The Black Island (The Adventures of Tintin)

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.


Perhaps the greatest Tintin adventure...   August 17, 2000
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

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...


great stuff   May 28, 2002
microjoe
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

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.


This is the epitome of the Tintin "slapstick" adventures   October 8, 2002
Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

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. Herge 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 Herge stories.


AWESOME.   July 11, 1998
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

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