Adventures of Tintin in the Orient Vol. 2: The Blue Lotus - Softcover

Herge

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0867199067 ISBN 13: 9780867199062

Publisher: Last Gasp Inc, 2006

Synopsis

Tintin travels to China in a tale considered Herge's first masterpiece, as well as Tintin's only foray into actual history, the Sino-Japanese conflicts of the early 1930s. political tensions combined with chilling threats of drugs give the story an especially realistic sense of danger.

The tale unfolds in China, a place as yet unknown and mysterious to Tintin. It looks like our hero may have bitten off more than he can chew as he takes on the task of wiping out the international opium trade, which has a vice-like grip on this beautiful country. With the assistance of the secret society Sons of the Dragon, and his friend Chang (whom he encounters later on in the story), Tintin succeeds in overcoming myriad obstacles to finally triumph over his adversaries and disband their network of corruption.

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: Last Gasp Inc
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0867199067
• ISBN 13: 9780867199062
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 126