The Shooting Star

The Shooting Star
Tintin © Hergé/Moulinsart.

Original French title

L'Etoile Mysterieuse

Publication history

First published in Le Soir between 20/10 1941 and 21/5 1942.

The book appeared in 1942.

English edition

1961 - Methuen (London).

1978 - Magnet (London). Paperback.

1990 - Mammoth (London). Reprint of the 1978 Magnet edition. 62p. ISBN: 0749704616.

Related link

First publication dates of The Adventures of Tintin

Plot

"It's the END of the WORLD!" declares Professor Phostle, as an enormous star hurtles towards the earth. But he is disappointed - the star brushes past, leaving only a vast meteorite which falls in the Arctic waters. However, there is no mistake about the Professor's discovery of a valuable new metal in the meteorite; it is worth a colossal fortune, and in a hazardous search in polar regions Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock encounter some of their strangest adventures. [AR]

Trivia

  1. Page 2: the door bell that is first seen in frame 6 disappears in frame 9 (but reappears again in frames 11 to 14).
  2. Page 4: the long focal distance of the telescope will only make anything on the lense invisible, not magnified.
  3. Page 21: Captain Haddock's sleeve cuff stripes change in number - see frames 4 and 10.
  4. Cameo: page 20, frame 8: Quick and Flupke leading the way.
  5. Cameo: page 21, frame 2: Scientist, Auguste Piccard (first from the right).
  6. In 1954 Hergé changed the original flag of the competing expedition from the American flag to the flag of Sao Rico. [BP, page 71] The American flag can still be seen on page 35, frame 7:
    The Shooting Star trivia
    Image © Hergé/Moulinsart.

Title in other languages:

  1. Basque - Izar misteriotsua
  2. Bengali - Ulka Rahasya (Literal meaning: The mystery of asteroid.)
  3. Breton - Ar sveredenn gevrinus
  4. Catalan - L'estel misterios
  5. Chinese - 神秘的流星 (Shen mi de liu xing)
  6. Danish - Den mystiske stjerne
  7. Dutch - De geheimzinnige ster
  8. Faeroese - hin gátuføra stjørnan
  9. Farsi/Persian - Sitarihyi asrar amiz
  10. Finnish - Salaperäinen Tähti
  11. Galician - A estrela misteriosa
  12. German - Der geheimnisvolle Stern
  13. Greek - To mystiriódes ástro
  14. Hebrew - Kochav Ha'shavit
  15. Hungarian - A titokzatos csillag
  16. Icelandic - Dularfulla stjarnan
  17. Indonesian - Bintang jatuh [Indira edition title] / Bintang Misterius [Gramedia edition title]
  18. Italian - La stella misteriosa
  19. Japanese - ふしぎな流れ星 Hushigina nagare boshi
  20. Korean - Shinbi-eui Puol
  21. Lëtzburgesch - Den onheemleche stär
  22. Portuguese - A estrela misteriosa
  23. Russian - Zagadochnaya zvezda
  24. Spanish - Le estrella misteriosa
  25. Swedish - Den mystiska stjärnan
  26. Turkish - Esrarengiz yildiz
  27. Sao bâng

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Last modified: 29 December 2012.

Latest changes: Indonesian (Gramedia edition) title added.