The Adventures of Tintin: Volume 1

This repackaged hardcover volume contains 3 classic Tintin stories: Tintin in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and The Blue Lotus.

About the Tintin Series:
The most revered graphic novel series in the homeschool community is the venerated Tintin series. Countless mothers have told us that their son's pivotal point in reading came when he was introduced to Tintin.

One of the Most Popular Graphic Novel Series of All Time
Originally a series of comic strips created by Belgian artist Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin first appeared in a children's supplement to a Belgian newspaper in 1929. The success of the series saw the strips collected into a succession of books, which are still hugely popular eighty years later. In fact, Tintin is one of the most popular graphic novel series of all time, with translations published in over 50 languages and more than 200 million copies of the books sold to date.

Wide Variety of Genres
The hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian investigative reporter who travels the world in search of the next notable event. One of the most astonishing features of the Tintin series is how it so effortlessly includes a wide variety of genres: brash adventures along with mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. Some Tintin stories feature slapstick humor, while others are invested with political and cultural satire, but each will draw your child like a magnet.

Story is More Than the Pictures
Unlike some graphic novels, where the text and the pictures are redundant, Tintin's plots are so engagingly complex that the text both amplifies and explains the neat, lively drawings, a balance that remains a benchmark for graphic novelists even today. This means your child will quickly discover that the story is much more than the pictures; even the most reluctant of readers may for the first time be willing to exert effort to decipher the written word. As a teaching parent you will appreciate the author's painstaking research, which adds to the credibility of each adventure, and your children will gain a glimpse into a world of which they are just beginning to become aware.

Please Note:
Tintin is printed by a secular company and may contain occasional scenes depicting false cultural assumptions of the time and excessive use of alcohol. The author does use these scenes to depict the foolishness of drunkenness.

Tintin in America
Set in the 1930s, Tintin in America depicts the real-life problems of gangsterism during the Great Depression. Some references to social problems in the United States at that time are made; probably the most notable one is the sympathetic representation of Native Americans, contrasted with the depiction of the prejudicial and manipulative behavior of American oil companies which led to the mistreatment of Native Americans. Some other issues, such as lynching, are mentioned briefly. And even though the Wild West portrayal is a bit misplaced for the time period, your child will enjoy reading about the Wild West, complete with cowboys and Indians.

Cigars of the Pharaoh
Cigars of the Pharaoh is the first Tintin installment in which Thomson and Thompson appear. While on a cruise, Tintin and Snowy encounter Dr. Sarcophagus, an Egyptologist who owns a papyrus which he believes will lead him to the undiscovered tomb of the Pharaoh Kih-Oskh. When Tintin discovers a cigar which bears the symbol of Kih-Oskh and goes to show Dr. Sarcophagus, he finds that the doctor has disappeared. Searching for Sarcophagus by following pieces of his clothing which were strewn about, Tintin and Snowy wind up being drugged and barely escape mummification. Though Tintin is rescued, he is then captured, falsely accused of smuggling guns, and forced to enlist. Later, after being believed to have been executed, he is buried and then dug back up by those who want to capture him alive and so have faked his death. Tintin flees the city, and eventually the proceedings lead to the capture of an international gang of drug smugglers, the discovery of the tomb, and Tintin's innocence being proven.

The Blue Lotus
The Blue Lotus is a sequel to Cigars of the Pharaoh, in which Tintin pursued and captured most of the members of a drug-distributing group, though, alas, not the mysterious leader. In The Blue Lotus, Tintin continues his struggle against the major gang of drug smugglers and also becomes involved in the resistance to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria.

While on vacation a man comes to meet Tintin, but only to reveal that he has been hit by a dart dipped in a poison which causes madness and, eventually, death. Based on information given to him by the dying man, Tintin travels to China, where he encounters attempts on his life, a racist bully, and a corrupt police chief. Through many daring escapades, Tintin eventually procures a sample of the deadly poison. Then, while seeking to make contact with Doctor Fan Hsi-Ying, Tintin ends up being imprisoned twice before finally seeing the drug ring brought down.