Rating: 
Summary: Tintin travels to China and makes friends with young Chang
Review: "The Blue Lotus" begins where "Cigars of the Pharaoh" left off, with Tintin and Snowy in India as the guests of the Maharaja of Gaipajama. The evil gang of international drug smugglers had been smashed and all of them are now behind bars except for the mysterious leader, who disappeared over a cliff. A visitor from Shanghai is hit with a dart dipped in Rajaijah juice, the poison of madness, which is enough to send our interipd hero to the Chinese city where his rickshaw runs into Gibsons, an occidental who is not looking where he is going and starts beating the rickshaw driver for daring to barge into a white man. Tintin intervenes, calling the man's conduct disgraceful and Gibbon vows revenge. The next thing we know Tintin is being shot at every time he turns around. Things become even more mysterious when another bystander is hit with a Rajaijah dart and Tintin embarks on a ship for Bombay only to wake up in the home of Wang Chen-yee, who begins to unravel the mystery for our hero.
This Tintin adventure was first published in Belgium in 1934-35, although the story is actually set in 1931, which was when Japanese troops were first occupying parts of China. Shangai, the great northern seaport on the Yangtze river, had an International Settlement that served as a trading base for Western nations. Hergé incoprorates several actual events in this narrative, including the blowing-up of the South Manchurian railway, which served as an excuse for further Japanese incursions into China, and led to Japan walking out on the League of Nations.
Of course, it is the Japanese invaders who are after Tintin, who is pretty much on his own for most of this adventure until the Thom(p)sons show up with orders to arrest him (of course the duo don native dress, wanting to avoid causing a scene by walking around dressed in European clothes). The title of the story comes form an opium den that figures prominently in the resoltuion of the tale. "The Blue Lotus" finds Hergé fully committed to providing accurate cultural details in is stories, although this story has the added virtue of being the most "realistic" in terms of portraying current events in a world poised on the brink of war. His drawings of Asian figures can certainly be considered caricatures, but then this is pretty much true of the way he draws everybody in these stories, with the simplistic look of Tintin being the exception that proves the rule.
"The Blue Lotus" is also the adventure in which Tintin meets Chang Choug-chen, a young orphaned Chinese boy our hero saves from drowning. Chang is surprised a white devil would bother to save his life and Tintin haas to explain how not all white men are wicked. The character of Chang is based on Chang Chong-Chen,a young Chinese student who became Hergé's friend in 1934, as is the case with Chang and Tintin. When the Communists took over China the two friends lost touch. Decades later Tintin would race across half the earth to help rescue his friend in "Tintin in Tibet" in 1960. Even though he does not appear in the interim, Hergé makes it clear that Chang is a very special friend to Tintin. "The Blue Lotus" is a first rate Tintin adventure, made all the more special because once World War II began Hergé made a concerted effort to distance his stories from the horrors of the real world. After the war Hergé would deal with East-West tensions on a completely fictional level, making this early adventure of more than passing interest in Hergé's career.Oh, and in 1981, Georges Remi (a.k.a. Hergé) and Chang Chong-Chen were reunited.
Rating:
Summary: Tintin travels to China and makes friends with young Chang
Review: "The Blue Lotus" begins where "Cigars of the Pharaoh" left off, with Tintin and Snowy in India as the guests of the Maharaja of Gaipajama. The evil gang of international drug smugglers had been smashed and all of them are now behind bars except for the mysterious leader, who disappeared over a cliff. A visitor from Shanghai is hit with a dart dipped in Rajaijah juice, the poison of madness, which is enough to send our interipd hero to the Chinese city where his rickshaw runs into Gibsons, an occidental who is not looking where he is going and starts beating the rickshaw driver for daring to barge into a white man. Tintin intervenes, calling the man's conduct disgraceful and Gibbon vows revenge. The next thing we know Tintin is being shot at every time he turns around. Things become even more mysterious when another bystander is hit with a Rajaijah dart and Tintin embarks on a ship for Bombay only to wake up in the home of Wang Chen-yee, who begins to unravel the mystery for our hero.
This Tintin adventure was first published in Belgium in 1934-35, although the story is actually set in 1931, which was when Japanese troops were first occupying parts of China. Shangai, the great northern seaport on the Yangtze river, had an International Settlement that served as a trading base for Western nations. Hergé incoprorates several actual events in this narrative, including the blowing-up of the South Manchurian railway, which served as an excuse for further Japanese incursions into China, and led to Japan walking out on the League of Nations.
