Tintin Forums

Let me explain. A long time ago, I read and reread a particular Dutch Tintin omnibus. It had the Shooting Star on one side of the book, but if you flipped it around you could read the Black Rock on the other. Both stories would meet in the middle of the book. Now, I remember both stories being a little dark and unsettling as a kid, but I started avoiding one scene in particular. Tintin (or another character, but more on that in a moment) had found a book with a strange character on the cover who then proceeded to wink at him. Shocked, Tintin went to tell another character, but ended up leaving the book behind. Rather than following Tintin to the next scene, the panel lingered on the book character, who then grins menacingly at us, the reader. Even describing this now gives me the chills. But I love this sort of thing, so I've been trying to find it, and my parents have tossed the original booj. Imagine my shock when I cannot for the life of me find it in either of these two Tintin stories online! Ironically it is like something out of a Lovecraft novel.

However, I have gathered that in the case of omnibuses like these it may be possible that the writer added a sort of intermediate story in between. I also gathered this could actually be Jo, Zette and Jocko instead of Tintin. I remember Tintin being the one who picks up the book, but memory is notoriously unreliable, and JZ&J do stir some memories...

So, does anyone recognize the scene? Do you know what the story is called? Or have I stumbled upon some Eldritch reality-defying phenomenon and does this story not exist?

Don't worry. I think that you are very level-headed. But it may be the case that you are remembering two separate comics as one. Both were published in Dutch in 1978, so it is not impossible.

A flip-over book containing "Black Island" and "Shooting Star" was published in 1978 and may be the book that you are looking for.

It is currently for sale at lastdodo.com.


I do not think that this is a scene featuring Tintin or any other characters by Herge.

It looks like the opening scene of "The Moook Treasure", a Mickey Mouse adventure originally published in 1950. It was published in Dutch in "Mickey Maandblad # 1978-05", also in 1978.

Details can be found here - though you will have to register (for free) before seeing the full info. The actual comic is also available for sale at Lastdodo.com.

"The Moook Treasure" features Mickey Mouse and his strange friend Eega Beeva. Mickey does indeed find a book with a face of a man on the cover who suddenly winks at him. There is also a series of panels in which Mickey and Eega Beeva argue but we also get to see the face on the book making various creepy grins.

I would be surprised if an omnibus edition of Tintin's stories would include a few scenes from a Mickey Mouse story, even just as an advertisement, especially since both these comics appear to be from different publishers.

I also try to track down old comics and even films which I read and saw back in the 1970s and 80s. It brings back memories and I like the way in which I can understand the plots better nowadays.