STT004: Tintin in America
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We follow Tintin’s adventures in Chicago and in the midwest of the United States in our analysis of ‘Tintin in America’!
Follow us on Twitter: David Handlos @davidhandlos | Fr. Roderick Vonhögen @fatherroderick | @tintinpodcast
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Fr. Roderick, 
Hussain and 6 others are discussing.
Professor Alan 7:32 pm on December 6, 2011 Permalink |
Glad that you are finally getting to stories I am familiar with — the first two were too obscure for me to have read! Definitely ready to follow along — keep up the good work, gentlemen.
little_rabbit 12:15 am on December 9, 2011 Permalink |
Enjoying the podcast so far. I was very excited for this episode as I’ve just rediscovered Tintin because of the movie and managed to recently read the comic albums from the beginning. I was surprised by the black-and-white style of the first two albums (I guess the copies I read were in black-and-white). And then when I got around to ‘Tintin in America’, suddenly everything was in colour and the artwork completely changed to this gorgeous art style. I sort of never noticed it until I got around to read it. Anyway, I rather agreed with you when you mentioned the scene when Tintin climbed outside his apartment several stories high. It is also my favourite image in that album.
Yes. I hope this podcast continues. I would love to get to the later albums (Crystal Balls/Prisoners and the Moon albums are so far my favourite!). And thank you for making this podcast. Thank you so much.
Marianna 5:22 pm on December 9, 2011 Permalink |
Just picked up a copy of “Tintin in America” that I had requested through my local library. I’m looking forward to reading it after hearing your podcast on that album. It is a 2011 edition that includes a section describing the “real life inspiration” behind the book. Also, the Librarian told me she saw on a recent episode (Release the Brake) of The Amazing Race, a CBS reality TV show, a challenge was about Tintin. I also found a reference to it in tintinologist.org:
http://www.tintinologist.org/forums/index.php?action=vthread&forum=7&topic=4585
Just a little fun fact I thought I’d share with you.
Glenn 10:08 am on December 12, 2011 Permalink |
Yes indeed Father, Cigars of Pharaoh’ is my first favorite Tintin Comic Book in the Chronological order.
I too would love to see Rastapopulous, (Rastapopulous can be sighted in frame 5 of page 57). but I’m afraid we might not get to.
My understanding is that the next two movies will be The Inca Adventures – Seven Crystal Balls & Prisoners of the Sun and The Blue Lotus mixed somehow into Tintin in Tibet.
Spot the Model Shot
This game is where I hunt for the comic frame that matches the picture of the model on the blog.
This time model picture comes from Page 4, Frame 2.
Like the first two albums there is lots of action in ‘America’ before Page 11. Tintin’s nabbed on pg. 01, arrested, pg 02, hospitalised, nabbed again, on pg 04, nearly killed (thanks for rescuing him Snowy)! Then Tintin takes down Al Capone, pg 07, chased by cops, threatened on pg 09, and performs a death-defying stunt on pg 10. Likewise Father and Little Rabbit, Tintin on the 37th floor moving from one window to the other is one of my favorite images. Herge perspective here is great too. You really get the sense that Tintin is very high up! This picture thrilled me so much as a boy, that I wanted to find a high building and do the some trick!
Tintin says on Page 6, Frame 5 “Thanks Snowy! You’ve saved my life … again”
Now ain’t that the truth. Tintin has saved Snowy only twice so far – once in ‘Congo’ and once in ‘America’. In other great quotes
Snowy (pg 15) says “…Wouldn’t it be a good idea … if those dummies did the whole job, instead of us?”
and Snowy (pg. 59) “I won’t ever leave you, Tintin” second time he’s said this in the series. It’s touching.
In ‘America’ Tintin’s Skill Set List increases – He can drive a train and rock climb ropeless.
Some observations Tintin calls America the ‘Land of the Automobile’. He has status in the US among the crims. but must also have it among the cops, because they trust him enough to give him a gun.
In ‘America’ we see more direct discussion between dog and master on page 9 and 60.
Tintin falls through a trapdoor x2 and confesses that “This time he is done for/finished” x3.
On page 27 we see Tintin tries a MacGyverism. Later Tintin is called babyface on page 49 – surely a reference to the gangster in Bugsy Malone’s gang.
The French exploited the Congolese. Herge now shows the exploitation going on in America. It happened in New Zealand too. Sadly the Maori said of the missionaries in NZ. “While they made us look up to God in heaven, they took the land from under our feet.”
I picked up some things in ‘America’ that we see again in Herge’s comics. Frame 10 of Page 36 Herge will use this sort of story telling in later Captain Haddock/Alcohol scenes. This sort of device is excellent for portraying the elasp of time. One example I can think of right now is in “The Red Sea Sharks” Page 23, Frames 14 – 17. The sequence on page 50 is a concept Herge will use again (to even better effect) on pages 55 and 56 of ‘Cigars’, and to the same affect on page 51 of ‘The Black Island ‘. Other similarities between ‘America’ and ‘Island’ are as follows…
1. The set pieces for the third to last showdown – the castley stone work.
2. The assembling of the villains to hunt Tintin down.
My favourite Character other than Snowy and Tintin in ‘America’ has to be the American detective Mike MacAdam. I would have loved to see him make appearances in further Tintin adventures.
