Customer Reviews

The Black Island (The Adventures of Tintin)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

'The Black Island' is a major return to form after 'The Broken Ear', and one of my very favourite Tintin adventures. Set in England and Scotland, Herge utilises a very British whimsy and deadpan surrealism to chart the the young reporter's Richard Hannay-like hunt for a shady gang of forgers and fifth columnists (the adventure was serialised in 1937) - in fact the book's tone, mixing exciting mystery and bizarre humour anticipates that quintessentially English TV series, 'The Avengers'.

Much of the book's pleasure lies in Herge's threading of visual motifs to pattern the story - the spluttering airplane that begins the adventure followed by a doomed cat and mouse chase between hero and villains, leading to the Thom(p)sons comandeering a mechanic as pilot even though he doesn't know how to fly, and hilariously hijacking a prestigious aerial show; or the reappearances of striking black against the appropriately muted English colours, from hapless detectives the Thom(p)sons, to the equally hapless firemen, to the haunted Black Island itself, a craggy rock crowned by a crumbling castle (whose passages and portals will delight amateur Freudians) with ominously black birds spiralling out of it, to the berserk monster who gaurds it, to the policemen who attempt to rescue Tintin.

One extraordinary conceit displays Herge's masterful method of imperceptibly furthering the plot by seemingly digressive comedy, as Snowy's forlorn attempts to eat a found bone and drink leaking whisky reveal elements of the uncanny mystery. Another subplot, involving firemen who mislay the keys to the station during an emergency, and then have to chase a magpie to retrieve them, is pure Surrealism in the style of Rene Clair or (later on) Monty Python. Other jokes rework old favourites from silent cinema. The recreation of English villages and countryside, and the pub-sodden ghost-lore of Scotland, surpasses even TV's 'Ripping Yarns', while the furniture in this 60s reworking is to die for.

Fundamental to the pleasure of the Tintin adventures is Herge's intimate knowledge of the way dogs behave - their loyalty diverted by appetite; their happiness; their need for reassurance and sleep; the bad-temper when faced with giants and terror of creepy crawlies. Rereading these adventures with two girls of my own has added untold pleasure to these books.

The Black Island is perhaps the greatest Tintin adventure. He flies an airplane, sails a boat, fights with "wild beasts" beats the bad guys (as usual), and even wears a kilt.

But this book is special for more resons. The landscape scenes around Tintin are superb. The drawing is great, and the plot, sublime. The suspense is incredible, too. No one will take him to the Black Island. Even though everyone is scared out of their minds, Tintin decides to go, risking everything...

There is something special about this adventure I can't really describe. A feeling I can't put into words...I love all the others passionately, but this one in particular, is perhaps my favorite among my favorites...

I prefer books like this that are not full of blood, guts, tortured darkness, sex, etc. I mean I look forward to handing down my comics/sharing my comics with my son. I don't buy books that lean on those cheap tricks to tell their story. A good writer can build suspense and action and adventure without devoting 10 panels straight of fighting. I was desensitized to that stuff I saw so much of it in movies and books for awhile, and I am happier having trimmed it out of my life to a great extent. Now I seek items like this book that can tell a great story without grossing me out.

Having said that this book is good clean adventure. It goes to a great locale in Scotalnd, and the artist does a fine job of giving you some flavor of the region. He does great with the accents too. Now Tintin gets shot, but it is a minor scene without blood, like the old west shows. This is a most enjoyable adventure.

Now at times the dialog goes from full and interesting to too simple (jarringly so) as if the writer had worked on it on different timeperiods, and sometimes does not seem fluid. But that makes me wonder how much is just lost in the translation from the original French language. TinTin races or maybe rushes from one mini-adventure into the next at a breathtaking pace that does not always allow for the characters motivations to be explained and so some stereotyping does occur. The thought ballons of the dog are not neccesary and cheapen the story, to my view.

Even with these minor complaints this is a fun book. Reading it maeks you feel as if you have stumbled onto secret treasure since these books are notnpart of the American mainstream. The art is great, and the locales, even the costumes are obviously researched with a very period sense. The castle is very well drawn and the draftsmanship of buildings, vehicles, and landscapes are superb. This softcover edition has great paper, strong cover material, good binding, and very nice color job in inking.

While I think that the story development/plotlines and dialog work of comic book artist/writer Carl Barks is superior, I really enjoyed this book.

