Customer Reviews

Tintin et l'Alph-Art (L'OEuvre integrale de Herge) (French Edition)

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This is the last Tintin episode and perhaps the least-known. It was never finished, the edition in print collected from Herge's sketches and manuscripts left after his death. The publishers felt it would be unjust to have another artist finish it, and so left it in raw sketch form. The book is organized like a portfolio. The right half contains a sketchbook containing an exact reproduction of Herge's sketches, the left half containing a printed transcript for ease of reading the text (handwritten on the sketch). Were this book finished, it would in my opinion easily be the best Tintin adventure of all! The action moves along very smoothly, and it has a lot of funny moments starting from the very first page. A very witty adventure indeed!

However, even in its unfinished state Tintin Et L'Alph-Art is a fabulous adventure. I personally found the early sketches of this adventure to be extremely inspiring. For those of us familiar with Herge's masterful artwork in his finished adventures, the simplicity of these early sketches are refreshing as well as encouraging. I finished the book with a strong urge to start sketching and drawing. The book also allows you a rare insight into how Herge creates his work, starting with a simple sketch and refining it later. In the margins you see the various trials he plays with in coming up with names for people, places, and signs. The first 3 pages come in two versions, an early one and a more developed one, so you see the evolution of the story. Another page comes in two versions, and pages are frequently renumbered as he interjects new episodes in various places.

You should note that this edition is in French. Although I am aware there is an edition where the transcript side is printed in English, I was unable to find it. Nevertheless, having taken only 1 year of college-level French (and that was 15 years ago), I had little difficulty in understanding the story. The French used is not that difficult, and the difficult words are very similar to English so I had to refer to my pocket dictionary relatively infrequently.

Despite the rawness of the sketches, the story itself is rather well-developed and entertaining as well as containing the usual breathtaking action we came to expect in Tintin. An interesting feature is the reappearance in this story of nearly all the characters encountered in all the previous Tintins. Even the most minor of characters are not spared their appearance. It is as if Herge knew this adventure will be his last, and wanted to create a grand finale. After reading this, I just had to cry! First I cried for the loss of this great artist since there will be no more Tintins, and second, I cried for not being able to know the end of this story. Herge died ending this adventure abruptly on page 42, in the midst of serious action. Perhaps he never intended to let us know!

This is the last book Herge started, but it isn't like HP7 DH or anything: no final ending for the forces of evil. In fact, if anybody gets finished off in these very bare bones sketches and scribbled dialogue, it looks like it's going to be Tintin himself. But you'll never really know what happens, since the book was never finished.

If you're an ardent Tintinophile, you have to buy this. If not, don't waste your time or money.