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Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (The Adventures of Tintin) | 
| Author: Herge
Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers
Category: Book
List Price: $10.99
Buy New: $6.24
You Save: $4.75 (43%)
New (35) Used (9) from $6.24
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 7951
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Pages: 144
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 11.5 x 8.6 x 0.4
ISBN: 0316003743
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5
EAN: 9780316003742
ASIN: 0316003743
Publication Date: December 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081130225628T
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Product Description
Little, Brown is celebrating 100 years of Herge with 3 titles never before published in the U.S. Join traveling reporter Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy, along with well-known friends such as Captain Haddock, as they embark on extraordinary adventures spanning historical and political events, fantasy and science-fiction adventures and thrilling mysteries. These full-color graphic novels broke new ground when they were first released and became the inspiration for countless modern-day comic artists.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 22 more reviews...
 First Tintin a" a must-have for Tintin lovers October 19, 2008
Giant Panda (Washington, DC)
For a long time I owned all the Tintins depicted on the back cover of aaeThe Adventures of Tintina and thought I had it all, until I learned about the existence of 3 other titles: aaeTintin in the Congo,a aaeTintin Et La(tm)Alph-Arta (his very last unfinished work), and this one, which happens to be his very first Tintin Adventure. Naturally, I quickly obtained all three.
This being the very first Tintin ever, it is a remarkable work and is a must have for any Tintin lover. However it is not the Tintin you would expect. First of all, this hardbound edition contains a photocopy of the original black and white strips. There is no color edition. It contains almost twice the number of pages as regular Tintins, so it is a good deal for the money. The Tintin and Snowy look somewhat different from the ones we know. In fact, Tintin starts out this adventure without his famous tuft of hair, so you need to read it to find out why his hair sticks up like it does now. The artwork is less detailed and less elaborate than wea(tm)re used to. Nevertheless it retains a air of elegant simplicity that makes it a masterful work of art.
Another major difference is the rapidity of the action. At that time, Herge was writing this adventure strip by strip for a weekly Belgian newspaper, unlike later adventures when he created it page by page. The adventure therefore moves much more quickly in order to keep readers interested in getting the next edition. Because of this some of the action appears unreal and much is left to impossible coincidences. Nevertheless, nearly all the action aaetricksa that Herge uses to rescue Tintin in later adventures can be found here. Police chases, encounters with trains, mobsters, etc. are also prevalent. In fact many of these action incidents are reworked almost exactly in Tintin in America.
As far as the content, one must keep in mind that this Tintin was written in the 1920s a" a time when Europe felt threatened by Communism, and also written for an anti-Communist church-run newspaper. The Russians are therefore depicted in the most unfair way, a bias that Herge had to apologize for later in life. Unlike his thorough research for later adventures, Herge bases Tintina(tm)s Soviet experiences on just a single book he had read, written mostly for propaganda purposes. Despite this major weakness, I would highly recommend this Tintin adventure. The political views therein are merely a sign of the times.
 Disappointing... from a die-hard Tintin fan. July 20, 2008
EyesDriedOpen (Bellingham, WA USA)
First off Tintin is one of my all-time favorite book series. I used to read them as a kid and still have all them that were purchased nearly 30 years ago, and I'm looking forward to reading them to my son when he gets a little older. I accidentally discovered that this book was available, and bought it straight away.
I'm disappointed because that everything that makes Tintin a great read is not here. No story, no characters, no adventure. Just a series of should-be fatal accidents and hardly any dialogue. Frankly I don't care so much that the drawings are not as refined as the rest of the books. What does bother me is that the content of this book is so dumbed-down. I was a tedious read - so much so that I could barely finish it.
I gave it two stars instead of just one because it does have obvious collector value. If you're looking for an enjoyable read, in comparison to the other books, I would steer clear of this one. I wish I had.
 Would recommend July 19, 2008
charmz
this book was received in excellent condition. Ordering, shipping was a breeze, would highly recommend this seller, will purchase there again if the need arises.
Soviets, adventure, cromic January 30, 2008
Reader Views (Austin, Texas)
Reviewed by Ben Weldon (age10) for Reader Views (1/08)
"Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" by Herge is the comic adventure of Tintin and his loyal dog Snowy in Soviet Russia. Tintin, reporter for "Le Petit Vingtieme," is sent to Soviet Russia to write about the situation there, but he is continually thwarted by Soviet agents. Will Tintin return alive with the truth about Soviet Russia?
In his efforts to penetrate Russia and observe the goings on, Tintin is bombed, shot at, chased, captured, stuck in sewage, encrusted in ice, and his vehicles are sabotaged. The Soviet secret police, who don't want Tintin to let the rest of the world knows what is going on in Russia, capture him and send him to the torture chamber. Snowy saves Tintin from the red hot poker, and Tintin saves Snowy from a wicked-looking sword. Hilariously, in the end, it is the torturer who is tortured. Tintin and Snowy repeatedly rely on their wit, resourcefulness and luck to outwit the evil agents.
This story first appeared in 1929 as a comic strip in a Belgian newspaper to alert people to the injustices occurring in Soviet Russia. In the story, Tintin discovers that the Soviet's "efficient" factories are really fakes. They are burning straw to make smoke and banging on pieces of metal to make it sound like there is operating machinery. Tintin also witnesses hungry orphans standing in a bread line. They have to state support for the communists or else they get kicked and get no bread. I am sure glad that I didn't live in Soviet Russia during this time period.
If you have ever read another Tintin book, you will be very surprised when you first get your hands on this book. The drawings are in black and white and are less detailed. The drawings are bigger and there are only six frames per page rather than the usual twelve. The book is longer, however, which more than makes up for less content per page. The story and humor are just as good as ever. This was Herge's first book, so it is interesting to see how his characters changed.
I would highly recommend "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" to my friends because it is very funny and adventurous, and you can even learn a little bit about the history of Soviet Russia. This book was so good that I read it three times the day I got it!
Not at all great but a must-have for a collector January 5, 2008
M. P. Carrasco (Houston, TX)
this was herge's first tintin. it's in b&w and very crude. the story is only so-so and expresses extreme bias against the soviets at that time, so if you're looking for a good read don't buy this book. it's a far far cry from his later works in everything from style to storyline. i'm keeping this just for my collection.
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