Call number
J GRAPHIC NOVEL HER
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (1975), 62 pages
Description
The classic graphic novel. When Tintin and Captain Haddock happen across a community of gypsies they invite them home . . . just as Bianca Castafiore, the famous opera singer, decides to visit Tintin. It's chaos at Marlinspike Hall, and then a precious emerald goes missing!
User reviews
LibraryThing member Hamburgerclan
This is hilarious! It's the story of a guy named Tintin. He's living with Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus, who are both funny in their own way. Anyway, on the same day, the famous opera singer Bianca Castafiore and a band of Gypsies come to stay at Captain Haddock's place, Marlinspike hall.
C.
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And then Bianca's emerald disappears! Everybody is sure it's the Gypsies who stole it...except for Tintin! Who's right? Read it and find out!C.
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Mmmph. Another "let's annoy Captain Haddock" story. A few amusing bits, but mostly I was about as annoyed as the captain. Castafiore, Professor Calculus, and the builder are all being amazingly self-centered - if Calculus lived in my house, I'd insist he wear hearing aids! The bird things are
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mildly amusing. Thompson and Thomson are their usual idiotic selves - except this time, they managed to actually hurt people. We don't see it - the gypsies are off-stage by that point - but they're held and questioned for quite some time. I hope T&T had to pay them an indemnity. Not a favorite, though Tintin himself is pretty good - including distinguishing various red herrings that are held up temptingly in front of the reader's face from the actual cause(s) of events. Show Less
LibraryThing member Michael.Rimmer
One of Hergé's better attempts at humour, even if still largely slapstick. A worthy, if necessarily superficial, swipe at racial/cultural stereotyping and prejudice. Digs also at the tabloid media and paparazzi. This one has a lot going on for a children's book, but the moralising is lightly done
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and this is still very much a funny, adventuresome comedy-of-errors. Show Less
LibraryThing member David.Alfred.Sarkies
This is a unique comic in all of Herge's repertoir in that it is probably the most absurd of his stories. Granted, Tintin and Alpha-Art (which is unfinished and I am unlikely to purchase it on those grounds) appears to move into a more post-modern setting (it is suggested that Alpha-Art was an
The entire story is set in Marlinspike, and Captain Haddock is simply having a really bad day (or at least a month). It seems as if it is a comedy of errors for the poor captain. First he learns that Bianca Castafiore, the famous opera singer, is coming to stay so he wants to get out but he slips on the broken stairs and busts his pelvis and ends up being confined to a wheelchair. He gets his nose stung and his finger bitten, and near the end he has become a patchwork of bandages.
Throw in the red-herrings, as well as the running jokes (such as Cutts the Butcher and Joylon Wagg) and we have a very interesting story, which doesn't seem to really go anywhere. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, since it succeeded in Waiting for Godot and also in Seinfeld. Then there are the jokes running through the story, such as the broken step. Pretty much everybody in the story, with the exception of Bianca Castafiore, slips and falls on the step at one time or another. Herge does it brilliantly, and it is very clear that he had truly developed his style by this point. There is also the parrot that keeps on screaming 'Hello! I can hear you!' which we soon discover is how Bianca Castafiore answers the phone.
There is a little case of the missing emerald, and it is unexpected (too an extent, though there is a hint dropped in the first frame) where it turns up. However, it disappears nearer to the end, namely because through the story we hear Bianca Castafiore continually jumping at ghosts believing that her emerald has been stolen. We are also led to believe that it is likely that either the Gypsies or the Pianist Wagner, are the culprits, but it turns out that they are not (I am not going to reveal the culprit though, since it is a surprise).
Herge does not pull back on commentary here either, and in this particular story it involves the gypsies. It appears that Herge is very supportive and sympathetic towards them, which shows in the character of Haddock and Tintin. I have never had any interaction with the Romani until 2011 when I travelled to Europe, and you pretty quickly work out who they are. It is also very tempting to take a prejudice view of them, particularly with the multiple warnings you receive about them on the web and in other travel literature. While I am tempted to say that they brought it on themselves, I believe that there is a lot of prejudice in Europe towards these people. I know Romanians that wail in anger over suggestions that they are connected with the Romani. However, I believe it is very brave and noble of Herge to stand up for these people.
