Tintin in America
- Black & white facsimile edition / original version. Hardback.
- Colour facsimile edition / 1945 re-drawn version. Hardback.
- Colour edition / 1945 re-drawn version. Hardback. Paperback.
- Tintin © Hergé/Moulinsart.
Original French title
Tintin en Amerique
Publication history
First published in Le Petit Vingtième between 3 September 1931 and 20 October 1932.
Published in book form in 1932 (black and white, 120 pages).
Redrawn in 1945 (except page 62, frame 2).
English edition
1962 - First UK edition published by Methuen.
1978 - Methuen (London). Translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner. Colour. 64p. 31cm. ISBN: 0416861202.
1979 - Methuen/Magnet (London). Translated by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner. Colour. 64p. 30cm. Paperback. ISBN: 0416875602
1990 - Methuen Children's Books (London). Colour. ISBN: 0416148522.
2004 - Casterman (Bruxelles). Translated by Michael Turner. Black and white facsimile. Hardback. ISBN: 2203797002.
Related link
First publication dates of The Adventures of Tintin
Plot
Tintin goes to America, to Chicago, the territory of gangster, Al Capone; the world of cowboys and Indians and the Wild West. Undaunted, Tintin and Snowy make their way through hilarity and danger to yet another triumph of virtue over crime.
Trivia
- This album would end a first stage in the development of Hergé's work, as there are several signs of Hergé taking his work more seriously, for example, Hergé actually conducted some research to obtain background information on the theme of his story (he consulted L'Histoire des Peaux-Rouges/The History of the Redskins by Paul Coze).
- Hergé had wanted to write a story about the oppression of the Indians in the USA, but his boss, Father Wallez fancied a story about the Chicago crime syndicate that would help illustrate how corrupt the USA really was. (Don't forget that Wallez was all in favour of a strong and unified Europe - without the rightist Hitler - type associations). That was not exactly what Hergé had in mind, so on page 16 he lets gangster Bobby Smiles flee to Redskincity, a town near an Indian camp. However, to stay out of trouble with Wallez, Hergé used the Indians to expose American corruption with the scene where the 'whites' found out about the oil on the Indian reserve, they established a town and oil industry within 24 hours.
- Finding a publisher for this book in the USA was impossible. Even in the mid-1940s, American publishers insisted that Hergé replaced the 'coloured' people featured in the comic with 'whites'. Then again, the USA was not the only country that gave Hergé a hard time publishing this comic. Most foreign publishers (i.e. non-Belgian or French) seemed to have problems with the almost apocalyptical scene in which the soldiers move out the Indians of the reserve, and the speed in which the new town is created. Nevertheless, Hergé's popularity in Belgium and France increased even more with this album. Wallez arranged another 'happy homecoming' for Tintin, at which even more people showed up than the previous 'homecoming'. Tintin albums became so popular that they attracted the attention of Casterman, a well known publisher in Belgium and France. Eagerly, Casterman decided to publish the Tintin stories.
- In the original edition, Tintin never learns Bobby Smiles' name; it is revealed only when he mails him to the nearest police station, in the phone call to the press from the police chief.
- Billy Bolivar was based on Arthur Henning, aka Arthur Saxon, a professional strongman whose specialty was the one-handed lift. Billy was called "Bolivar (Hippolyte)" in the original black and white version. Luckily, Saxon was already dead at the time Hergé wrote this story.
- In panel 5 of page 35 of the revised edition (page 70 in the original edition), after Tintin has put on Pedro's boots, the spurs disappear and the boots turn brown. This only happens in the colour edition.
- In the original black and white version, two Chinese characters throw Tintin into the lake on the orders of the Head of the Organization of Disordered Gangsters. For the colour edition, Hergé rewrote the scene: now only a single henchman helps the Head throw Tintin into the lake.
- The coloured edition has been changed. Page 29 frame 10, and page 47 frame 16 feature black people in the first editions of the coloured version. Later editions feature white people.
- In the original black and white version, the two doors in the frames where Tintin lures the gangsters of Kidnap Inc. into the dungeon were labelled, DUNGEON and TOWER STAIRS. For the colour edition, Hergé changed this to DUNGEON AND KEEP, but he forgot to remove the stairway going up [and, incidentally the two signs were reversed in the original version as well; when Tintin switches them, the tower stairs are labelled DUNGEON ("Good, so now they're all locked in the dungeon!" is Tintin's comment in the original edition).]
- In the original French version of this story, the Head of the Distressed Gangsters Association greets Tintin in colloquial English. Just where did Herge learn English? Share your thoughts!
Title in other languages:
- Basque - Tintin Ameriketan
- Bengali - Americai Tintin
- Catalan - Tintin a America
- Chinese - 丁丁在美洲 (Dingding zai meizhou) / Hong Kong and Taiwan: 丁丁在美國 (Dingding zai meiguo)
- Czech - Tintin v Americe
- Danish - Tintin i Amerika
- Dutch - Kuifje in Amerika
- Farsi/Persian - Tenten dar Amrika
- Finnish - Tintti Amerikassa
- French - Tintin en Amerique
- Galician - Tintin en America
- German - Tim in Amerika
- Greek - O Tentén stin Amerikí
- Hebrew - Tintin Be' America
- Icelandic - Tinni i Ameriku
- Indonesian - Tintin di Amerika
- Italian - Tintin in America
- Japanese - タンタン アメリカへ Tantan, Amerika he / Tintin America e
- Nowegian - Tintin i Amerika
- Portuguese - Tintim na América
- Spanish - Tintin en America
- Swedish - Tintin i Amerika
- Turkish - Tenten Amerika'da
- Vietnamese - Tintin tren dat niy