Tintin Forums

If Hergé had decided to expand any of the single-volume stories into a two-volume story, which one would you be most excited to read?

For myself, I would've particularly liked Cigars of the Pharaoh to have been enlarged.
Although the story is already quite diverse (beginning in Egypt, ending in India, with numerous plot twists thrown in), I cannot tire of Hergé's story of intrigue: gun running, the secret society, the poison, and so on.
I would like to see more of the part where Tintin is dropped in the Red Sea in a sarcophagus by Allan, then picked up by the smuggler in the little lateen-rigged ship.
Surely there could be several new plot twists here?

I admit that Cigars can easily be interpreted as the first half of a story that concludes with Blue Lotus, but surely even the first half of this adventurous tale could have been expanded if Hergé had more ideas?

Tintin and Alph-Art. (Hee-hee!)

For me, apart from Alph-Art ;o), it would have to be The Calculus Affair - I think it would be great for that to have been a two-parter, although it may well have not been as good as it is as a single adventure ... who knows ?

Hmm, tricky. I would have liked to see King Ottokar's Sceptre extended, perhaps dealing with the events after Muskar finds out about the plot to dethrone him, and the countering of Müsstler's threat.

Also, in a way, I'd have liked to see Red Rackham's Treasure extended, to in effect create a three-parter, since I'm not convinced it lives up to its full potential. The first book is devoted to the uncovering of the parchments and the setting up of the story, which is a masterpiece ; and then Tintin et al. don't depart until some way into Treasure and still find time to have the great conclusion. I think the middle bit of the book - the actual voyage - really lets it down, since it's just a 'medley' of scenes, and if it had been extended to another volume, it could have had an actual story running through it. Plus a three-volume story would have matched the three parchments !

I think that "The Calculus Affair" should be lengthened not into a two-volume set, but just enough so that we clearly see how the Bordurians, according to Calculus, were "finished" because the Professor left his plans at Marlinspike. For it to become a two-volume set, Tintin and his friends would have to be involved in the meltdown of Borduria in its struggle with Syldavia. In addition, that would be overkill to tie up the loose ends in the single story.

The beauty of the Tintin books is that the stories that already end in single books have clear resolutions (i.e. the defeat of Mitsuhirato, Alcazar being re-installed into power). Some stories still might leave the reader with many questions (like how the Twins exactly recovered during "Explorers on the Moon"), but I feel that most of those isses could be dealt with by extending the story beyond the 62 pages.

Although I'd love to see a number of books extended - such as Land of Black Gold to include Haddock's story - I'm not sure a two-parter is the best idea.

For me the two parts only really work when there is a stark contrast between them, where we have a build up, and planning stage, and then the true adventure itself in the second volume.

Although Calculus Affair is a great adventure, as a two-part story it wouldn't really fit the Hergé mould, as the first half would really end simply in the middle of the adventure.

Rik

My favourite adventure is Prisoners of the Sun so I feel that my desire for a longer version was sated when I bought a copy of Le Temple du Soleil; the original version which reproduces the Tintin magazine centre pages.

The book Hergé and Tintin: Reporters mentions that a fan had counted 333 frames which were dropped for the book version (as well as numerous modifications to the illustrations in both).

I've worked out that the average number of frames in a Tintin book is about 800 (give or take a few), making the original version nearly as half as long again as the album version!

Weren't these cut out because Hergé thought they were superfluous to the story?

... but in answer to the title question - I think all the adventures (apart from Alph-Art, obviously) are fine the length they are, with the exception of Soviets, which is very long, without much happening.

Soviets is only the same length as any other album, just the pictures haven't been made smaller to fit the 62 page format.

The cuts were more than likely made in Prisoners to fit the standard album format rather than any plot reasons. Many books had cuts that didn't advance the plot for this reason, I'm sure they would have kept them if they could.

Rik

Shooting Star definitely. When they finally arrive at the meteorite, so little is made of it.

A second volume would've really made this album stand out as one of the best, in my opinion.