Firsts I noticed
Tintin is labeled insane (pg. 7). This happens again in “Cigars of Pharaoh” Page 44. We see an Abdullah-like car (pg. 16) and on pg 46, the hat Tintin wears in “Broken Ear” and Tintin is called Sherlock Holmes (pg. 56)
Herge Cameo
I admit this is pushing it, but the man far left in frame 6 of Page 44 looks Herge-like.
30′s American Lingo
Page 03, Frame 06 “…fixed.”
Page 03, Frame 07 “…spill the Beans.”
Page 05, Frame 09 “…bambino…”
Page 05, Frame 10 “…little kid with big ideas…”
Page 05, Frame 12 “…little squirt…”
Page 07, Frame 03 “…tough guy…”
Page 07, Frame 11 “…hoods.”
Page 08, Frame 01 “…paddy-wagon?”
Page 14, Frame 08 “…listen fella…”
Page 36, Frame 07 “…I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!”
Page 45, Frame 04 “…no siree…”
Fun Names
The grounds of Blackfeet - pg. 19
Paleface-with-eyes-of-the-Moon - pg. 19
Chief Keen-eyed-Mole - pg. 22
Browsing-Bison - pg. 22
Bull’s-Eye - pg. 23
Lame-Duck - pg. 27
Final Likes
The image on Page 20, Frame 03 I’ve always liked. Reminds me a little of Lucky Luke.
Another very nice frame is number 10 of page 23 – Smiles lining up Tintin with his gun.
The first three frames of page 13 – Tintin thrown into the harbor. A great homage to Film noir!
The sequence on pg 18. Tintin trying his hand at the lasso and tripping up his own horse.
The last 4 frames on page 29 is a fantastic parody of a white man’s invasion.
Terrific comedy throughout pages 31 & 32. Tintin was doing so well There had only been one vehicle accident till page 33!
Page 44 I Loved the frame break between picture boxes 7 and 8 – Herge draws a door knob either side, so it looks like the frame break is a door.
Adore Herge’s drawing of the sausage dog in frame 12, of page 45.
Frames 11 – 14 of Pg. 47 Tintin’s stair case climb is creatively drawn. The other creative thing I noticed of Herge’s work is that in many cases throughout ‘America’ the bottom line of the frame was the floor of the picture. In 7 of the 11 frames on Page 55 Herge does this. Other times the bottom line of the frame is the flat surface of a desk ie Frame 3 of Page 55.
Dislikes
I have an eye for detail and what annoyed me in this comic was that Tintin’s rolled up long sleeve yellow shirt mysteriously changes into a yellow short-sleeved shirt – pages 46 into 47.
Belief Suspension Exploitation
pg 1. Where the heck did he get the saw from and how could the driver have not heard the sound of sawing. Likewise where did Bobby Smiles get his pan from (pg. 25 and 26 )?
pg. 48 the stick leaning up against the wall was far too convenient.
Our hosts have before talked about unnecessary narration in Tintin. It still happens in ‘America’…
Valid Narrative
Tintin pg. 18 Tells us that Smiley is escaping.
Marginally Unnecessary Narrative
Snowy pg. 5 “No one’s noticed me.”
Unnecessary Narrative
Snowy pg. 06 “Did you see that…? Knocked him out stone cold.”
Tintin pg. 25 Telling us when the tunnel goes up and down when we can plainly see it.
Grossly Unnecessary Narrative
Tintin pg. 24 We can work out how Tintin survived the fall, because we just witnessed it happen to Snowy, yet Tintin insists on explaining it.
Questions
1. Do we ever see Tintin in his grey waist coat again? I don’t recall another time.
2. Is the bell boy on page 9 a forerunner of the Belgian/french character ‘Spirou?’
3. Is ‘Tintin in America’ the last time out hero gets a rousing horde of worshipers?
Rating
(In my rating system ‘Tintins’ represent sensible action and ‘Snowys’ represents plot.)
Tintin in America reminded me a lot of a Jackie Chan movie. Loose plot. Madcap action. Which is fine in moderation. And we see that Herge’s stories are about to get even better!
But for Tintin in America the score is – Four Tintins and a three Snowys.
Blessings guys – Again thanks for the great podcast.
Glenn
Marianna 12:00 am on December 17, 2011 Permalink |
FYI – Available On iTunes: Gameloft – The Adventures of Tintin™ – The Game
I hope the link works.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-adventures-tintin-the/id474794047?mt=8&wdId=32800
Nancy Brown 6:24 pm on December 31, 2011 Permalink |
Finally saw the movie here a few days ago–fantastic, loved it, need to see it again.
Hussain 6:05 pm on January 12, 2012 Permalink |
When are you podcasting the next adventures?? its been sometime since i downloaded Tintin in America and than nothing after that.
Fr. Roderick 8:39 pm on January 13, 2012 Permalink |
We take a lot of time to research each album, so that’s why you haven’t seen a new show yet. However, stay tuned!
Anthony 6:50 pm on April 23, 2012 Permalink |
Watching the movie, i saw some very interesting things, based on other books. In the Bianca Castifiore part, there was a fountain, and on top of the fountain, i saw a statue of the crab with Golden claws! In another scene, snowy knocks over a crate, and on the crate, is a picture of the crab with golden claws!!! It’s definitely a good movie to watch multiple times cause there are sooo many secrets! I also bought the secret of the unicorn book, so I’m able to understand things better.