I understand that of the 20 plus Tintin books, there are some real jewels. This book was enough to hook my interest.I look forward to reading the rest.

The black Island is probably one of the best comicbooks ever drawn, adding a fine pencil to a well told story. Herg`e take you on at trip to the wilderness and splendor of Schotland, on a quest to reveal the strange mystery of the black Island.

Thus, leading Tintin on a hike in the mountains, wearing a kilt, tailed by the ever-present police-men Dupont and Dupond. A must for the caroon-lover, including the well aged. By it!

I do not really like the early Tintin adventures where there is a lot of slapstick and every other page our intrepid reporter hero is either holding a gun or having somebody hold a gun on him. However, "The Black Island" is certainly the epitome of this type of Tintin adventure. Hergé really pours it on pretty much from start to finish. This might be slapstick but it is nonstop slapstick from Tintin trying to stop the Thom(p)sons from arresting him to Snowy getting the better of a gorilla (but not a spider). Tintin might end up unconscious more often in this story than all of his other adventures combined. The beginning is simple enough. Tintin sees a plane land with engine trouble. Noticing it is an unregistered plane he offers to help and is immediately shot (do not worry, the bullet only grazes his ribs). Of course Tintin wants to get to the bottom of this mystery but it is hard to collect clues when people are trying to kill you and you have no clue why.

As you can tell from the cover illustration of "The Black Island" Tintin gets to wear a kilt, not to mention a bonnie bonnet as the titular piece of property happens to be in Scotland. This raises a big question for me: How do you do a Scottish accent in French (or Spanish or German or any other language into which the Adventures of Tintin have been translated)? Ye can nae tell me it be an easy bit of business tae do, laddie. This might not be the best Tintin adventure and there are certainly funnier sequences to be found down the road, but all things considered "The Black Island" has got to be the funniest of Hergé stories.

This book is very well written and the drawings are excellent. The story is intriguing. Overall, a first rate book.

My reviews for this series will be useless - I was a huge childhood fan

The Black Island is the seventh story in the Adventures of Tintin series, and one of the most beautiful to look at. It differs greatly in appearance from its immediate predecessor, The Broken Ear, bearing much more of a resemblance to the later tales. This is due to Herge's redoing the artwork and story long after its original incarnation (as a serial in the French children's magazine, Le Petit Vingtieme).

The story is frought with peril as is the case with the vast majority of Tintin adventures, but in this case it is not as interesting as the beautiful artwork (particularly in the case of the island scenes themselves - breathtaking! Look at the detail in those rocks). The Black Island is also noteworthy in that it introduces the character of the villainous Doctor Muller, who appears again in two later stories, The Land of Black Gold (under the alias Professor Smith) and The Red Sea Sharks (there calling himself Mull Pasha, but playing a smaller role).

The Black Island occurs chronologically several tales before the entrance into the series of several of the most important characters (Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Bianca Castafiore, etc.), so we encounter here a much smaller cast: Tintin, Snowy, and the Thompson twins are the only prominent characters.

L'ile Noire (its title in French, of course) is a beautifully composed book which is a must-have for any Tintin fan and worth at least one read-through by everyone else.

We have been reading the TinTin books to my grandson since he was three (he is now five). He loves them. I do believe we have almost all of them. Amazon's prices on new paperbacks are better than Powell's.

Tintin is minding his own business when a chance encounter with a malfunctioning aeroplane draws him into a web of intrigue, crime and counterfeiting.

The Black Island is one of the diamonds of the Tintin series and complete insofar as plot, subplot (follow the side adventures of Snowy and his bone or his consistent bad luck and freak accidents), illustrations (redrawn in the '60s and moody and sinister when needed; vivid and regionally accurate when called for) and fun is concerned.

Tintin is lucky, brave and, by now famous. He is recognized and never refuses a challenge. Our young reporter is now the story and not only fights against crimes and thuggery, but is also defatigable. Snowy is cute and smart, but has little luck unless it is with saving Tintin's life. The antagonists are completely off-putting and make the reader cheer once defeated. Thomson and Thompson are here, as is Doctor Mueller who is to return into Tintin's adventures in the future.

The Black Island has some funny language and translation - and no not referring to the 'Scottish' - stirring drawings and is the first of the edition and series to come with the band on top featuring the mugs of the heroes. By now the series has really hits its stride and one looks forward to King Ottokar's Sceptre (The Adventures of Tintin).