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UNDERATED:

Red Sea Sharks - It is funny, adventurous, has a complex plot and the most tense and actioned-packed climax of any of the Tintin stories. I don't understand why this one is considered 'weak'???

The Broken Ear - The best detective story of the series, shows Tintin as a reporter like he was intended. I think it is every bit the masterpiece that 'The Blue Lotus' is, and every bit as politically important. It is also exremely clever. The scenes revolving around Tintin getting saved from excecution and how he can't remember a thing the next morning are very amusing and clever.

OVERATED:

Explorers on the Moon - If people can put aside the topic of the story for a minute they will see that this is actually quite poorly written. Very little time is actually spent on the moon, while a ridiculous amount of time is spent on discussion at the end. Honestly, how could they possibly not be able to tell that they are not the only one's on board their own rocket??

Seven Crystal Balls - Can someone please explain to me what this Tintin book has that is so special? Is it adventurous - No. Is it overly humorous - No. I just don't get it???

Yes, Red Sea Sharks is indeed an underrated book. The most overrated IMHO is The Jewels of Castafiore, sure it was original but I didn't like the plot very much.

"The Seven Crystal Balls", overrated ? That's one of my personal favourites, so here's my argument in favour of it.

Artistically, it's the first time we see Tintin in his 'finished' incarnation, as such, keeping the look he'll maintain, more or less, for the rest of the series. The scenery work is excellent, especially the music hall and the dockyard scenes. The colouring is bright and vibrant (as opposed to, say, "Red Rackham's Treasure").

The storyline is captivating, full of suspense, exciting, and puts Tintin and Haddock on a quest to save the Professor which would have been restricted if done as one book. There's plenty of action in there - the scenes in the grounds of Tarragon's villa, for example. The tension that's prevalent throughout the book is incredible - for example Tintin's nightmare. On a personal note, that part always scared me when I was little (I'm sure I'm not alone), and Haddock and Calculus both having the same nightmare as Tintin was very unnerving - and still is. The same goes for Tarragon being tortured in his bed, screaming out in pain.

There's plenty of humour too - Haddock acting the country squire, Snowy and the Marlinspike moggy, Haddock's attempts to turn water into whiskey, Snowy and Castafiore's duet, Haddock backstage at the music hall, the Thompsons' inability to use a phone (or guard a professor), Tarragon's death grip, Tintin getting a faceful of soot ("Well, now we know ! He did use the chimney !"), Snowy drinking the spiked water, Tintin and Haddock trying to get the hood to come up on the car (and Haddock's subsequent soaking), Haddock setting off without a spare monocle - to name but a few. "The Seven Crystal Balls" certainly has more than its fair share of funny moments.

So in conclusion :

Is it adventurous ? Yes - not necessarily in the same way as the single volume books, but because the Inca storyline pans out over two books, the story can take longer to develop, allowing for more suspense to be built up. It's more of a mysterious book than adventurous - like a detective novel.

Is it humourous ? Yes - I would consider parts of it to be, anyway. The story being developed didn't call for joke after joke, but Hergé wrote some great ones that fitted into the plot but didn't interrupt the flow.

Is it exciting ? Yes, definitely (check the garden scenes when Tintin and Haddock are searching for the intruder).

Good storyline ? Very strong indeed, probably the most mysterious of all the books.

Good artwork ? Beautiful - personal favourite images include Haddock and Tintin driving home in the rain on P17, the fireball sequence (P30-31), and just about any featuring Haddock's stunning Lincoln.

Just out of interest, where do you get the idea that "The Red Sea Sharks" is underrated ? The authors of (I think) the Pocket Essential book said that it's a regular fan favourite because of the number of the recurring characters, and looking at our threads on favourite books, it seems to score quite highly consistently, often getting 9 or 10 out of 10 on the rating thread.

I'd have to wholeheartedly agree with Richard there. Each of the doomed explorers being picked off one-by-one by a supernatural force which everyone is powerless to stop (despite their efforts) is incredibly exciting. I think this story is one of the best examples of Hergé writing and drawing cinematically. It's one I could really see working as a very exciting film.

