Red Rackham's Treasure (The Adventures of Tintin)

Rating:
Summary: Prof. Calculus helps Tintin with his underwater adventure
Review: Make sure you read the previous Tintin Adventure, "The Secret of the Unicorn," otherwise you will really not know all about the background on "Red Rackham's Treasure," despite the fact Hergé offers a bit of a recapitulation in the form of a conversation overhead in a bar. The main thing is that having collected all the clues regarding the titular treasure, Tintin and Captain Haddock are prepared to go forth and find it. However, almost as important as the search for the treasure is our introduction to the final pivotal member of the Tintin family, as Professor Cuthbert Calculus offers the service of his small shark-proof submarine for exploring the ocean floor. Tintin refuses the offer, but it turns out that Professor Calculus always hears somkething other than what somebody is really saying. Adding to the fun are the Thom(p)sons, who come alone with orders to protect Tintin.

"Red Rackham's Treasure" is mostly a pure adventure story, with Tintin using the small submarine and a deep sea diving suit to look for the treasure of the Unicorn. But there is still some detective work left to be done to decipher the final cryptic clues left by Sir Francis Haddock concerning the treasure's location. I still like Hergé's two-part adventure that sent Tintin to the Moon, but this two-parter is not far behind. This is the last of the Tintin stories Hergé wrote during World War II, and after this point we will definitely see his stories become much more allegorical in terms of post-War Europe. But this time around it is just Tintin, Snowy, and company out having fun beneath the deep blue sea.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: Tintin is great. I never tire of re-reading him.
Red Rackham's Treasure sees our erstwhile hero gallivanting off with Snowy, Captain Haddock and the Thompson Twins after the adventures outlined in "Secret of the Unicorn'. In this book we are introduced to the absent-minded Professor Calculus - it's always great to see how the drawing of characters change after a couple of adventures! - and his amazing shark submarine. Suffice it to say, deep-sea diving, bottles of rum, the odd shark, all lead to the golden treasure in a most unexpected place.
Everyone should read Tintin and this adventure is one of the best.