pieces are those of a vintage spy thriller (helicopters, motorboats, speeding Italian cars!). But yes, the twists and turns are really piled on, aren't they? I could speak for an hour on how great The Calculus Affair is...
Yes now that you say, I think the reason it sticks in my mind as something far fetched is because of the time I read it. I was in school back then and the kind of wild chase that Tintin goes on to find Calculus, and the professor having almost no clue as to what's up, it seemed to me as a very grounded but out of the world adventure. I guess I'll go for a re-read of all the Tintin comics.. I was in class 2 when I had broken my right arm and had to rest for 3 months at home and an uncle in Gujarat gave me his copies of Tintin in America, The Blue Lotus and quite a few other stories. I was engrossed by them. 5 years back, when I was leaving my hometown for higher studies, when I didn't know how comics would become a part of my life, I followed the chain and gifted those books to my first student! He is into artwork now and wants to study at NID when he passes his 12th! How beautiful and memorable your life can be with comics eh!
What a lovely story! Yes, comics do put quite a distinct stamp on some lives, and I am also struck by how many common experiences people have - of reading comics when sick in bed, of finding old, tattered piles like treasure, reading reading until they fall apart - no matter where or when in the world! 😀 Definitely rebuild your collection now, and no need to do it chronologically - start with the ones you love the most and hopscotch all over the timeline! I can personally attest for the great fun to be had in that approach.
Some controversy about The Shooting Star may be because of the context under which it was written : Belgium was under german occupation and it looked like Hergé didn't want to take any risk with the censorship : the team of scientists come from neutral or axis countries, the antagonists look like a stereotypical american banker.
Ah how interesting! Herge did, of course, get prosecuted or at least 'investigated' after the war but I can completely see how even a non' collaborator' would have to be careful with their work at that time. The boorish American stereotype is something I saw as a callback to Tintin in America and the various crowds that always collected around Tintin! 😁
Ah yes! Because that book was made from taking frames from an animated movie, and not drawn and laid out by Herge, I don't really count it or include it as part of the regular comics series. But I quite like the adventure itself!
I don't like it either! But it is actually a more faithful translation of the original French title ' _Vol 714 pour Sydney_ ' so the person to sack is Herge himself! 😁
Have you heard of the finished version of Tintin Alph art? I don't know who but someone finished the book with the permission of Hergé's wife and it's actually not bad it has a lot of cameos from other characters The full book is actually free on RU-vid here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-svAm-4jBmBw.html
Uncle I am from India asking for helping me about buying tintin comics..... I am confused between buying crab with the golden claws and the 2 sets of secret of the unicorn and red reckham's treasure .....can u tell be which one shall I buy the two part story or the crab with the golden claws.....I want to know which one is the best so that I can buy one ...
Ooh interesting question. In my opinion the two part Unicorn story is the better narrative, but Golden Class is a lot of fun, and that's where you meet Haddock for the first time. I think in your future you will read all of them, so there's no wrong choice here! 😁
@@mampilahiri3441 They do have an order but honestly when I was young i read them all out of order and it ended up not really mattering. You'll just know this happened before that etc. Go for fun and reading more than planning a perfect way. I would say! 😁
@@ftloc okay thanks for advice......😀😀.....I have decided to enjoy all three of them at first I am gonna read crab with the golden claws which shows the introduction of captain haddock many many thanks uncle
Yes, that's true but since that is based on a film and not drawn by Herge I don't really count it as a canonical Tintin adventure. I think there are books of Tintin and the Blue Oranges and Golden Fleece as well, but I wouldn't count them for the same reasons, I think.
@@M.athematech Ah, but isn't Lake of Sharks also a book of the film? That's what it was always referred to in my childhood copies, on its cover as well as the back of all the albums.
@@ftloc It is a full comic book adaptation of the film which was an animated film. The adaptation was based on taking stills of the animation and adding speech bubbles etc, but the result is a full comic book album. The Golden Fleece and Blue Oranges books are text stories with a few stills from the films (which were live action). There are unauthorized comic book adaptations of Golden Fleece and Blue Oranges. (The Golden Fleece unauthorized comic can be found in black & white on the Internet Archive, apparently it exists colorized as well.)
@@M.athematech Ah I see - I didn't realize those others were essentially 'illustrated books' since I've only heard of them but never read them. But while you can clip sequences from any movie, animated or not, to make a comic, the layout/design/panel-to-panel transitions, and the variations in size and space - all the things that comprise comics' art - are very differently approached, if at all, so I can't really compare that to the other comics in Herge's oeuvre . But I have to say I loved the walkie talkies in Lake of Sharks. when I was young, I wanted nothing more than a pair of those giant walkie talkies, and a well and a bucket to hide them in.
Yes, a few people have asked about that - being a 'book of the movie' and not quite drawn/designed/laid out as a comic, I didn't include it as a Herge comics album, although it is of course seen as part of the series.
Weirdly in the Astro boy manga the first person on the moon was a Russian woman . I wonder what would have happened if tin tin and friends had ended up in Astro boys world or visa Versa.?