June 1, 2014

A delight, I watched with Lisa and Jack the movie version of Red Rackham's Treasure.  A Tintin adventure I first read as a young boy.  I was never much of a comic book kid, and the idea of the graphic novel was still really in the future but these illustrated stories, sort of a comic book story hardbound and over sized were exciting to read.  Captain Haddock was always swearing in his own way "Billions of Blistering Barnacles!!!" and Tintin knew how to take care of himself, often wielding a small handgun but never actually killing anyone.  Thompson and Thomson bungled along and the professor always misheard everything anyone said.  
It is a pleasure remembering these books.  Tintin also helped me on my trip to Paris back in 1990.  While visiting some booksellers on the bank of the Seine Lisa and I stumbled upon a Herge book of Tintin in the original French.  I sat on the train to Nice and painstakingly read every panel, translating and getting a handle on the French I'd learned five years earlier in high school.  By the time we got to Nice I had a decent handle on the language and could make reservations, order food, and read the signs in the streets and back in Paris in the Metro.  
Tintin, Quelle un adventure.