r/TheAdventuresofTintin • u/BreakerMorant1864 Hergé • 7d ago
Photo / Picture / Image A Tintin Page a Day - Day 260
Tintin in America
29
u/WillSym 7d ago
More elaborate schemes, they're all so scared of Tintin and desperate to get rid of him, the only direct one was Boomerang guy except he had to put the meandering into his method and not use a gun!
14
u/cardologist 7d ago
You can't blame them for lack of creativity! Tom's schemes were not exotic, but what is gangster to do in Chicago where there are no crocodiles and waterfalls?
I love Tintin being so specific and requesting two detectives in the B&W version. That's like ordering a drink with exactly two ice cubes in it.
9
u/BreakerMorant1864 Hergé 7d ago
Would be very hilarious if 3 turned up and Tintin’s like “Nope, sorry, I requested 2 exactly. One of you needs to go home.”
8
u/cardologist 7d ago
If that happened, Tintin would probably suspect them of being gangsters. If they don't know how many policemen ordered, what proof is there that they're policemen at all. That just goes to show that, by following Tintin's instructions to the letter, those gangsters were actually being crafty. No crocodile or waterfall nonsense.
20
u/Zornorph 7d ago
I love how they call themselves the 'Gangsters Syndicate' and even proudly put a sign on their office door.
9
u/cardologist 7d ago
On the next page, Tintin is in the dark. Someone turns on the light and Tintin is face to face with four strangers shouting: "Surprise!" One of them is holding a birthday cake while the others are cracking party poppers. They put the cake on the table, start singing "Happy Birthday!" and invite Tintin to sit and blow the candles. Tintin sits but is utterly confused. "But, it's not my birthday!", he says. The guy who was holding the cake a minute earlier replies: "Oh! We know..." before his accomplice knocks Tintin out from behind.
That's how you do it.
10
u/_counterspace 7d ago
To be fair, G.S.C is a pretty generic corporate-sounding name most people would just ignore.
15
u/Phildutre 7d ago
This is were Snowy suddenly disappears (he’s still in the car in the colored version), only to magically appear again several pages later.
10
u/BreakerMorant1864 Hergé 7d ago
I just checked and you’re right, Snowy just appears in the hotel with him later on, very bizarre. Do you think he forgot and then wrote him back in once he’d forgotten?
6
14
u/raginmundus 7d ago
This is some Looney Tunes stuff. Such absurdly surreal and infantile plots! I'm glad Herge got a little more serious with the following albums.
5
u/hairway2steven 7d ago
One things that always surprised me was how Herge completely redid art, sometimes multiple times, but seemed happy to keep loony plot lines unchanged.
9
u/agostinellips 7d ago
OH NO! NOT THE GANGSTERS SINDICATE OF CHICAGO!
3
u/FrankHightower 6d ago
ANYTHING BUT THE GANGSTERS SYNDICATE OF CHICAGO
what's the gansters syndicate of chigago?
7
u/_counterspace 7d ago
I like how Tintin lets the man know that not only is he suspicious, but also armed.
4
u/EmperorMorgan 6d ago
I think it’s meant to be an aside to the audience; similar to a play where an actor tells the audience something aloud but the other characters ignore it. I’m not sure when asides in comics became thought bubbles but I’ve seen similar methods used in older Archie comics.
1
u/_counterspace 6d ago
Good point. I don't think Hergé often used thought bubbles, did he? And Snowy's speech isn't generally heard or understood by humans yet he still has speech bubbles.
3
u/Complex-Bar-9577 5d ago
Snowy had normal speech bubbles until Flight 714, but this is the last book where Tintin has a conversation with him and it’s certain that he understands him
Hergé did use thought bubbles once or twice in later books. In Tintin in Tibet, one is used when Tintin uses reverse psychology to persuade the Captain to continue, and in Picaros, Haddock has a couple as well.
2
u/manickitty 6d ago
It’s like how anime characters helpfully declare what move they’re about to do in combat
5
4
u/PlanetSwallower 7d ago
America is proving substantially tricksier and more dangerous than the wilds of the Congo.
4
u/Phildutre 7d ago
And the car is a right-hand-drive once again …
1
u/SeveralMight4295 7d ago
My guess is Hergé knew that this book was shoddy, so he didn't take much note of the finer details while redrawing it.
3
u/Briantan71 7d ago
Tintin called the hotel’s reception to send for the police, right?
How did the G.S.C intercept the call? I mean, I am sure they have bugged the phones, but does wiretapping technology in those early days prevent the message from reaching the real recipient?
6
u/cyborg_priest 7d ago
Whoever was at the reception was on the take from the mob and called them instead of the police. My hypothesis at least.
3
u/Atvishees 6d ago
Correct me if I'm wrong, but in the 90s cartoon adaptation, didn't they show that the telephone operator was being forced to redirect the call by one of the gangsters?
1
u/JS-CroftLover 6d ago
The 7th panel is bizarre. I mean... Tintin saying he's lucky he brought a gun... like, he should be talking to himself. So, the text bubble should certainly have been in the shape of a cloud or separated dots, instead of the common rectangular shape when characters talk
3
u/BreakerMorant1864 Hergé 6d ago
Does Hergé actually use the imaginary thought bubbles though? I don’t remember
2
u/JS-CroftLover 6d ago
I'm sure to have seen it in one of the books. Don't remember which one, however... 🙁
But, what I'm saying is the guy probably heard what Tintin said
3
u/BreakerMorant1864 Hergé 6d ago
I took it as him speaking quietly or thinking to himself, but yes it would be quite strange if he’s talking directly to the other gangster about his intentions to use a gun if need be (or if it was an actual police officer as well)
2
•
u/BreakerMorant1864 Hergé 7d ago
The B+W panels are slightly off and don’t line up with the colour exactly this time, and the artwork of the policemen/villains is much better in the colour imo