Tintin: The Complete Companion [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

This book is an amazing source of information for the real Tintin fanatics. For those of us who love Tintin, but aren't really up there with the fanatic Tintin worshipers, it's a bit too much.

To start with, note that "Tintin - The Complete Companion" is the English version of a book that, as far as I can determine, was published simultaneously in both English and French ("Tintin, le ręve et la réalité: L'histoire de la création des aventures de Tintin"). Michael Farr is bilingual and I'm guessing (although I don't know for sure) that the two versions are somewhat different. The English version, which I'm reviewing, is primarily focused on discussing the English editions of the Tintin books.

Following a 2-page Introduction the remainder of this book consists of 21 very detailed chapters, each of which discusses a single Tintin adventure. As three of the Tintin adventures are published as a pair of books this implies that all 24 of the Tintin books, from "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" to "Tintin and Alph-Art" (the final unfinished adventure), are covered.

The amount of detail is incredible. Each chapter averages 10 pages, and although there are a lot of pictures and photographs from the Tintin books and other sources, there is also a lot of text.

The following material is present, and often very detailed:

- A synopsis of each story.

- Information about the historical background for each story, for example the Japan-China war, the build-up to WW II, WW II itself (a period of Tintin escapist stories), the Cold War, etc.

- Detailed discussions (sometimes excessively long-winded) about the characters and explanations of how many of them become members of "the Tintin family", reappearing regularly or occasionally in later adventures.

- Discussions of where Hergé found inspiration for stories, characters, locations, machines and other items that made their way into the drawings. There are often pictures from Hergé's files shown side-by-side with the resulting drawings. (The cover of this book is a masterful merging of a drawing from a Tintin book and the photograph that Hergé used as inspiration for the drawing.)

- Some of the Tintin adventures were revised and produced in new versions. For example, most of the stories that were originally in black and white were re-released in color, and sometimes revised once more later. The various versions of each story are compared to see what was changed.

- Although the English version of this book is primarily focused on the English versions of the Tintin books, there are many discussions of what was changed from the original French versions to the English translated versions.

- An analysis of Hergé's development as an artist and storyteller, from fairly primitive drawings and political naivety to sure artistic style and worldly understanding and finally political cynicism.

- Information about how Hergé's life was influenced by his work with Tintin. For example, Hergé was charged with being a collaborator after WW II because he had continued to produce Tintin during the war, and he had medical problems from the stress that accompanied his success.

- Similarly, there is information about how the Tintin stories were influenced by and reflected Hergé's private life: the down-beat "Tintin in Tibet" created while Hergé was depressed and getting divorced, and the hilarious "The Castafiore Emerald" created after his divorce and reflecting his happiness with a new love.

- Hergé's habit of putting himself and his friends into the stories.

- Occasional mistakes made by Hergé are uncovered.

The book ends with a comprehensive index.

If you set out to read this book then you should have a complete collection of the Tintin books in English at hand. And be warned: You will end up spending many, many days before you finally put this book aside. That's because you'll pick up a Tintin adventure to check up on something Michael Farr says about it, and end up reading the whole Tintin book before you return to "Tintin - The Complete Companion".

Even if you have all of the Tintin books on hand, you may still find yourself feeling overwhelmed when Michael Farr begins to compare the various versions of the adventures. Unless you're a die-hard Tintin fanatic you probably don't have the old black and white versions of the early stories in your possession.

I'm giving this book five stars, and it really does deserve it for the incredible amount of detail. But at the same time I'll warn once again that this is a book that is really intended for Tintin fanatics. For more down-to-earth Tintin fans such as myself it is over-kill. I would personally have preferred that Mr. Farr had written a shorter book that only touched on the highlights of his research.

Incidentally, Michael Farr participates in a wonderful little video called "Tintin et moi" ("Tintin and me"). Unfortunately, this video is not readily available, but you may be able to find it on an Internet auction site. Highly recommended. (Not to be confused with the book of the same name.)

Rennie Petersen

Anyone who has a complete set of Tintin's adventures on their bookshelves should really have this beautifully produced book to sit alongside them. Leading British Tintinologist and journalist Farr spent five years researching this book in his attempt to provide context for each book in the series. The result is a work that charts not only the personal and professional life of the Belgian cartoonist, but also shows how political, social, and technological changes influenced his storytelling. Each Tintin adventure gets about 4-6 pages, and each section is beautifully laid out, with perfectly reproduced color panels, along with photos and clippings from Hergé's files to show how reality was incorporated into the books. The main theme that emerges is how Hergé insisted that the stories be grounded in reality as much possible, and how he took great pains to create a realistic world for his little hero to operate in. It should be noted that the book is aimed at those who have already read the stories, and assumes intimate familiarity with the series. That said, longtime fans will immediately want to reread each book after reading about it in this companion.

The minor downside is that Farr writes from an unabashed fan's position, and at times he's a little overenthusiastic, repeating certain information. One wishes that he'd spent less space as an apologist for Hergé's human failings and done a little more analysis of the stories. It also would have been nice to have an appendix listing all the stories, as well as their dates of serial and collected publication. These are minor quibbles however, because the book is very handsome, a great value considering the lovely printing and production. It will rekindle any Tintin fan's enthusiasm for the series and contains ample material for explaining why Tintin is timeless and so popular worldwide.

This is a great book for anyone interested in learning more about the underlying history of Tintin. There are many anecdotes and explanations here that any serious reader of Tintin would want to know about. For example, there are explanations of how certain books were affected by Herge's wartime experiences and censorship; or the real-life people certain heroes and villains are based on. It is lavishly illustrated.

I have three main concerns, though. First, the book is a bit sloppily written in places (strange for an ex-Reuters journalist). There is too much quoting of sections from books in each essay, rather than using this space to analyze the books further. Surely we don't need these sections quoted to us. Second, the book is far too slim on the two-part Tintin stories such as 'Destination / Explorers on Moon': these double books are allocated as much space as single books, which seems too short. Thirdly, there is a surprising absence of real bibliographic detail for a supposed 'companion' - ie there are no lists of when each book was published, where, and the kind of details necessary for real collecting of Tintin books.

In short: a good read; but not completely useful.