Tintin Forums

I'm not at all familiar with Tintin or his adventures, but the little bit of knowledge that I have gleaned concerning Tintin tells me that I will like him. I'd like to go ahead and get started reading and eventually read all of Tintin's adventures.
My question is, is this what I should be buying?

It's hard to tell, but it looks like if I buy this, I will have an entire set of the English translations of Tintin's adventures in hardcover volumes.
What do you think may be the pros and cons of making this purchase?
Thanks for your help...
Broken link mended.

Good question, codales.

If this is indeed a box set of all 23 adventures in their individual full-size hardback editions, this would be a good buy at the price Amazon is offering it for. However, given the price (and the fact that they've got them all into one box) I'm wondering if this might actually turn out to be a boxed-up collection of the recently published smaller-size 3-in-one editions. It's impossible to tell from the product description, and I notice that its not coming out until November.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the smaller-size 3-in-one editions. Some people on this forum seem to prefer them at this reduced size. Personally, I prefer reading Tintin books at the size they were originally published (roughly A4). I think the full size gives them the necessary impact, and gives all the visual details the necessary space. But maybe it's just because I read them full size as a child that any smaller editions look wrong! You could probably be overly purist about it. Hergé actually drew the artwork substantially bigger still, so he was drawing with a reduction in mind anyway. The smaller size editions are certainly handier to stick in a coat pocket to read on a train, and all the details of the pictures are still perfectly clear. And, of course, it's a cheaper way of getting the whole series.

I also prefer to have each book as an individual volume so that you get each adventure's cover on the front. I've only looked at the 3-in-one editions in a bookshop, so sorry if I'm misrembering this, but I think in these multi-book volumes the original covers are arranged together on the front, with each one being pretty small.

Cleary, all this is a question of personal preference. If the size and format don't much matter to you and your priority is just to have all the adventures for a good price, then maybe you should order this boxed set and see what comes. No doubt it will be a nicely-produced set anyway. But if you think you're going to care about having the individual books at their original size, then I'd try to find out more details about this boxed set before buying it.

It should also be noted that the product refered to is a Little-Brown U.S. item; as has been mentioned elsewhere, L-B have decided not to make a U.S. edition of Tintin in the Congo following the recent controversy about that title. It could be that the set will need to be revised if they don't want to publish Congo as part of it, whatever its dimensions.

As the set isn't out until November it is a bit difficult to proffer any hard-and-fast advice just yet. You could read the thread on the merits (or lack of) of the 3-in-1 volumes, if you want to see what members thought of them.

I have got the smaller sized 3-in-1 books, but (in my personal opinion), I'd agree with Balthazar on the original full-sized version being TOPS :)

L-B have decided not to make a U.S. edition of Tintin in the Congo

Even though Little-Brown US has decided not to publish Tintin in the Congo, the above mentioned collection is in fact a set of eight three-in-one Tintin volumes. So, that means Little-Brown will publish Tintin in the Congo in this format.

Its all set for release in Nov 2007.

SmartTintin
I pre-ordered the US Tintin in the Congo in april, and when september rolled around, they pushed the date forward until November. maybe they did not cancel this edition.

cigars of the beeper

Yeah, probably they will publish it in November with a red band around it; and you might find it in adult comics section.

SmartTintin
Even though Little-Brown US has decided not to publish Tintin in the Congo, the above mentioned collection is in fact a set of eight three-in-one Tintin volumes. So, that means Little-Brown will publish Tintin in the Congo in this format.
Well, as I said, we will have to wait and see: they had announced, and retailers taken orders for, the standard volume, before they cancelled it. That could still happen with this boxed set too.
Given that they see Congo as a "difficult" product to sell as a stand alone item, it seems hard to believe that they would then stick it in with a set of the entire series, limiting its market severely if left to the adult collector and graphic novel market. The truth is at the moment we just don't know, and can't use the listing of a product on Amazon as a confirmation that that product will ever reach market.

I appreciate everyone's input. I went to my local bookstore and looked at the 3-in-1 Tintin books and compared them to the larger individual books, and have decided that I am going to order Land of the Soviets instead, and order each book as I go. That will fit my budget better anyway. Thanks again for the advice.

Broken link removed
Moderator note: Hi, codales! If you are posting links you might want to check that the link is working after you send your message, as there seems to be a problem with the ones you have included. Many thanks,
The Happy Tintinologist Team

SmartTintin
I suppose I will not need to go poking around in an adult comics section though, because I ordered it by mail.