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Cigars of the Pharoah (The Adventures of Tintin) (Paperback) (Paperback)
by Herge
| Category:
Adventure, Fiction, Ages 9-12, Children's book |
| Market price: ¥ 128.00
MSL price:
¥ 118.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The adventures of Tintin which is full of mystery and comedy is a classic series. Tin-Tin will take you to another time & place. |
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Author: Herge
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Pub. in: April, 1975
ISBN: 0316358363
Pages: 62
Measurements: 11.4 x 8.7 x 0.2 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00132
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- MSL Picks -
If your understand of the vast scope of human history leads you to believe that the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt did not smoke cigars, then you will not be surprised to learn that this 1934 adventure of Tintin is not what it seems at first glance. Our intrepid reporter is sailing the Mediterranean with Snowy when he encounters a strange academic type named Sophocles Sarcophagus, whom he quickly dismisses as a clumsy nitwit. Tintin also has a run-in with Rastapopoulos, the film tycoon who owns Cosmos Pictures. The next thing we know we have the first appearance of the Thom(p)soms, who arrest Tintin for having heroin in his cabin. Obviously, our hero is getting to close to something, but what could it be?
From an Egyptian tomb filled with cigars, to floating in a coffin on the Mediterranean, to wandering the Arabian Desert, to being lost in the jungles of India, Tintin does some major traveling to solve this particular mystery. Hergé certainly shows more of an understanding for various cultures than he did in the previous Tintin adventure, where America was literally reduced to gangsters and Indians. However, the improvement of Cigars of the Pharaoh over Tintin in America is pretty noticeable and quite impressive when you think of the state of comic books stories in the early 1930s. The story here continues in The Blue Lotus as Tintin and Snowy make their way to India to finally get solve this particular case. If you did not get hooked on the first of the Tintin adventures still in print, then this one will certainly do the job.
Target readers:
Kids aged up 6
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- Better with -
Better with
The Blue Lotus (The Adventures of Tintin) (Paperback)
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Hergé (pseudonym of Georges Remi), Belgian author and illustrator, created Tintin in 1929 and produced 24 volumes of the internationally famous bande dessinée by the time of his death. Known as the father of the modern European comic book, Hergé's impeccable style and superb use of color won him international acclaim after the Second World War, and the books have been translated from the original French into some 40 languages.
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Cigars of the Pharaoh is an early volume in a series of graphic novel adventures starring the fictional international reporter Tintin, a young man who ends up solving mysteries rather than reporting news.
In this installment Tintin and his talking dog Snowy are taking a quiet holiday cruise where they meet an absent-minded scholar, a movie producer, and the twin Thompson brothers detectives. Arrested by the Thompsons because someone planted heroin in his room Tintin jumps ship in Port Said and bumps into the professor.
He agrees to help the professor seek out a hidden Egyptian tomb. When they find the tomb, it is full of mummified archaeologists and cases of curiously labeled cigars. Then they are drugged and captured and put on a ship.
A series of escapes and captures keeps the story exciting as Tintin keeps running into the professor, the Thompsons, and the movie producer, while running from an international gang of smugglers and making his way from Egypt to India.
Eventually, he solves the mystery of the Cigars of the Pharaoh, while portraying the various populations of this part of the world without patronizing them. An exciting adventure that continues in a second volume called The Blue Lotus.
This series is great at portraying the world between the two great wars in a way that is simple yet respectful. The adventures are well crafted and the color illustrations are sumptuous in detail.
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Gagewyn (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
On a journey to Egypt Tintin meets absentminded Egyptologist Professor Siclone. The professor is in search of mystery. The only clue is a symbol drawn on a piece of parchment. Once in Egypt Tintin and Snowy follow the professor into an underground passageway marked by the symbol and find empty sarcophaguses marked with their names. They escape and find themselves pursued by mysterious criminals. All the while the mysterious symbol keeps turning up on stone walls, painted on trees, and on cigar labels...
