Tintin Forums

Here we go again!!!
The whole charm and fascination of reading Tintin is the period Herge wrote it in.
<<Mullergirl, you coment about sawing through the car door>>
In those days it was possible as doors and car chassis were made of plywood and as number1fan points out it relates to Al Capone, gangsters, Chicago ETC. So if you want to revise this you would need to change the whole concept including up to date gangsters and if we do that, we loose the complete charm of the story and then it would not be Tintin as we all love to read about.
Don't modernise or change history and take it for what it is, ENJOY.....

Tintin in America obviously suffers by way of comparison with some of the later adventures but I always enjoyed it when I was younger and it's a work of genius compared with Soviets and Congo. The thing which marks it out as early Tintin is the way various strands of American culture and history are simply blended together unsubtly. Here's Al Capone and here's some Red Indians.....

It reads more like a series of picaresque incidents rather than a tightly-knitted plot like The Castafiore Emerald. Also it's interesting that Herge sent Tintin to America near the beginning of his career and then brought him back to Europe which subverts the traditional idea of emigration and aspiration towards America. That's pretty iconoclastic.

I give it a nostalgic seven out of ten.

I just finished reading the black & white version of Tintin in America.I had read the color version in my younger days.The experience of re-reading the book was quite enjoyable.I enjoyed it not from a storyline perspective but because of the fact that the sequence of actions reflect crime in America of those days- tough guns chasing money.The actions & adventures are quite funny & non-stop, as some others here have mentioned- and that is another major strength of the book.

I give it 7/10.

Is there an English edition of the 1st version wherein- on the front cover Tintin is seen having a meal and the Indians ready to charge upon him- shown on the backdrop .I've got the B&W copy of America but haven't found a resource for the earlier edition.

Tintin in America is a great kickoff into the whole series. It contains the basic elements of a plot, unlike Soviets and Congo. This being said, the book is still slightly immature. There is visible stereotypes of the American Indians, and some ways in which Tintin is caught are far-fetched(like when he falls through the platform in the sidewalk). All in all though, the book is funny, especially when Snowy gives his thoughts and words. It's a great book historically, and so its worth reading.

6/10

Decades ago, going to the movies was a bigger event than it is now. Movie goers usually saw two movies, which were generally preceded by cartoons, newsreels (as seen in Blue Lotus) and serials.

Serials were shown one chapter at a time and usually there was a new chapter every week. I bring this up because Tintin in America is very similar to those serials, which would feature gangsters and cowboys and Indians. They also featured cliffhangers, improbable situations and really bizarre escapes.

Viewed as a serial, I'd say Tintin in America rates a 9/10.

(My favorite bit is when Snowy assumes that the livery barn owner is going to give them a "wonder horse." Clearly, Snowy has been watching movie serials!)

Tintin in America was one of my first issues, but nostalgia aside (and there sure is a lot of it!), it's certainly not the greatest Tintin adventure. There's a lot of pretty silly stuff going on (the gangsters not knowing the difference between wood and 400-lb barbells? ...really?), and the plot is everywhere, but... there's a certain charm to the story that I absolutely love. It's ridiculous, and that's part of what makes it so entertaining.

Some of the most memorable scenes (for me, anyway) come from this issue - Tintin, hundreds of feet up, crossing the outside of the hotel building from one room to the next to surprise the gangster is one of them. Though I read it often as a child, it wasn't until later in my teens, when I picked up the book again, did I fully understand the scene with the government kicking out the Indians and building a city in less than a day. The same goes with the meat grinding plant sequence.

And for some reason, I really love the scene on the last page, where Tintin bids farewell to America from the ship.

I give it a 7/10

I liked Tintin in America more than I thought I would. It's still difficult for me to decide whether to take the whole adventure seriously or not, as a lot of the deus ex machinas were even more unbelievable than many of the other books. One thing which bugged me for a while was that Tintin and a few others were frequently shown falling through very visible trapdoors which they had not noticed until they started falling. I was very incredulous for a while, then I decided it was no good just being incredulous and so I laughed instead.

I found the whole thing hilarious. I've never made so many strange high-pitched giggles at any other Tintin adventure. I think my favourite parts include:
- The hotel detective's ridiculously specific description of Snowy's kidnapper.
- The fact that Tintin believed him and was impressed.
- The concept of Neo-judeo-buddho-islamo-american-ism.
- When the policeman addresses Tintin as "baby-face".
- The scene where the "POLICE" sign is taken off a door to reveal the initials "G.S.C", which a bubble in the frame so kindly informs us stands for "Gangster's Syndicate of Chicago".
- Kipnap Incorporated as a legitimate business.
- The Distressed Gangsters Association.

But the most hilarious of all was when Maurice explained to Tintin that the canning plant recycled automobiles into cans and that the automobile plants recycled cans into automobiles. I think this is because similar things happen in real life.

All in all, I thought Tintin in America was just as interesting as many of the adventures following it, and although I would never be able to take it as seriously as the later adventures, it provides a good laugh even so.

LOL! That was great. Tintin was so innocent back then xD

What powers of deduction! And what assurance! A real Sherlock Holmes!

This is one of the funniest books, I think.

Some of it is too unrealistic: the trapdoors, the ledge on the cliff, the overhanging rock, the wrong gas, climbing between the hotel windows, the ridiculous secret tunnel and of course the train stopping just in time. But somehow, this makes the whole adventure more naive, more cute. Tintin looks about 14-15, and isn't suspicious or a little aggressive like he can be later in the series.
He's somehow vulnerable through some of America, and you don't see that much. The only other time I can think of is Flight 714, when he thinks Snowy's been shot. That part is actually really touching (in a sad way).

BACK TO THE POINT! I give it an 8/10. I don't think this is the best Tintin adventure, but it's one of my favourites anyway. It's an unconditional love which I'll never really let go of.

P.S. Who else is now a Neo-judeo-buddho-islamo-american-ist?