Hi everyone,
Of the early books,
The Broken Ear is a favorite of mine.
However, I've always thought it is let down by the quality of its colouring.
Harry Thompson writes in
Tintin: Hergé & His Creation:
The Broken Ear had figured among Hergé's first ever attempts at shortening and colouring existing artwork, in 1943. The colours, mostly a series of pale washes, are a touch lifeless and betray the story's black-and-white origins.
Compare the colouring found here with that of
The Blue Lotus (coloured in 1946). Quite a difference, and over-all more pleasing to the eye, no?
Personally, I'd like to see
The Broken Ear re-coloured and brought closer into line with the others in the series.
Would this be tampering too much with an historical document? I'm interested to hear what other fans think.
Lastly, I think it's interesting to look at Tintin in this book.
It's clear that here, along with
The Blue Lotus, we are seeing him as close to his original, un-perfected form as we can get in the official series.
For example, look at the bottom of page 18, frame 1. Tintin is shocked to discover his suitcase has been switched and now contains explosives.
I find our young hero barely recognizable. He looks like a wizened old hunchback! I'm surprised Hergé wasn't inclined to re-draw some of these frames in later years.
Harry.