Tintin Forums

Hi all. This is my very first post here, and I have to say I'm really happy to be part of this Tintin fan community! I've learnt a lot of interesting things here in the forum, and I hope someone could help answer a little question I have regarding this album.

Has anyone thought who the sailor in pg15 whom Tintin described as being 'not very communicative' is (since he only answers with 'yes' and 'no')? Is he one of the sabotagers working under Mr Bohlwinkel, or is he simply one of the sailors of the Aurora crew, or both? This sailor is not depicted or mentioned in any of the later pages, which, together with his rather suspicious look, led me to question his identity. Anyone got any ideas?

I think he's genuinely a member of the "Aurora" crew and just happens to be short on words. After all, he and Haddock share the same panel in a few scenes and the captain does not seem to be surprised by his presence.

If he was working with Bohlwinkel then he would have left the stick of dynamite rather than Hayward, the man Tintin chases when he first goes to the Aurora, and would have left the ship before it explodes rather than hang around.

PS: welcome to the forum.

I agree with mct16 that the sailor is a genuine member of the Aurora crew; however, I would not be surprised if Hergé had drawn attention to the character as a red herring to mislead readers.
When you read the book in one sitting, the effect might be lost, but to newspaper readers (remember, The Shooting Star was serialised in a daily newspaper), they might have considered him to be another villain, waiting for a resolution in the next episode.