Tintin: Nostalgia Formerly in the Making

Hello everyone!

For today’s blog post, I want to recap to one of my favorite parts about Nepal, we went to this souvenir shop, where we bought some books. One was about Hindu mythology, another was a copy of Anne Frank’s diary, but the last one is very important. It was a book called “Tintin in Tibet“. I had heard about Tintin when I was reading a list of the most recognizable characters and Tintin was on that list. I bought the book (after a little bit of begging from my mom and dad) and I read it.

It. Was. HILARIOUS.

Now today, I’ll be telling you about Tintin and his adventures around the world so you can read them too and be laughing and on your seats for the entirety of the series. The series isn’t going anymore and there is an unfinished book, since the author died before finishing the series, so don’t expect for a reboot of Tintin in 2024!

THE CHARACTERS

There are many characters in Tintin, and if I told you about all of them, I would have to be writing here until December (this is on October). So, I’ll be telling you all about the main characters of the Tintin books, so most of the characters that have their own Wikipedia page.

TINTIN

Of course we’re going to start with the title protagonist! Tintin is a young (like about 16 years old?) Belgian reporter who is always traveling the world to solve mysteries, save friends, stop the baddies or even all three! He is famous throughout many places due to an incident that involved the Soviet government and him, since he found the policy reasons behind the Soviet Union. He usually is a kind, polite boy that does whatever is right. However, there are SOME rare times where he has gotten drunk and even has shouted some curse words (which, luckily, were blocked out by different symbols). He has made many friends from around the world, but the one that has always stayed by his side in all of his adventures is Snowy, who we’ll be talking about now…

SNOWY

Dogs are man’s best friend. This definitely applies to Snowy, a completely white Fox Terrier that has been with Tintin since the very start of his adventures. He usually “talks” (probably in barks) to Tintin. Even though he wants to have a peaceful life, he will never leave Tintin’s side, and howls “for the dead” when Tintin is away without him or if he’s in grave danger. He has a big role in some of the books, but he has some VERY bad habits. The first one is his love for bones. This usually gets into his way in doing important things that can save Tintin’s life, as in “Tintin in Tibet”. However, he sometimes avoids this habit, like in “King Ottokar’s Sceptre”. Another of Snowy’s habits include him drinking whisky, usually by accident, and then getting drunk. His personality represents a lot like another character, who we’re going to talk about soon, so Snowy’s speaking role was reduced.

CAPTAIN ARCHIBALD HADDOCK

Probably my favorite character in the entire series, Captain Haddock appears later than some characters, making his debut in “The Crab with the Golden Claws”. He is a (now retired) sailor that is a strong alcoholic at heart and physically. He, however, is a close friend of Tintin, and cares a lot about both Tintin and Snowy. He usually makes insults at people that steal his alcohol and, even worse, gets angry and tries to look for the person that stole or destroyed his alcohol. However, he’s very smart in some situations and is a honest and (sometimes) kind. to He has a good relationship with Tintin and Snowy, and a hatred but trusting relationship with Professor Calculus, who we’re going to talk about later. With his petty attitude but heart of gold, Captain Haddock is my favorite character in the series. He’s most famous for his colorful and diverse insults, which include every letter of the alphabet! He’s missing one for “X” however…

PROFESSOR CUTHBERT CALCULUS

Like Captain Haddock, the professor appeared later than other characters in the series (making his debut in “Red Rackham’s Treasure), including a lot of professors before him (like Professor Alembick in “King Ottokar’s Sceptre” and Professor Phostle in “The Shooting Star”) until the creator of Tintin (Herge) made him the only professor and a main character in the series. He’s mostly known for his profound hearing problem, which makes him hear words differently than others. However, he’s really smart and has shown this smartness to make a shark submarine and even a rocket to the moon! He has a good relationship with Tintin and Haddock, being a close friend of the former. But don’t try to insult him, however! He was a former combat sportsman before he was a professor, and he can lift a person twice his size, and he will go on a rant that will make you scared of the guy! Mostly, however, Calculus is mostly shown for comic relief. This trait is shared by two characters that first appeared in the series wayyyyyyyyyy before him…

THOMSON AND THOMPSON

Don’t fear the stern mean looks of these two detectives. Thomson and Thompson are certified detectives doesn’t mean they’re good at their job. Making their debut in “Cigars of The Pharaoh”, the two are stupid, flimsy and are usually the butt monkeys of the main characters. They are almost identical in looks, except for the moustaches. Thomson has the curls in the mustache and Thompson does not. The pair have a habit of one saying a sentence and the other saying “To be precise:” and then say the sentence AGAIN in a very stupid, unrelated way that makes the readers laugh out loud. For example (in “The Broken Ear”), while the duo was investigating a letter that was signed by a person named “X”, the duo concluded with a statement that made the client MAD! Thomson concluded “My mind is made up: this letter is anonymous. Nobody knows who wrote it!” while Thompson followed up with “To be precise: I agree. An anonymous letter nobody wrote!”. The two are mostly used for comic relief, but they DO sometimes help Tintin on his adventures sometimes. They usually think that Tintin is the bad guy though…

BONUS CHARACTER: CHANG CHONG-CHEN

First appearing in “The Blue Lotus”, this friend of Tintin’s only appears in two books, but is very memorable on his own, So memorable, in fact, he has his own Wikipedia page! Chang is a boy that Tintin met in China while the former was drowning in a flood. After Tintin listed some dumb stereotypes about Chinese people that Europeans think is true, much to Chang’s hilarity. Later, Chang helps Tintin defeat Roberto Rastapopoulos from smuggling drugs and kidnapping a professor (NOT Professor Calculus, mind you). He also then appeared in “Tintin In Tibet” when he was in a plane crash but was saved by the Yeti. Tintin leaving him is one of the few moments when the former cries. He’s my sister’s favorite character, so I put him here as a bonus character.

MY FAVORITE TINTIN BOOKS

I’m just putting this list on here so that everyone reading this actually can read my favorite Tintin Adventures and laugh all the way with me!

• Tintin In Tibet
• The Black Island
• The Blue Lotus
• The Shooting Star
• Prisoners of the Sun
• Destination Moon
• Explorers on the Moon

THE TINTIN BOOKS I HAVE NOT READ (yet!)

I’m putting this list on so that I can keep track of what books I have not read yet (and also to point out that I have not read The Calculus Affair yet!) . And if anyone here has read these Tintin adventures, tell me if you liked them or not!

• Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
• Tintin in the Congo
• The Calculus Affair
• The Red Sea Sharks
• The Castafiore Emerald
• Flight 714 to Sydney
• Tintin and the Picaros

Lastly, I decided not to add “Tintin in Alph-Art” because it is unfinished and I think that reading the last completed book is the best thing to a sequel.

Happy reading!

– Nova S