The Red Sea Sharks (The Adventures of Tintin)

Rating:
Summary: Tintin and Captain Haddock save the day in Khemed
Review: While talking about General Alcazar, the deposed president of the Republic of San Theodoros, Tintin and Captain Haddock literally run into him. This is more than mere coincidence, it is the beginning of another exciting adventure for our hero and his friends as it seems Alcazar is involved in buying armaments on the sly. However, Prince Abdullah has been sent by his father the Emir to stay with the good Captain to improve the young scamp's English. The Emir mentions that the situation is serious at home and when the headlines announce a coup d'etat in Khemed, Tintin decides to head there to find out if there is a connection between the rebel victory achieved by air power and the arms dealing he has discovered.

What makes "The Red Sea Sharks" one of the best Tintin adventures is that there are even more dastardly deeds being done by the bad guys this time around (involving "coke" smuggling). Herge continues to explore the class between Western and Near Eastern cultures as Captain Haddock has to wear a veil as a disguise and Snowy has a memorable encounter with a cheetah, while back home Professor Calculus and Nestor do their best to keep Prince Abdullah, ah, entertained. Herge might have created an imaginative parallel world for Tintin's adventures, but they certainly echo serious real world concerns, and that is especially true of "The Red Sea Sharks." As an added pleasur3e, the good captain gets to vent time and time again at people who really deserve to be roundly cursed out, even by Haddock's peculiar collection of epithets.