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Rating: 
Summary: Tintin and Milou prevent a Middle Eastern Oil Crisis
Review: "Tintin au Pays de l'Or Noir" ("Land of Black Gold") was the first Aventures de Tintin I ever read, so, of course, it has a special place in my heart. However, recent world events have made it a rather topic tale as well. It seems that all around the world cars (or lighters) using petrol are exploding. In a storyline eerily prescient of what would happen decades later with the rise of OPEC, the world is on the brink of an oil crisis. In the Middle East the evil Sheik Bab El Ehr tries to overthrow Sheik Ben Kalish Ezab, so Tintin heads to the Middle East to save the day. Throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings, in addition to the omnipresent evil agents and the hapless Dupont and Dupond, is Abdullah, son of Sheik ben Kalish Ezab, who pulls a constant string of practical jokes on everybody in sight (Historical Note: This is where Dupont and Dupond first develop their habit of becoming extremely hairy at inopportune moments). I always think of Tintin as constituting "realistic absurdity," which reflects the way our hero plunges on despite the lunacy around him, which exists mainly in the characters rather than the situation. This delicate balance seems to be reflected even in Hergé 's artwork, where his "clear-line" style combines iconic characters with unusually realistic backgrounds, appeals to me. I also admire his remarkable restraint with Milou, who "talks" less than any other "talking" dog in comic book history. These are truly timeless tales. More Historical Notes: "Tintin au Pays de l'Or Noir" (the 9th of Las Aventureas de Tintin) was the episode in progress in "Le Vingtieme Siecle" when German troops invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940. Hergé suspended the story for eight years and actually began another adventure, "Le Crabe aux Pinces d'Or," in the interim, which was published in "Le Soir," one of the few newspapers authorized during the German occupation
Rating:
Summary: Tintin and Milou prevent a Middle Eastern Oil Crisis
Review: "Tintin au Pays de l'Or Noir" ("Land of Black Gold") was the first Aventures de Tintin I ever read, so, of course, it has a special place in my heart. However, recent world events have made it a rather topic tale as well. It seems that all around the world cars (or lighters) using petrol are exploding. In a storyline eerily prescient of what would happen decades later with the rise of OPEC, the world is on the brink of an oil crisis. In the Middle East the evil Sheik Bab El Ehr tries to overthrow Sheik Ben Kalish Ezab, so Tintin heads to the Middle East to save the day. Throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings, in addition to the omnipresent evil agents and the hapless Dupont and Dupond, is Abdullah, son of Sheik ben Kalish Ezab, who pulls a constant string of practical jokes on everybody in sight (Historical Note: This is where Dupont and Dupond first develop their habit of becoming extremely hairy at inopportune moments). I always think of Tintin as constituting "realistic absurdity," which reflects the way our hero plunges on despite the lunacy around him, which exists mainly in the characters rather than the situation. This delicate balance seems to be reflected even in Hergé 's artwork, where his "clear-line" style combines iconic characters with unusually realistic backgrounds, appeals to me. I also admire his remarkable restraint with Milou, who "talks" less than any other "talking" dog in comic book history. These are truly timeless tales. More Historical Notes: "Tintin au Pays de l'Or Noir" (the 9th of Las Aventureas de Tintin) was the episode in progress in "Le Vingtieme Siecle" when German troops invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940. Hergé suspended the story for eight years and actually began another adventure, "Le Crabe aux Pinces d'Or," in the interim, which was published in "Le Soir," one of the few newspapers authorized during the German occupation
Rating:
Summary: Watch out!
Review: Note that this is the 3rd edition, which had deleted the historical references to 1948 Palestine which were in the 1st (B&W) & second (color) editions. This makes it less interesting. The earlier eds were more interesting because of their historical content, like the Blue Lotus. Unfortunately, I don't know where to find them.
Rating:
Summary: Tintin is just wonderful
Review: This is a splendid book. Beginning with the slightly dimwitted but highly amusing antics of Thomson and Thompson, and ending with one of Abdullah's pranks, it is filled with all the adventure and humour characteristic of the Tintin books. It's wonderful and I recommend it to all.
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