Tintin Forums

I also like the title frame for the Picaros; Tintin riding his motor bike to Marlinspike Hall with all that autumn scenery. I frequently use it as refernce when drawing bare trees and tree branches and stuff :D

I think you'll find that it's actually late winter/early spring scenery. The story is set in February - when they get to San Theodoros, there is a carnaval poster that says something like "Carnaval - February". This is true for most carnavals in Latin America - they are based around Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday - in fact the word 'carnaval' comes from 'carne' which means meat, alluding to the consumption of meat (ie partying) before the fasting on Ash Wednesday. Remember aswel that in the southern hemisphere, February is the height of summer, equivalent to the northern hemisphere's August.

Its hard to say what my favourite single frame is, but I like very much the frame in Shooting Star where Phillilipus(sp.?) is following Tintin through the night time street - its eirily lit and Phillilipus' shadow on the wall is distorted and looks seriously spooky - like a dancing goblin or something. The first time I saw that it gave me goosebumps (in fact the whole opening sequence of Shooting Star is v. creepy and surreal).

I like the one where Haddock blows on the Tibetan horn near the end, partly because I've seen those things and also because I've also had really embarrassing moments.
Also, I like when Haddock flies out of the rotating door in Calculus Affair.

No one has mentioned that epic shot of Tintin/Haddock crashing head first into the Inca temple in Prisoners of the Sun.

For me, that frame was dynamic and held real impact!

A close 2nd are those 3 iconic frames in Tintin in Tibet where Tharkey is asking Tintin as to where they search for Chang.
The mountains beautifully merge across the page.....

3rd place is the Tibet scene where Tintin shouts for Chang. Love the reactions from the other hotel guests and especially Calculus :)

For me the first one would be Crab with the Golden Claw where Tintin and Captain Haddock enter the desert holding hands.

Second where Tintin hugs Chang when he finds him in Tibet saying something to the effect "I knew we'd find you in the end!" and Chang says, "I knew you would come".

Third would be Picaros when Haddock asks Tintin what he's doing there, and he says mysteriously. "Let's just say....I was missing you Captain"

I read somewhere that Hergé had a couple of personal favorites.

One was the frame in The Crab With the Golden Claws where the Berber raiders are startled by Haddock's furious yelling and begin to peel off and flee from their positions. It shows three or four individuals in various postures from lying flat to kneeling, to turning away, to headlong retreat.

The other was in Red Rackham's Treasure, where Haddock marches boldly ashore, while behind him Tintin and the Thom(p)sons struggle to haul the boat onto the sand. Their ship is in the background.

Hergé apparently like these particular frames because they described so much motion and advanced the plot in such a short space... I thought it was an interesting reason to like a frame, but it reflects his artistic training.

My own personal favorites include the frame in The Castafiore Emerald that shows Tintin looked over at the Gypsy campfire in the darkness - beautiful use of shadows and lighting there.

I also love the three frames in Tintin in Tibet that shows the expedition hiking the long road out of Kathmandu, with Haddock gradually falling behind after his confident start.

And I love the atmosphere of the night scenes early on in The Blue Lotus, where Tintin cautiously approaches the meeting house in a seedy part of Shanghai. I reckon The Blue Lotus was indirectly responsible for me learning Mandarin later on!

One more favorite, the frames of the Carriedas aircraft banking over the island in Flight 714!

I must say I've got plenty of favourite panels throughout the books, but I'll list just three of them-
1) Thomson kicking that Arab man thinking that he was a mirage in the Land of Black Gold
2)Tintin underwater in front of the Unicorn on page 40 in Red Rackham's Treasure
3)The panel showing all the leaves of that potted plant in the Air-port drooping after Captain Haddock emptied his glass of Sani-Cola in Flight 714

There are plenty more favourite panels of mine, about thousand or so to say. Impossible to write them all in one go;)

Tintin and his ticker-tape welcome in New York, flanked by a police mounted-escort...
Iconic Tintin for me, a hero celebrated by the masses!

My favourite at the moment is the half-page panel battle scene on page 19 of "Unicorn" where we have Francois de Hadoque in the midst of the pirates, lashing out at them with his sword and shooting them with his pistols! No wonder some of them hesitate in confronting him!

There are so many great individual frames it is almost impossible to choose. However Crab with the Golden Claws has some of my favourites so first off is:

- Tintin and Captain Haddock running through the back streets of Bagghaar (full page 40)

- the beautiful frame depicting the Arab group who pitched their tent in Marlinspike Hall in Red Sea Sharks (pg6) Such an enticing juxtaposition of cultures!

- Rastapopoulos losing his cool with Dr Krollspell with his jockey whip in Flight 714 (pg27) The tension is so palpable!

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