Call number
J GRAPHIC NOVEL HER
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (1978), 62 pages
Description
Determined to recover an Indian fetish stolen from the Museum of Ethnography, Tintin and Snowy follow a curious trail that leads to South America, revolution, and hostile jungle Indians.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Shirezu
This volume sees Tintin on the trail of a stolen idol from a South American native tribe. There he arrives in the middle of an ongoing revolution not to mention potential war with a neighbouring country with this agenda being pushed by oil companies. This was actually based on a real conflict
Tintin eventually meets members of the tribe who the idol was made by. There are some slight racist shades similar to Tintin in the Congo but not so blatant or sinister. Although Tintin does disguise himself using blackface, the racism is dropping off. The stories are getting a bit more intricate and interesting and getting back to what I remember. Onwards to more Tintin!
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between Bolivia and Paraguay and involving Shell and Standard Oil.Tintin eventually meets members of the tribe who the idol was made by. There are some slight racist shades similar to Tintin in the Congo but not so blatant or sinister. Although Tintin does disguise himself using blackface, the racism is dropping off. The stories are getting a bit more intricate and interesting and getting back to what I remember. Onwards to more Tintin!
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LibraryThing member Michael.Rimmer
A tribal fetish is stolen from a museum and Tintin is embroiled in a plot to recover it and discover its secret, for which men have been variously bribed, kidnapped and murdered.
Tintin follows his leads to South America, where a small country is in the midst of a revolution. Hergé shows in this
Thomson and Thompson make only a perfunctory appearance in this story, but humour is provided by a truculent parrot and Hergé's seeming obsession with mutilating Snowy's tail!
Tintin follows his leads to South America, where a small country is in the midst of a revolution. Hergé shows in this
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part of the story how US and British commercial interests in the oil reserves of the area exploit the corrupt regime to foment war with a neighbouring country, to further their own interests and those of European arms manufacturers. Fairly heavy stuff for a children's story from the 1930s, but handled well.Thomson and Thompson make only a perfunctory appearance in this story, but humour is provided by a truculent parrot and Hergé's seeming obsession with mutilating Snowy's tail!
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LibraryThing member Frenzie
While a fun experience with a more connected plot, this comic book is not as nice as The Blue Lotus.
LibraryThing member maheswaranm
One of the first tintin books that I read. And the only one that we own a copy of.
Just awesome, as with any tintin.
Just awesome, as with any tintin.
LibraryThing member David.Alfred.Sarkies
This is one of the earlier Tintin albums before Herge had developed his full cast of characters (though this cast was regularly being added to with every album released). So far, the only regulars that appear (other than a couple of brief appearances by the Thompson Twins) are Tintin and Snowy, and
The story revolves around a small statue from a South American tribe that mysteriously disappears from a museum only to be replaced with a fake. It is easily seen that the statuette is a fake because the original has a broken ear (thus the title of this comic). Tintin's investigation into the theft takes him to San Theodoros where he gets himself arrested, but before he is executed, there are a series of revolutions and while drunk and screaming out 'Long live General Alcazar' he is adopted into the regime as the aide-de-camp to General Alcazar.
This begins the rather interesting series of events in this obscure South American country since Herge seems to be suggesting that revolutions occur every other day here, and this does not end until the final album Tintin and the Picaros. Obviously there is some commentary on the nature of many of these South American countries in that they tend to be politically unstable and generally change rulers at the shot of a gun. While it is exaggerated (a lot) it still reflects the instability of the region continent (though one can argue that there are external forces that are actively creating this instability).
Then we have the oil companies who side up with a certain dictator to attempt to squeeze concessions out of them. In this particular comic, there is believed to be oil straddling San Theodoros and its neighbour, and two companies are urging both countries to go to war so as they can gain concessions over the whole region. This is another interesting thing that Herge raises: a lot of modern wars seem to be instigated by corporate interests and it is the profit motives that drive them rather than any noble or just idea. We also see the arms dealer, working for Korupt Arms GMBH (a German company) who goes to the rulers of both countries to sell weapons to them. This stood out to me because shortly Herge was to end up living in Nazi occupied Belgium, and this suggests that the Nazi's were never really into reading because albums such as this could have certainly raised the hackles of Belgium's World War II masters.