It seems that by this time Herge was winding down the Tintin comics, as he only produced another two and a half comics after this one. Earlier it appeared that he would produce at least one to two a year, but has now dropped down to about two a decade. Maybe Herge was simply getting tired of the endless adventures of Tintin and wanted to pull the plug. However, it appears he continued to experiment, and in doing so, explored new areas. In all seriousness, nothing that I have seen coming out of the US comic book scene even compares to the ingeniousness of Herge, and in a way, I do not feel that even Asterix comes anywhere near to Herge's brilliance.
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adventure into the world of art, but Herge died before its completion) but in this story, basically nothing happens. In fact, the entire story seems to be one great red-herring.The entire story is set in Marlinspike, and Captain Haddock is simply having a really bad day (or at least a month). It seems as if it is a comedy of errors for the poor captain. First he learns that Bianca Castafiore, the famous opera singer, is coming to stay so he wants to get out but he slips on the broken stairs and busts his pelvis and ends up being confined to a wheelchair. He gets his nose stung and his finger bitten, and near the end he has become a patchwork of bandages.
Throw in the red-herrings, as well as the running jokes (such as Cutts the Butcher and Joylon Wagg) and we have a very interesting story, which doesn't seem to really go anywhere. This is not necessarily a bad thing though, since it succeeded in Waiting for Godot and also in Seinfeld. Then there are the jokes running through the story, such as the broken step. Pretty much everybody in the story, with the exception of Bianca Castafiore, slips and falls on the step at one time or another. Herge does it brilliantly, and it is very clear that he had truly developed his style by this point. There is also the parrot that keeps on screaming 'Hello! I can hear you!' which we soon discover is how Bianca Castafiore answers the phone.
There is a little case of the missing emerald, and it is unexpected (too an extent, though there is a hint dropped in the first frame) where it turns up. However, it disappears nearer to the end, namely because through the story we hear Bianca Castafiore continually jumping at ghosts believing that her emerald has been stolen. We are also led to believe that it is likely that either the Gypsies or the Pianist Wagner, are the culprits, but it turns out that they are not (I am not going to reveal the culprit though, since it is a surprise).
Herge does not pull back on commentary here either, and in this particular story it involves the gypsies. It appears that Herge is very supportive and sympathetic towards them, which shows in the character of Haddock and Tintin. I have never had any interaction with the Romani until 2011 when I travelled to Europe, and you pretty quickly work out who they are. It is also very tempting to take a prejudice view of them, particularly with the multiple warnings you receive about them on the web and in other travel literature. While I am tempted to say that they brought it on themselves, I believe that there is a lot of prejudice in Europe towards these people. I know Romanians that wail in anger over suggestions that they are connected with the Romani. However, I believe it is very brave and noble of Herge to stand up for these people.
It seems that by this time Herge was winding down the Tintin comics, as he only produced another two and a half comics after this one. Earlier it appeared that he would produce at least one to two a year, but has now dropped down to about two a decade. Maybe Herge was simply getting tired of the endless adventures of Tintin and wanted to pull the plug. However, it appears he continued to experiment, and in doing so, explored new areas. In all seriousness, nothing that I have seen coming out of the US comic book scene even compares to the ingeniousness of Herge, and in a way, I do not feel that even Asterix comes anywhere near to Herge's brilliance.
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LibraryThing member leslie.98
The ebook edition that I read online was taken from a somewhat less than perfect print copy so that the artwork in it was much grainier than that in the other 2 issues of Tintin I have read. However, I found this entry in the series hilarious, not only the Captain with his temper and his
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magnificent way with cussing but also the detectives Thompson & Thomson (from "The Crab with the Golden Claw") with their malapropisms and woeful inability to actually detect anything, Bianca Castafiore who also has a tendency to malapropisms with regard to people's names and Professor Calculus who never properly hears what people say to him. I also liked the bit of social commentary regarding the Romany. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
The ebook edition that I read online was taken from a somewhat less than perfect print copy so that the artwork in it was much grainier than that in the other 2 issues of Tintin I have read. However, I found this entry in the series hilarious, not only the Captain with his temper and his
Show More
magnificent way with cussing but also the detectives Thompson & Thomson (from "The Crab with the Golden Claw") with their malapropisms and woeful inability to actually detect anything, Bianca Castafiore who also has a tendency to malapropisms with regard to people's names and Professor Calculus who never properly hears what people say to him. I also liked the bit of social commentary regarding the Romany. Show Less
ISBN
0316358428 / 9780316358422