As for stories I think are underrated, I can possibly understand the uncertain feelings towards The Castafiore Emerald and Tintin and the Picaros because they're quite different to many others in the series, but I've never been able to see why so much vitriol is directed towards them. There are people out there who really hate these with a passion! In my opinion The Castafiore Emerald is a masterpiece of farcical comedy and Tintin and the Picaros, while being nowhere near the strongest book, contains several elements and scenes that are truly memorable and amongst the best in the series.

I know we'll never reach consenus on this, but it does prove you can't please all the people all the time!

Ed

Yes, Red Sea Sharks is rated decently but as it is stuck between masterpieces like Calculus Affair and Tintin in Tibet, it is often overlooked in my opinion. I really think Red Sea Sharks is brilliant.
Another reading of it has just strengthened my opinion. The pacing is incredible; fast, gripping and action-packed. I am also impressed at how such a complicated plot that takes so many twists and turns is told so fluently.

As for Seven Crystal Balls, I will say that the artwork is good but nowhere near as precise and flowing as in The Calculus Affair. It is humorous in parts but not overly. The tension is nice (the 'nightmare' scene is the highpoint of the book) but my one big problem with Crystal Balls is the pacing.
The tension comes in sporadic bursts, where we have lulls where the tension seems to grind to a halt (particularly at the point where Herge had to take a break from his work), before picking up again in flurishes such as in the hospital scene.
I hope that helps you to understand why I find it good, but somewhat short of greatness.

On a personal note, that part always scared me when I was little (I'm sure I'm not alone)

You're telling me! That scene with Rascar Capac frightened me for such a long time when I was little! I refused to watch the animated version when it came on!

Back to topic, though, when I finally did purchase "Seven Crystal Balls", I was actually surprised at what good a plot it had. I think it's well-paced and certainly has a lot of plot twists. I also really like the artwork and that awesome car the captain owns.

As for underrated/overrated, I'd say that I agree -- "Red Sea Sharks" and "Broken Ear" are very underrated. "Explorers on the Moon" is slightly overrated, but no matter -- I simply love that book.

Most overrated is Castafiore Emerald by a long way. It's dull and the ending is awful. It has some nice moments but somewhere along the way someone decided it was really clever what Herge had done and that if u didn't see it you weren't a real herge fan. I really dislike it.

Most underrated...

I'm gonna say Tintin and the Lake of Sharks, it's really not as bad as everyone makes out, nowhere near as good as any of the Herge written stories but not worth -7234682 in a scores out of 10 survey.

Rik

I have to disagree with the original poster in every possible way.

First of all, the plot in Broken Ear is so poor and there are so many loose ends that don't fit anywhere that it's amazing that it still comes out as many people's favourites. It is one of the most poorly scripted Tintin Books apart from America.

Seven Crystal Balls, on the other hand, is much more sophisticated, has an excellent, slow and deliberate pace that literally builds the tension as the story proceeds and a very good plot. What more could you ask?

Out of Ten?

Red Sea Sharks get a huge 8/10 and does indeed get credit for it. I can't think of how it is underrated.

Broken Ear -- highly overrated.

Seven Crystal Balls -- an excellent finished product. Probably a little underrated because it's quite unique from other Tintins.

I started reading "The Seven Crystal Balls" again this morning, and it works even better as a narrative than I remember.

The opening, with Tintin's pleasant stroll to Marlinspike from the station, Haddock trying his hand at being a conjurer, and the visit to the music hall, all contrasts strongly with later scenes in the book, where Haddock is depressed and waiting for news of the Professor. The book's mood changes at the end to an optimistic view again, as Haddock changes back into his familiar sailor's jumper and cap, and they head to Peru to save the Professor.

