Les Cigares Du Pharaon / Cigars of the Pharaoh (Tintin)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent art and the story line is just perfect!
Review: I love SNOW! he makes the day and the Captain and the twin's are outrageous! Love it all!

Rating:
Summary: Tintin travels through Egypt and India
Review: On a journey to Egypt Tintin meets absentminded Egyptologist Professor Siclone. The professor is in search of mystery. The only clue is a symbol drawn on a piece of parchment. Once in Egypt Tintin and Snowy follow the professor into an underground passageway marked by the symbol and find empty sarcophaguses marked with their names. They escape and find themselves pursued by mysterious criminals. All the while the mysterious symbol keeps turning up on stone walls, painted on trees, and on cigar labels...

This comic is fun because of the exotic landscapes. Tintin travels through Egypt and India which are drawn with exotic flare. Whenever he thinks he has entered the traditional untouched east, western civilization intrudes: He rescues a lady from bandits only to discover that he has just spoiled a scene from an adventure movie. He is captured by Bedouins who recognize him as a celebrity reporter and are happy to have him as a guest. He approaches two arabs to ask directions and finds that they are in fact the Thompson and Thomson team who have donned robes to blend in. The east meets west theme, inherent even in the mysterious cigars marked with an ancient Egyptian symbol, kept me guessing through the book.

The Cigars of the Pharoah maintains the quality of other books in the series. There are jokes for children and for adults, so it is a good purchase for families and public libraries. There are some loose ends which are tied up on part 2 of the story: The Blue Lotus.

If you are reading this to help learn French, Tintin comics are good for reading at a French 2 level. There are a lot of words that aren't basic vocabulary but it is still easy to follow the story because the writing and pictures tend to reinforce each other. This particular comic seems to have more every-day vocabulary than other Tintin books.