Tintin Forums

What would be good alternative covers?

Here's my view:

Soviets - the 'sudden acceleration' that gives Tintin his quiff

Congo - the witch doctor in his scary leopard skin costume about to pounce on T.

America - that dizzying shot of T. climbing acroos the outside of the skyscraper

Cigars - the moment when the knife lands near him in that house in India (sorry for vagueness - I don't have my books to hand except Shooting Star), with all the other characters staring in shock

Ear - T. running with Pablo when he rescues him

Island - when the old man in the pub just said something and T. and landlord turned looking at him

Sceptre - T. running after man at the border? (does this happen?)

Crab - when T., Snowy and the Captain are lying in the sand almost dead and the patrol finds them (I think that scene is beautiful, especially cause you can't understand the Arab, and the scene just shows them to be so vulnerable, Tintin and the Captain)

Star - page 8, 'square' 3: where Philipulus is chasing T. through the street with a gong (check out that ultra-spooky shadow!!)

Unicorn - T. seeing the model for the first time in the market

Rackham - when they find the Francis Haddock statue on the island

Balls - the ball lightning approaching the mummy's case with the others looking on and mess on the floor (books etc)

Prisoners - the two men tripping Zorrino up and T. about to intervene

Black Gold - Oliveira da Figueira in the middle of the 'interminable' Portuguese story surrounded by the henchmen listening to him

Destination - the bears going after T.

Explorers - Wolff sneaking out

Affair - I know its on the frontispiece, but that picture of Calculus walking down the road from behind

Tibet - Chang's scarf hanging on the rock

Emerald - the Gypsies going away, with the magpie in the foreground on branch

714 - Carreidas' hat stuck under that statue, with Rasatapopoulos' and Allan's feet and legs partially visible as if they are looking down at it

Picaros - Haddock shouting into the television screen against Tapioca's face staring back

Alph-Art - when T. is on the phone and thinks he recognizes the voice (that frown of his)

As I previously mentioned in another thread, Herge carefully selected scenes that were panoramic, like movie posters, yet also convey the sense of the story. So here are my suggestions:

-Soviets: Tintin alone in the streets of Moscow (didn't Tintin already have that tuft, though?)
-Congo: It might work
-America: It might work
-Cigars: Tintin as "Ali Bhai" discovering the box of cigars but not noticing the officer
-Ear: Tough call
-Island: If done right, it could really work
Sceptre: Yes, it did happen; there is quite a scene where Tintin is separated from the person by a high cliff (which explains why he jumped)
Crab: It might work, especially if it's in panorama.
Star: Philipulus is not a big enough part of the story even if he nearly destroyed the ship prior to the voyage. Something with the seaplane, the island, and the "Peary" (embodying the rival) could work.
Unicorn - T. seeing the model for the first time in the market
Rackham: The "Sirius" near the island with the wreck and the sub below, perhaps, with the statue of Francis Haddock made as conspicuously as possible.
Balls: Could work
Prisoners: How about a trek through the mountains?
Black Gold: Perhaps the explosion of the gas pipe?
Destination: The night of the launch
Explorers: The original cover
Affair: I know its on the frontispiece, but that picture of Calculus walking down the road from behind--Now add in the villains!
Tibet: Chang's scarf hanging on the rock--Great, especially put in context of the mountains!
Emerald: the Gypsies going away, with the magpie in the foreground on branch
714: The volcano eruption
Picaros: The fiesta-revolution?
Alph-Art: Tough call; this is tricky because this story was never finished.

Nice!

P.S.: Anything for "The Blue Lotus"

Explorers: The original cover

Surely the whole point of this post is to find alternative covers!

Blue Lotus cover. oops I forgot!
HOw about one of those 'silhouette' style frames when T. is being taken off the boat to Didi's father's (forgot his name) house. They are wonderful frames.


