Consider this part two of my last review, “Cigars of the Pharaoh.”
By Hergé1946 edition coverThe tale unfolds in China, a place as yet unknown and mysterious to Tintin. It looks like our hero may have bitten off more than he can chew as he takes on the task of wiping out the international opium trade, which has a vice-like grip on this beautiful country. With the assistance of the secret society Sons of the Dragon, and his friend Chang (whom he encounters later on in the story), Tintin succeeds in overcoming myriad obstacles to finally triumph over his adversaries and disband their network of corruption.
“The Blue Lotus” is the fifth volume in “The Adventures of Tintin” series, originally published in serialization from 1932 to 1935, and collected in a comic album in 1936. The color version followed in 1946, with the artwork reformatted for the smaller page count, but keeping as much of the original art as possible.
I had mixed feelings about this story when I first read it. It was the second Tintin book I ever read, and as a kid, I was confused by the shift in the artwork. It was a sequel, and yet the artwork was clearly drawn by a less experienced Hergé. I didn’t realize the artwork was twenty years younger than the work in the redrawn “Cigars of the Pharaoh.”
Later, when I discovered the history of the book, I had to track down the original black and white volume, and to be perfectly honest, I prefer the older version. The art was clearly drawn with black and white (and some grey tone) in mind, and reading the color version now, I can’t help but feel moments where the color compromises the original panel design. On top of that, for the adaptation to color and the 62-page format, some portions had to be redrawn, and the jump from the Tintin of the mid 1930s to the Tintin of 1946 is too jarring for me.
If you can get a hold of the original black and white version, I thoroughly recommend it. The book is a major part of Hergé’s evolution as an artist. “The Blue Lotus” is widely considered his first masterpiece, and I like to experience this masterpiece in its purest form.
Prior to “The Blue Lotus,” the way Hergé portrayed the people and cultures of the countries Tintin visited left something to be desired. At best, they were caricatures. “The Blue Lotus,” however, attempted to portray China and its people honestly. Why the change? Well, Hergé met a Chinese student of sculpture, Chang Chong-chen, and the two became friends.
Chang had a profound influence on “The Blue Lotus,” and in fact all the Chinese text in the book was written by Chang. If you can read Mandarin, there’s a whole other level to the book. Chang also taught Hergé about Chinese art, and the influence here is unmistakable. The evolution from “Cigars of the Pharaoh” to “The Blue Lotus” is stunning, especially the way he uses silhouettes.
But there’s a newfound maturity in the story too. Look at how Hergé portrayed a pair of Chinese torturers in “Tintin in the Land of the Soviets” in contrast to a conversation Tintin has in“The Blue Lotus.”
Right: A pair of panels from the 1946 color edition of “The Blue Lotus.”
Here Hergé isn’t just talking about ‘many Europeans’; he’s talking about himself, about the way he had thought a mere five years earlier, and it shows his budding sense of responsibility to his readers in the way he portrays the places and peoples Tintin visits.
This book also threw out the ‘moment to moment’ storytelling of previous volumes. It had already been fading away in “Cigars of the Pharaoh,” especially as the Kih-Oskh symbol emerged as the book’s throughline, but here the story has a larger shape right from the beginning. For the first time Hergé knew where his story was going.
Also consider this was a book made to amuse children, and yet it is decidedly political. Misuhirato’s sabotage of the train lines as a way to expand the Japanese empire was inspired by the Mukden incident of 1931, and later Hergé shows a fictional version of Japan leaving the League of Nations, based on Japan actually leaving the League of Nations in 1933.
Continued belowBut for me, the most interesting part about this book is the way it gives Tintin friends beyond his faithful canine companion Snowy. Sure, Thompson and Thomson appeared in the previous volume, but as antagonists; here they call him friend for the first time (even if they arrest him shortly afterward). Tintin also befriends the Wang family, and much of his adventure is spent trying to find a cure for Mr. Wang’s son (who had been dosed with Rajaijah Juice, the poison of madness). Tintin’s adventure is more personal this time. And while Tintin has several lucky escapes, these moments are now counterbalanced by being saved by his friends from the Sons of the Dragon.
Most importantly, Tintin meets Chang Chong-chen, named after Hergé’s friend and collaborator. While Tintin initially saves Chang on their first introduction, this is a relationship of equals, and Chang goes on to save Tintin several times before the tale is done. At the end of this tale, Tintin doesn’t just simply say, ‘Well, that concludes my adventure in this exotic locale. Time to head home!’ instead he has a tearful goodbye with the friends he made. This connection is the soul of the book (a spark that is kindled into a flame in another volume, “Tintin in Tibet” … but that is a story for another evergreen review).
“Cigars of the Pharaoh” was a grand adventure, but “The Blue Lotus” digs deeper, forever changing the art style of the series, the types of stories and subject matter it could explore, and even Tintin himself. The story is superb in both the 1946 color edition and the 1936 black and white, and if you don’t mind reading digitally, Michael Farr’s 2016 English translation is available on the Tintin app.
It’s tough to beat the original black and white though.