Of course, it is the Japanese invaders who are after Tintin, who is pretty much on his own for most of this adventure until the Thom(p)sons show up with orders to arrest him (of course the duo don native dress, wanting to avoid causing a scene by walking around dressed in European clothes). The title of the story comes form an opium den that figures prominently in the resoltuion of the tale. "The Blue Lotus" finds Hergé fully committed to providing accurate cultural details in is stories, although this story has the added virtue of being the most "realistic" in terms of portraying current events in a world poised on the brink of war. His drawings of Asian figures can certainly be considered caricatures, but then this is pretty much true of the way he draws everybody in these stories, with the simplistic look of Tintin being the exception that proves the rule.
"The Blue Lotus" is also the adventure in which Tintin meets Chang Choug-chen, a young orphaned Chinese boy our hero saves from drowning. Chang is surprised a white devil would bother to save his life and Tintin haas to explain how not all white men are wicked. The character of Chang is based on Chang Chong-Chen,a young Chinese student who became Hergé's friend in 1934, as is the case with Chang and Tintin. When the Communists took over China the two friends lost touch. Decades later Tintin would race across half the earth to help rescue his friend in "Tintin in Tibet" in 1960. Even though he does not appear in the interim, Hergé makes it clear that Chang is a very special friend to Tintin. "The Blue Lotus" is a first rate Tintin adventure, made all the more special because once World War II began Hergé made a concerted effort to distance his stories from the horrors of the real world. After the war Hergé would deal with East-West tensions on a completely fictional level, making this early adventure of more than passing interest in Hergé's career. Oh, and in 1981, Georges Remi (a.k.a. Hergé) and Chang Chong-Chen were reunited.
Rating: 
Summary: The Blue Lotus
Review: After a few days in royalty in India, Tintin is summoned to a new mystery in China. This time he has to investigate the doings of a secret drug dealer, the only problem is that they are too secret. Ofcourse this book has mystery and suspense and I reccomend it to any person who loves the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for adventure lovers
Review: I really liked this book. The slapstick humor is funny and Tintin is quite an ingenius reporter. The plot is complex, and a little too complex for me. This is the sort of book that you read again and again and again. I read quite a few Tintin books before this one, and by then I had gotten sick of the humor. But if you like Tintin or if you've never read about him, get this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Tintin books
Review: The Blue lotus is a very interesting book. It has lots of adventure and humor. Drawings are very nice, detailed and clear. The story is great and the ideas are superb. It is one of the best Tintin books written by Herge.
Rating:
Summary: The Blue Lotus
Review: The Blue Lotus truly is one of Herge's best works. Continuing the story of Cigars Of The Pharoah, the book portrays Tintin discovering the Oriental. Along with a well constructed plot and beautiful illustrations, the book accurately displays the prejudices that Occidentals felt for Orientals at the time, and the harships that the Chinese faced. I do believe this to be a classic in its own genre, and will keep me rereading it for years to come.
Rating:
Summary: great art work!
Review: This has all the elements of a great Tintin adventure. Based on actual historical events, it provides readers with humorous insight into those times. Satire, adventure, and comedy are all part of The Blue Lotus. In addition, this is when Tintin first discovers that Rastapopolous is a criminal. The Blue Lotus is the follow-up to Cigars of the Pharaoh, but can be read by itself.
Rating:
Summary: The Blue Lotus
Review: This is probably the most exciting and the most interesting of all the 25 Tintin adventures. Considering it was written early in Herge's career (c. 1930s), the level of proficiency and artwork is extraordinary. In this adventure, really the continuation of "Cigars of the Pharaoh" but able to stand on its own, Tintin travels to China to root out an international drug-smuggling gang. During his stay in China, Tintin gets enmeshed in the politics of the time, when the Japanese were secretly creating pretexts for extending their occupation of China. At a time when the European powers were practicing appeasement towards Japan, this adventure is a daring stance in solidarity with the underdog - here being the Chinese. Much of the day-to-day events of the time are interwoven seamlessly with the action of this adventure comic. Neither is the opium trade (the centerpiece of this story) that the colonial powers pushed on China far removed from reality. What is perhaps the most amazing thing about this creation is that Herge never traveled to China, not before nor after this story (though he did go to Hong Kong much later in his life). For information about China, he relied on magazine photos and articles, and on the information provided by a friend and roommate Chang Chong Ching, who played the role model for the Chang Tintin befriends in the story (and whom we encounter later in Tintin in Tibet). Chang is the one who wrote the myriad excellent specimens of Chinese calligraphy ornamenting the book. All the Chinese signs in the adventure are meaningful inscriptions, from simple restaurant signs "Foods" and advertisements for international companies "Siemens" to anti-imperialist and anti-Japanese slogans grafittied on the walls. These signs paint a realistic portrait of the Chinese environment at the time. All my Chinese friends who have read this adventure swear that the depictions of China are realistic and cannot believe that Herge never visited that country! This comic story has all the components for a great piece of art/literature. The artwork is masterful, the settings and scenery realistic, the plot and action entertaining and suspenseful, and the characters well-developed and possess considerable depth. In addition, while the ending is happy, the story is not free from life's tragic moments that bring tears to the eyes. A definite must-read for all Tintin lovers, as well as for those wishing to learn something about China and its recent history.