This is an okay comic, certainly not one of his best, but then it is still early days in the development of the series. The two gangsters in this comic are actually a couple of nit-wits, they simply have no clue and are bumbling around attempting to find the statuette (and failing abysmally) and to add to this is the colonel turned insurgent that simply cannot seem to do anything right, let alone blow up General Alcazar.
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even here Snowy doesn't seem to talk all that much. However, this is also the first appearance of the South American tinpot dictator General Alcazar and his South American country San Theodoros.The story revolves around a small statue from a South American tribe that mysteriously disappears from a museum only to be replaced with a fake. It is easily seen that the statuette is a fake because the original has a broken ear (thus the title of this comic). Tintin's investigation into the theft takes him to San Theodoros where he gets himself arrested, but before he is executed, there are a series of revolutions and while drunk and screaming out 'Long live General Alcazar' he is adopted into the regime as the aide-de-camp to General Alcazar.
This begins the rather interesting series of events in this obscure South American country since Herge seems to be suggesting that revolutions occur every other day here, and this does not end until the final album Tintin and the Picaros. Obviously there is some commentary on the nature of many of these South American countries in that they tend to be politically unstable and generally change rulers at the shot of a gun. While it is exaggerated (a lot) it still reflects the instability of the region continent (though one can argue that there are external forces that are actively creating this instability).
Then we have the oil companies who side up with a certain dictator to attempt to squeeze concessions out of them. In this particular comic, there is believed to be oil straddling San Theodoros and its neighbour, and two companies are urging both countries to go to war so as they can gain concessions over the whole region. This is another interesting thing that Herge raises: a lot of modern wars seem to be instigated by corporate interests and it is the profit motives that drive them rather than any noble or just idea. We also see the arms dealer, working for Korupt Arms GMBH (a German company) who goes to the rulers of both countries to sell weapons to them. This stood out to me because shortly Herge was to end up living in Nazi occupied Belgium, and this suggests that the Nazi's were never really into reading because albums such as this could have certainly raised the hackles of Belgium's World War II masters.
This is an okay comic, certainly not one of his best, but then it is still early days in the development of the series. The two gangsters in this comic are actually a couple of nit-wits, they simply have no clue and are bumbling around attempting to find the statuette (and failing abysmally) and to add to this is the colonel turned insurgent that simply cannot seem to do anything right, let alone blow up General Alcazar.
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LibraryThing member BenjaminHahn
The Broken Ear is the sixth chronological volume in the Tintin series by Herge. As usual, Tintin is investigating a crime and starts following a trail of clues which lead him on an international goose chase. As to be expected, being written in 1945, there are portrayals of non-Belgian people which
The line work, ballooning, and coloring are classic as always and quite eye catching. Sometimes, I conduct a little experiment with Tintin books. I will leave one out in the living room or my office and see how long it takes for a guest to pick it up and flip through it. It's usually not too long. There is something about the bold colors and promise of adventure about each cover that is quite hard to deny. Next up, it looks like Tintin is going to Scotland in The Black Island! Dun..dun...Dun!
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would not be considered sensitive enough by today's standards, but to it's credit The Broken Ear does highlight corruption in some of the military dictatorships in South America during the time. Also, in a round about way, the whole plot of The Broken Ear is a critique of cultural exploitation of indigenous peoples. Now that I have given the standard apology for Herge, I will note that all the usual dangerously fun things about Tintin are present in this volume: gun fights, white water boat collisions, espionage, botched executions, high speed car chases and accidents, prison break via farm tractor, animal sacrifice rituals, and of course death by piranhas! Snowy's tail get's injured seven times, poor guy. The line work, ballooning, and coloring are classic as always and quite eye catching. Sometimes, I conduct a little experiment with Tintin books. I will leave one out in the living room or my office and see how long it takes for a guest to pick it up and flip through it. It's usually not too long. There is something about the bold colors and promise of adventure about each cover that is quite hard to deny. Next up, it looks like Tintin is going to Scotland in The Black Island! Dun..dun...Dun!
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LibraryThing member brakketh
Still a surprisingly racist book. Re-reading these books as an adult is really changing my perception of Tintin.
ISBN
9780316358507