This comic is fun because of the exotic landscapes. Tintin travels through Egypt and India which are drawn with exotic flare. Whenever he thinks he has entered the traditional untouched east, western civilization intrudes: He rescues a lady from bandits only to discover that he has just spoiled a scene from an adventure movie. He is captured by Bedouins who recognize him as a celebrity reporter and are happy to have him as a guest. He approaches two Arabs to ask directions and finds that they are in fact the Thompson and Thomson team who have donned robes to blend in. The east meets west theme, inherent even in the mysterious cigars marked with an ancient Egyptian symbol, kept me guessing through the book.
The Cigars of the Pharohs maintains the quality of other books in the series. There are jokes for children and for adults, so it is a good purchase for families and public libraries. There are some loose ends which are tied up on part 2 of the story: The Blue Lotus.
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A reader (MSL quote), Vienna, Austria
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Tintin and his waggish fox-terrier Milou enjoy a luxurious cruise but they break their journey when they meet professor Philemon Siclone, an absentminded archaeologist who thinks he has discovered the tomb of pharao Kih-Osk. But those who disturb the peace of this grave are under a curse: they disappear...
Tintin becomes involved in an argument with Rastapopoulos, an arrogant film nabob, and this is the prelude to a streak of bad luck: cocaine is hidden in his cabin, and the Dupondts (Thomson brothers), two lesser-gifted but determined ("an order is an order") detectives try to track him. Tintin makes off to Port-Said and he and Siclone find Pharao's tomb and the missing archaeologists - neatly mummified. Two sarcophaguses stand by for Tintin and Milou - a delicate attention. Crates with cigars are also in this tomb but before Tintin can find out more he falls in the hands of various dope-smugglers and gun-runners.
In the Sahara he saves a lady from a whipping - and discovers that he bungled the grand entrance of a moviestar! Tintin's excursion in the desert becomes life-threatening when somebody shoots his water-bottle to pieces. Fata Morganas mystify him. He is drafted when a war breaks out. When he discovers pharao's cigars in his colonel's office he is nearly executed by a firing squad. His getaway plane crashes in the Indian jungle where he befriends a herd of elephants and realizes with horror that professor Siclone has become raving mad! There is also a jungle residence with sahibs and a khouttar (legendary dagger) and a dangerous fakir with hypnotic powers. Witnesses are silenced with radjaijah - the poison that makes mad! Tintin is locked up in a lunatic asylum. In the meantime Milou gets acquainted with a holy cow. Tintin becomes guest of honor of the maharajah of Rawhaiputalah whom he saved from a tiger attack. The maharajah reveals that his father and brother - who fought against the opium-traffic - died insane. He is afraid to suffer the same fate...
India's exotic atmosphere is captured admirably in this colorful adventure story. There is even a sect with hooded baddies and passwords. Herge's drawings are again well-devised down to the last detail. Tintin's nightmare - in Egyptian style - is especially original. The clumsy Dupondts (Thomson brothers) became an institution in the Tintin series. Their specialty: going undercover in national costumes. Oliveira de Figueira - a genial salesman - and Allan Thompson - one of Herge's coldest villains - appear also for the first time. If you are curious to learn more about Tintin's most vicious enemy - read the continuation in The Blue Lotus.
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David Horiuchi (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-05 00:00>
Cigars of the Pharaoh is one of Tintin's earliest adventures. He and Snowy are on a cruise to Egypt when they happen to meet Professor Sophocles Sarcophagus (the first of Tintin's absent-minded professors) and join his expedition. But they become embroiled in a complicated scheme involving a fakir, cigars marked with an unusual brand, and Rajijah, the poison of madness. Most significantly, Tintin meets the detectives Thompson and Thomson as well as the movie mogul Rastapopolous. While Cigars of the Pharaoh is a self-contained story, some of the mysteries are resolved in The Blue Lotus. Herge wrote Cigars in 1932 then revised it in 1955, which is why the art has the more polished look of later stories as well as the anachronistic glimpse of a copy of Destination: Moon. |
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