Rating:
Summary: Herge's masterpiece!
Review: This is probably the most exciting and the most interesting of all the 25 Tintin adventures. Considering it was written early in Herge's career (c. 1930s), the level of proficiency and artwork is extraordinary. In this adventure, really the continuation of "Cigars of the Pharaoh" but able to stand on its own, Tintin travels to China to root out an international drug-smuggling gang. During his stay in China, Tintin gets enmeshed in the politics of the time, when the Japanese were secretly creating pretexts for extending their occupation of China. At a time when the European powers were practicing appeasement towards Japan, this adventure is a daring stance in solidarity with the underdog - here being the Chinese. Much of the day-to-day events of the time are interwoven seamlessly with the action of this adventure comic. Neither is the opium trade (the centerpiece of this story) that the colonial powers pushed on China far removed from reality. What is perhaps the most amazing thing about this creation is that Herge never traveled to China, not before nor after this story (though he did go to Hong Kong much later in his life). For information about China, he relied on magazine photos and articles, and on the information provided by a friend and roommate Chang Chong Ching, who played the role model for the Chang Tintin befriends in the story (and whom we encounter later in Tintin in Tibet). Chang is the one who wrote the myriad excellent specimens of Chinese calligraphy ornamenting the book. All the Chinese signs in the adventure are meaningful inscriptions, from simple restaurant signs "Foods" and advertisements for international companies "Siemens" to anti-imperialist and anti-Japanese slogans grafittied on the walls. These signs paint a realistic portrait of the Chinese environment at the time. All my Chinese friends who have read this adventure swear that the depictions of China are realistic and cannot believe that Herge never visited that country! This comic story has all the components for a great piece of art/literature. The artwork is masterful, the settings and scenery realistic, the plot and action entertaining and suspenseful, and the characters well-developed and possess considerable depth. In addition, while the ending is happy, the story is not free from life's tragic moments that bring tears to the eyes. A definite must-read for all Tintin lovers, as well as for those wishing to learn something about China and its recent history.
Rating:
Summary: I want to be buried with this book.
Review: Those delightful boobies, Thomson and Thompson, reappear in this sequel to 'Cigars Of The Pharoah', at one point ostentatiously disguising themselves in 'Mikado'-like finery to blend in with the Chinese locals, as they attempt to surreptitiously capture Tintin, only gathering an amused crowd in their wake. For many Tintinophiles, 'The Blue Lotus' is the most precious of all Herge's masterpieces; certainly, in the event of a fire, after my dogs, and maybe my wife, my long-battered copy would be the first thing I would rescue. From its famous front cover - a giant, twisting black Chinese dragon on a rich red background, facing Tintin and Snowy as they hide in blue vase patterned with a bird and flowers, the images lit by a pale green lantern - every frame is a detailed artwork in itself. Set largely in Japan and European-occupied Shanghai in the early 1930s, every frame painstakingly evokes the Oriental setting: every wall-covering, item of clothing, ornament, building, street, poster, vehicle. Some of the landscapes and silhouettes are etched with the complex simplicity of a wood-cut by Hokusai, Hiroshige or Taige. The eye-dazzling colour is complemented by a much higher proportion of night scenes than previous Tintins. The deep, sombre colours give the story a melancholy (as do the peeling walls found everywhere behind the prettily picturesque Orientalist scenes). This sadness is matched by the plot's events, not just the violent expansionist plans of Japanese fascists or the culpability of European colonialists, but a world where brave sons turn mad, and orphans nearly drown by sheer chance. Herge's storytelling has also matured significantly since his early efforts: his pacing and variations of tone, his crosscutting and fragmenting of narrative, his sustaining mystery - all come together with superb mastery. And for the first time, because the fictional world created is so believable and historically rooted, Tintin takes on the contours of a genuine hero, much more than a mad marionette endlessly dodging melodramatic villains. His genuine nobility, loyalty and courage, his touching friendship with the orphan Chang, all bespeak fading values in a world crashing towards totalitarianism. A beautiful, urgent book.
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