Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Action-packed fun that children will enjoy, 19 Sep 2001
This is one of Herge's first books, and not as sophisticated as the later books. There's plenty to enjoy - Chicago gangsters, cowboys and Indians, the Rocky Mountains, and many amusing characters, icluding Mike MacAdam the hopeless detective and a drunken sheriff. Herge seems to have made the story up as he went along, because it seems to be a succession of gags rathers that a tightly woven plot. However this is unlikely to bother younger readers who will find it very enjoyable.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tintin comes to America, home of gangsters and Indians, 26 Aug 2003
I read "Tintin in America" relatively late in my journey through the Adventures of Tintin, which might not be fair since this early work by Hergé certainly pales in comparison to some of our beloved heroes later and greatest adventures (e.g., "Land of Black Gold" or "Explorers on the Moon"). From that perspective you notice that the art is a bit more cartoonish than what comes later but the most important difference is that this is basically Tintin and Snowy on their own. The wonderful cast of colorful supporting characters that end up populating the Tintin universe are not to be seen at this point, which might explain why Snowy "talks" a lot more in this early Tintin adventure than is his habit in later volumes. While this is not a great Tintin adventure, "Tintin in America" is certainly an interesting one because of the way Hergé presents America to his readers. In a manner that reminds me of Babe's fanciful vision of the big city in "Babe: Pig in the City," Hergé presents the U.S. as half Chicago gangsters and half Wild Wild West cowboys and Indians. Tintin arrives in Chicago to clean up the city ruled by gangster bosses and Al Capone is not happy to see the world famous reporter. Tintin survives so many attempted gangland hits that you lose count of them, and it is a toss up whether there are more last second escapes or scenes where Tintin pulls a gun on a gangster. The perils of Tintin continue even when our hero and his faithful terrier companion make their way out West and become involved with some of the quaint customs of the local natives. The final word would be that if you have heard people raving about Hergé and Tintin, and then you start at the "beginning" (in terms of what is readily available of the Adventures of Tintin) you might be wondering what all the fuss is about. Do not fear. "Tintin in America" represents the early days when Hergé was still finding his way and learning his craft. This is actually the third Tintin adventure, but "Tintin in the Soviet Union" and "Tintin in the Congo" have been let out of what is now the official canon because of Hergé's take on communism and colonialism. However, the best Tintin adventures are yet to come after this one and the best is very, very good.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The one where Tintin is lynched, 24 May 2010
There's not really a whole lot to recommend about one of Tintin's earliest adventures. In terms of plotting, characterisation and artwork, Tintin in America - created in 1931 and completely redrawn for collected colour publication in 1945 - is rather primitive compared to the sophisticated later adventures, the story suffering from no clear single storyline other than Tintin chasing one particular criminal across America. The book reflects rather its serialised origins where Tintin and Snowy are put through sequences borrowed from every genre of Hollywood filmmaking, from gangster films to Westerns.
Following on from Tintin's run-in with Al Capone's operations in, of all places, the Belgian Congo (in Tintin in the Congo), the news that the fearless reporter is coming to America to continue his crusade against the gangster strikes fear into the hearts of Al Capone and his gangsters, who immediately try to capture and dispose of him the moment he arrives in Chicago. Escaping their clutches, Tintin however soon breaks up their organised crime activities, but has to chase one big-time gangster, Bobby Smiles across half the continent and through Red Indian lands.
There's at least no shortage of incident in Tintin in America, a mixture of crime-fighting, mishaps and adventuring through exotic landscapes that would become a familiar formula in later Tintin books. It gives Hergé the chance to indulge in classic US movie imagery and escapades, with gangsters and Indians, lynch mobs and runaway trains, with Tintin in cowboy gear sitting at a campfire or dressed as a bellboy. Even if all those incidents and imagery are well-worn clichés from Hollywood films of the period, and the artwork isn't quite as refined as it would later become, there is at least some flair in how those sequences are storyboarded, with some terrific larger splash frames.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|