2003-09-29 Tintin and Snowy avert an oil crisis in the Middle East

"Land of Black Gold" was the first Adventure of Tintin I ever read, so, of course, it has a special place in my heart. It seems that all around the world cars (or lighters) using petrol are exploding. In a storyline eerily prescient of what would happen decades later with the rise of OPEC, the world is on the brink of an oil crisis. In the Middle East the evil Sheik Bab El Ehr tries to overthrow Sheik Ben Kalish Ezab, so Tintin heads to the Middle East to save the day. Throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings, in addition to the omnipresent evil agents and hapless Thompson brothers, is Abdullah, son of Sheik ben Kalish Ezab, who pulls a constant string of practical jokes on everybody in sight (Historical Note: This is where the Thompsons first develop their habit of becoming extremely hairy at inopportune moments).

I always think of Tintin as constituting "realistic absurdity," which reflects the way our hero plunges on despite the lunacy around him, which exists mainly in the characters rather than the situation. This delicate balance seems to be reflected even in Herge's artwork, where his "clear-line" style combines iconic characters with unusually realistic backgrounds, appeals to me. I also admire his remarkable restraint with Snowy, who "talks" less than any other "talking" dog in comic book history. These are truly timeless tales.

More Historical Notes: "Tintin in the Land of Black Gold" (the 9th Tintin Adventure) was the episode in progress in "Le Vingtieme Siecle" when German troops invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940. Herge suspended the story for eight years and actually began another adventure, "The Crab with the Golden Claws," in the interim, which was published in "Le Soir," one of the few newspapers authorized during the German occupation.