2003-09-13 Tintin faces the end of the world and giant mushrooms

In 1942 the continent of Europe was totally embroiled in World War II, which may well explain why Herge offers up the most fanciful of all of the adventures of Tintin. In fact, nothing else comes as close to "The Shooting Star," which begins with the world about to end because of a collision with a giant come and ends with Tintin dealing with giant mushrooms on an island in the middle of the ocean. In between there is a race to find a meteorite that contains a new element of great scientific importance (another case of Herge's remarkable premonitions based on his meticulous research no doubt).

Tintin is aided and abetted in this adventure by Captain Haddock, who we first met in the previous tale, "The Crab with the Golden Claws." But I must say the supporting character who caught my attention was the seaplane pilot who helps our hero throughout the episode and plays a pivotal role in the thrilling climax. You do not usually see such as a realistic, levelheaded, intelligent person helping out Tintin. I find it to believe Herge did not even give this fellow a name, who more than makes up for the eccentric college of eggheads whom Tintin is trying to help.

"The Shooting Stars" is one of the best Tintin straightforward adventures and his adversary is more often the elements than the bad guys trying to beat the good ship "Aurora" to the meteorite. Consequently, there is a lot less gun play than we normally see in the early Tintin adventures. The contrast of Herge's simple drawing of characters against more realistic backgrounds finds several excellent sequences in this story, the first to be originally printed in color.