The Shooting Star

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Tintin faces the end of the world and giant mushrooms - Rated
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.

A Classic - Rated
When astronomer Professor Phostle detects an enormous star heading for a collision with the Earth it looks like everyone is doomed. But the Professor has miscalculated and the huge star brushes past missing narrowly but leaving behind an enormous meteorite which has crashed into Arctic waters. While the Professor was mistaken about the collision there is no mistake about his discovery of a unique new metal present in the meteorite. Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock along with a group of scientists are soon on their way to the polar regions where they are to experience some of their most bizarre adventures!

This story was created by Herge in occupied wartime Belgium in 1942. It was the first to go straight into the format with which we are familiar for Tintin today - the 62 page 4 strip per page colour book. It was also the first to be printed in colour (the older books were later coloured and reprinted - but up to "The Shooting Star" the previous stories had appeared in Black and White).

Occupied Belgium under the Nazi's was a difficult environment to continue work in. Herge's previous books ("The Black Island" and "The Crab with the Golden Claws") had experienced great difficulty getting through the authorities strict censorship. With "The Shooting Star" he was careful to pick a fantastic story which was unlikely to lead to political problems. In the original version of this story the rival expedition to discover the meteorite was not from Sao Rico but from America which no doubt helped the books release with censors. After the war Herge changed this though if you look closely at the crew of the "Peary" you can still see that they appear more North then South American.

As far as the story itself goes we have almost arrived at Herge's peak middle period. All the early crudity has gone and we are now experiencing Herge about to peak in his genius. The fantastic certainly appears in this book - with the unforgettable giant mushrooms and spiders/butterflies. But more subtle moments of genius are also present.

I particularly like the scene when Tintin first emerges on deck on page 27 where they are approaching Arctic climes. The slip on the ice and the re-emergence in furs is very evocative of changing climate and seems a clever way to draw attention to this.

"The Shooting Star" is a must have for Tintin fans and one of Herge's classics.