The Blue Lotus (The Adventures of Tintin) - Softcover

Hergé

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316358568 ISBN 13: 9780316358569

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 1984

Synopsis

The classic graphic novel. A sequel to Cigars of the Pharaoh, Tintin follows a mysterious lead to China on the trail of a smuggling ring. Will Tintin find the criminal mastermind?

About this title

Review

Picking up where he left off in the Egyptian adventure Cigars of the Pharaoh, Tintin travels to China in The Blue Lotus, a tale which is generally considered Herge's first masterpiece. It's also Tintin's only foray into actual history, specifically the Sino-Japanese conflicts of the early 1930s. The political tensions combined with the chilling threats of drugs give the story an especially high and realistic sense of danger. Herge's interest in China was spurred by a friendship with a young Chinese student named Chang Chong-chen, a relationship that Tintin mirrors with a Chinese boy also named Chang Chong-chen. Herge paints a vivid picture of China and takes the opportunity to denounce ethnic prejudices (though ironically his artistic depiction of the Japanese businessman Mitsuhirato is quite grotesque). Years later, Tintin's relationship with Chang would become the basis of Tintin in Tibet. --David Horiuchi

About the Author

Hergé, one of the most famous Belgians in the world, was a comics writer and artist. The internationally successful Adventures of Tintin are his most well-known and beloved works. They have been translated into 38 different languages and have inspired such legends as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. He wrote and illustrated for The Adventures of Tintin until his death in 1983.

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0316358568
• ISBN 13: 9780316358569
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 62