Star: Philipulus is not a big enough part of the story

Yes but that picture is too good to resist! Anyway, why does the cover have to 'embody' all elements of the story, any more than the title? For instance 'The Blue Lotus' in the album of that name is hardly the main focus of the story. Also Flight 714. For me, the cover does not have to 'sum up' the story at all, after all, why would you need such a summary if you are going to read the book anyway? (plus you could put an overview in writing at the back). Of course, covers that do happen to sum up the story are fine, but the main job of the cover is to give a 'taster' of the book, with a picture that is aesthetically pleasing and interesting - posing more questions than answers and inviting curiosity from potential readers (in short, something which 'grabs the eye').

In fact, in some cases I would be in favour of a cover which is deliberately non-represantative of the story - in order to show that there is more to it than what the title suggests.

snafu
As I previously mentioned in another thread, Herge carefully selected scenes that were panoramic, like movie posters, yet also convey the sense of the story.

That’s interesting, because it seems to me that Hergé often passed over some of the most exciting moments in favour of rather insipid “shots”; I’ve seen Hergé’s roughs for cover ideas which look like they might have had better “hooks” than the finished ones.

For example, there’s one for 714 which has a view from inside the cabin as it plunges over the island, looking out the porthole, which seems to cover a lot more of the book than the current one. There’s another for Black Island which looks over the shoulder of the “monster”, with Tintin pinned against the parapet of the castle: I love the lyrical cover of Tintin in the boat (it may be my favourite cover), but the excitement and dynamism of the unused version is more of a grabber - certainly more “cinematic”.

I’m thinking of this in terms of the information about how little time books have to succeed in the shops, which Michael Turner and Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper talked of at Greenwich. They contrived more dramatic titles for some of the English translations to make the books more attention-grabbing; I just wonder why some of the books don’t make more of an “effort” with their covers?

Just to be contrary, I will admit that Picaros has one of the more dynamic covers of the series, and it is still pretty poor, so it isn’t always a good row to hoe; also I realise that the series has sold like hot-cakes for decades now, so maybe Hergé doesn’t need my advice, and knew what he was doing… ;-)

jock123
(...) it seems to me that Herge often passed over some of the most exciting moments in favour of rather insipid "shots"; I've seen Herge's roughs for cover ideas which look like they might have had better "hooks" than the finished ones.

This is quite a relevant remark, imho...

Admitting the 24 Tintin covers are drawn in the Ligne Claire* style, and admitting this kind of a hieroglyphic* rebus-like* writing matches with 'Tintin, Haddock & Co' written in an Indian file*,

the 24 covers' images might actually provide repeated renderings of the heroes' distorted syllables, as these 24 reflections obviously outnumber the main heroes' syllables, which amount to a total of nine only...

Such repeated and constraining syllables would match with Herge's strange covers, wouldn't they?



* please search for related threads...

yamilah
Such repeated and constraining syllables would match with Herge's strange covers, wouldn't they?

Not really - I just think he had different taste.

That’s interesting, because it seems to me that Hergé often passed over some of the most exciting moments in favour of rather insipid “shots”; I’ve seen Hergé’s roughs for cover ideas which look like they might have had better “hooks” than the finished ones.

I always that a good cover was one that displays something relevant yet does not reveals the spoiler. Like advertising, a good cover should attract attention, and all of Herge's current covers do that. Unfortunately, people do judge books by their cover and use them to decide whether it's worth reading the material. Some books seem to give good covers but poor inside material, while Tintin's covers, although very good, only give bare hints of what to expect!

In most cases I respect the choices he made (the Shooting Star is not my favourite album, but that wacky giant mushroom makes you want to reach out and grab it), but sometimes I think imagination failed him. For instance, I've never really liked the cover for Red Sea Sharks- that album is so action-packed, so to have Tintin, Archie and Skut standing on the rafter waving, although an OK image, is not what I'd call an iconic one.

I think that was the main aim he had in mind: not so much recapturing the most charged moments (which as snafu says, might prove too much of a giveaway) as iconic moments. Generally he succeeds.

jock123
I just think he had different taste.

To be precise, he had a taste for Indian languages, and for one of them in particular...

iconic moments

"Iconic Moments"! That was what I was trying to say!

Yes, iconic moments are much more easier to remember and sometimes have more punch than the most charged moments...