Tintín en el Tíbet

Rating:
Summary: Tintin rushes to Tibet to rescue his old friend Chang
Review: Tintin and Milu were created in 1929 by Georges Remi (a.k.a. Herge). In 1934 Herge met a young Chinese student, Chang Chong-Chen, at which point Tinti''s creator became convinced of the importance of having a soundly built storyline and getting the facts straight. In short, Herge started taking his soundtrack very seriously. After the Communists took over China, Herge and Chang lost touch. When "Tintin en el Tibert" ("Tintin in Tibet") was published it was immediately clear that this was a very personal story for Herge, who was writing about his friendship with a friend he had not seen in decades.

Tintin has a dream about Chang, the boy he made friends with in China in "Le Lotus Bleu " ("The Blue Lotus"). Chang is lying in the snow, half buried, holding out his hands and calling to Tintin to help him. When Tintin gets a letter from Change he is surprised at the remarkable coincidence, but then he reads in the newspaper that Chang's plane has crashed in Tibet. Tintin, convinced his friend is not dead, goes off to save Chang.

You will find none of the traditional villains in this rather special Tintin story in which our hero is aided only by Milu and Captain Haddock (with a brief appearance by Professor Girasole). This is arguably the most poignant Tintin adventure, focusing on the power of loyalty and hope overcoming all obstacles and Herge places a lot of obstacles in Tintin's way. I think what I like most about this story is about how Herge keeps what are essentially a series of cliffhangers going and going but in a realistic manner, while still working in the series trademark humor with Snowy and the Captain. "Tintin in Tibet" is an atypical Tintin adventure, but that just makes it all the more special.

By the way, in 1981 Herge and Chang Chong-Chen were happily reunited. More recently in the news, "Tintin en el Tibet" was recently in the news when it was announced that the Chinese translation had the story as "Dingding in Chinese Tibet." Given that Fanny Rodwell, the widow of Tintin's Belgian creator Herg, is reported to be a personal friend of the Dalai Lama it is not surprising that she decided not to attend the promotional ceremonies in China for the launching of the Chinese language version of Tintin (the Chinese are not publishing "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" (anti-communist) and "Tintin in the Congo" (too racist and imperialist).