The lack of a physical villain up until page 37 is a masterstroke by Hergé, which pits Tintin against the unknown. The supernatural atmosphere in the book works because there is no such dramatic irony as we have in some of the other books - we know as much as Tintin knows. In some of the other books, we know that Tintin's going to fall into a trap, that someone claiming to be his friend is actually an enemy - but in "The Seven Crystal Balls", we know as much as Tintin does about the enemy he's facing. I'd say that it allows us to put ourselves in his shoes, and so we follow the story with more vigour and can associate with the characters better.

It simply reaffirms my opinion that "The Seveb Crystal Balls" is a masterpiece, and one of Hergé's best.

Of the four book mentioned initially, I would rank them as :

1. The Seven Crystal Balls
2. The Red Sea Sharks
3. Explorers on the Moon
4. The Broken Ear

I do like "The Broken Ear", though - it has some superb sequences, especially the last-minute dash to the docks when Tintin discovers the location of the real fetish. However, one thing that does let it down (apart from, as harishanker pointed out, the loose ends) is that Hergé seems to have either ran out of time or lost interest in the backgrounds to the book - when Tintin and Ridgewell are talking in the jungle, for example, it's simply a solid green. However, I'm not saying it's a bad book - I still find it very exciting to read, and to say it's not as good as some of the others still puts it way above the best in many other series of books !

With "Explorers on the Moon", I wouldn't say that it's highly overrated - it was groundbreaking at the time, still is in a way, since it portrays a fairly accurate vision of space travel despite being fifty years old. The artwork is superb in that book, and I love the spacesuit designs, very recognisable.

I would say, however, that its predecessor, "Destination Moon", is remarkably poor in comparison. The story lags in that one, a bit too much techno-babble, and if you've ever seen the French edition, the lettering (in my opinion) looks awful in comparison to the rest of the books. The colouring, as well, is a bit washed-out at times. Still, there's some classic moments in it - Calculus' "goat" tirade is legendary.

Of the books mentioned here:

I would agree with Richard, Ed and Harishankar that The Seven Crystal Balls is a very accomplished piece. The artwork and colouring are good, and it has a bit of everything. There is mystery and suspense, excitement, action, humour, upbeat atmosphere, and downcast atmosphere. The story always had me hooked on the gradual 'getting' of the explorers. That was really exciting, and had me dying for Tintin to unearth some clues as to who was responsible, how and why. I was bursting with both excitement and anticipation after Doctor Midge was gotm to and Snowy leads Tintin after something. The cat was a bit of an anticlimax, mind!

I also love the atmosphere throughout the book- the curiosity at the the mystery, which turns to eerieness at Tarragon's estate, action in the gardens, back to mystery over Calculus' disappearance, sombreness afterwards, and optimism at the prospect of finding Cuthbert.

I love the part that evening in Tarragon's house. The whole feel to it is quite something. Very dark and unnerving. then the nightmare sequence, brilliantly done and as Richard and Moon Rocket say, pretty scary for a kid. This is followed by the action, which always had me engrossed in it, desperate for some more information on what was going on. The drawings of the garden that night, and the characters in it are superb IMO. I would say that the sequence is as good as any other throughout the Tintin adventures, and possibly better.

So I wouldn't say it was in the least bit overrated.


Broken Ear- I've always enjoyed it, but can see why it isn't always popular. It's not the strongest storyline, but it still is a great read.

Explorers on the Moon- Again, I wouldn't disagree that it is overrated. I've never been a huge fan of the moon books.

Red Sea Sharks- I Personally think that it's actually a it overrated. It was nice to see so many familiar characters, but the storyline never particularly grabbed my interest. But I still enojoy reading it, just as with every Tintin story!

I don't particularly like The Castafiore Emerald but in no way is it overrated. It's a fantastically produced story, and is very clever. Though I don't like the story a huge amount, I can still appreciate how good it is.

I love The Blue Lotus, but I think that the majority of people do so don't think it's underrated. One I do think perhaps is though is King Ottokar's Sceptre. I'm not quite sure of why exactly I think it's so good. I know the colouring and the drawing worked really well. The politics and learning about Syldavia were both very interesting points too. The settings are very nice, and like many of the stories, I love the atmosphere the book produces. The story itself always appealed to me.