The Calculus Affair
- Tintin © Hergé/Moulinsart.
Original French title
L'Affaire Tournesol
Publication history
First published in Tintin magazine between 2 February, 1955 and 5 April, 1956.
The book appeared in 1956 with slight changes.
English edition
1960 - First English edition.
1990 - Mammoth (London). Colour. 64p. 30cm. Paperback. ISBN: 0749704683.
Related link
First publication dates of The Adventures of Tintin
Plot
"No more travels or adventures; no more careering all round the world. I've had enough of it!" says Captain Haddock. But danger threatens; unscrupulous Bordurians kidnap Professor Calculus, and Tintin, Snowy and the Captain are soon on the trail again. It is no easy task to rescue the Professor and save his fantastic invention. Spies are everywhere, and Calculus lies deep in the fortress of Bakhine. But the Bordurians have Tintin to deal with. [AR]
Trivia
- Cameos: page 13, last frame: Hergé standing by the tent smoking and equipped with a sketch pad and pen in his hands. E. P. Jacobs, dressed like Tintin, stands near the gate with a bicycle.
- The text on the cigarette pack is Cyrillic and translates into: "MAZEDONIA", "LOZKTECH", "...ICH SZTOUMPECH" and "ZIGARETTES".
- The first is the brand/label of the cigarettes, which is a bit confusing as Macedonia is a real country and the cigarettes are supposed to be from Borduria. I can not understand the two next, but the last one must translate to cigarettes. Note that Hergé actually made an error when he wrote "zigarettes". The "N" should be reversed as there are no "N" in Cyrillic. Page 15, frame 11.
- Strange time: according to hotel information, page 18, frame 13, the train to Nyon leaves at 16:36. In frame 14, Tintin mentions that they still have 7 minutes to catch it. In the following frame, page 19, frame 1, the hotel clock shows 16:34. This would give Tintin only 2 minutes, unless somewhere there is a wrong time! Furthermore, on page 19, frame 8, Captain Haddock's suitcase opens and an alarm clock falls out, with the time being 20:00/08:00. In the French edition, according to hotel information, page 18, frame 13, the train to Nyon leaves at 16:40.
- Jacobini (private joke between Hergé and E. P. Jacobs) to play Faust from Gounod's opera, with Bianca Castafiore.
- Page 33, last frame: the colour of the chromed part of the rear light of the Chrysler changes (to red) in the final frame of page 39. [LS]
Title in other languages
- Afrikaans - Die Gehime Wapen
- Alsatian - d'affar mit'm tounesol
- Basque - Tournesolen Auzia
- Bengali - Calculus er Kando
- Breton - Afer Klaskato
- Catalan - L'afer Tornassol
- Chinese - China: 卡尔库鲁斯案件 (Kaerkulusi anjian) / Hong Kong and Taiwan: 圖納斯案件 (Tunasi anjian)
- Danish - Det hemmelige våben
- Dutch - De zaak Zonnebloem
- Farsi/Persian - Majarayi kalkulis
- Finnish - Tuhatkaunon tapaus
- Galician - El caso Torneasol
- German - Der Fall Bienlein
- Greek - Ypothesi Tournesol
- Hebrew - Parasht Calculus
- Icelandic - Leynivopnið
- Indonesian - Penculikan Calculus [Indira edition] / Penculikan Lakmus [Gramedia title]
- Italian - L'affare Girasole
- Japanese - ビーカー教授事件 Beaker kyouju jiken
- Lëtzburgesch - Affaire Ditchen
- Norwegian - Det hemmelige våpenet
- Portuguese - O caso Girassol
- Spanish - El asunto Tornasol
- Swedish - Det hemliga vapnet
- Turkish - Turnösol olayi
- Vietnamese - Phi vu calculus