“Tintin in the Far East” (French Les aventures de Tintin, reporter, en Extrême-Orient ) or “Blue Lotus” ( Le Lotus bleu ) - the fifth album of the classic comics of Erger about the adventures of Tintin (1936). Continuation of the " Cigar of the Pharaoh ", which takes place in China against the backdrop of the Japanese invasion . In tintinovedenie it is considered that the "Blue Lotus" marks the onset of creative maturity Erzhe [1] [2] . He disputes with The Cause of Tournesol (1956) the title of the artist’s most perfect comic strip [3] . In the list of “ 100 books of the century according to Le Monde, ” the album is ranked 18th.
Content
Story
During the adventures set forth in The Pharaoh’s Cigars, Tintin was able to expose the international criminal community involved in drug smuggling under the guise of cigars. Only the head of the gang managed to escape.
At the beginning of the album, Tintin still lives in the palace of the Indian Maharaja . A fakir , fortunetelling on a hand , predicts that he should be wary of a yellow-faced brunette in glasses. Immediately in the palace appears a man who corresponds to the description. As soon as he manages to report that in Shanghai a man by the name of Mitsuhrato is waiting for a reporter, an arrow fired by someone through the window with the poison of madness stops his speech in mid-sentence.
After the arrival of Tintin in Shanghai, members of the criminal cartel begin to hunt him again. Each time, an unknown Chinese man upsets their plans. When Tintin comes to a meeting with his savior, a poisoned arrow robs him of his mind. Finding Mitsuhirato is not difficult. In a conversation with Tintin, this wealthy Japanese encourages him to urgently return to India to protect the Maharajah from new drug traffickers.
Meanwhile, Tintin stands up for a young rickshaw who is offended by the wealthy racist Gibbons. Together with his unprincipled friend Dawson, who heads the ShMS police, Gibbons begins to plot against a brave reporter. Following the advice of Mitsuhirato, he gets on the ship following to India. At night, they stun him and put him in a boat ashore.
Tinting wakes up at the home of Wang Chengyi, the head of the clandestine dragon sons. The goal of this society is to counteract opium shipments to China. It turns out that the unknown benefactor of Tintin is his son. After poisoning with an arrow with the poison of madness, he walks around the house and brandishes his sword, threatening to chop off the head of the first person he encounters on his way. According to Wang Chengyi, the "dragon sons" have no greater enemy than Mitsuhirato, the secret agent of the Japanese government who is involved in drug trafficking. To interfere with his plans, Wang ordered his people to steal Tintin from the ship.
Tintin spies on Mitsuhirato and is present at the railroad blast he organized. This provocation receives international resonance and is used by the Japanese as a pretext for the invasion of China . Tintin, as the only witness to sabotage , poses a great danger to Mitsuhirato. The Japanese, having tied a reporter, is trying to give him the poison of madness. Tintin makes it clear that he is not in himself, after which he is released. However, this is nothing more than a simulation: one of Mitsuhirato's minions, working for the "sons of the dragon," had previously replaced a bottle of poison and stole it from the Japanese.
Tintin returns to Shanghai occupied by the Japanese in the hope of finding Dr. Fan, a major poison specialist. He hopes the doctor will be able to work out an antidote that will heal Wang’s son. It turns out that the doctor has already fallen into the clutches of drug dealers. Tintin briefly ends up in a Japanese prison, and then makes his way to the city where the ransom must be paid for the kidnapped doctor.
On the way, Tinting pulls a drowning boy named Zhang Zhongren from the waters of the Blue River . They become friends, and Zhang helps Tintin get rid of Dupont and Dupont , whom Dawson sent on a tip from the Japanese command to arrest the annoying reporter.
Returning to Shanghai, Tintin and Zhang find out that Wang and his family were abducted by Mitsuhirato's henchmen. Tintin watches the drug unload at the port and hides in an empty barrel. The barrel is brought to the opium hangout "Blue Lotus", where the main character is discovered by Mitsuhirato. Then the head of the criminal community appears. It turns out to be the businessman Rastopopoulos , with whom Tintin made friendship in the previous album. There can be no doubt: on his arm is a tattoo in the form of a seal of the pharaoh.
Suddenly, “dragon sons” appear from the barrels, hiding there by agreement with Tintin. Rastopopoulos and Mitsuhirato are forced to admit defeat. Japanese makes hara-kiri . Dr. Fan finds an antidote against the poison of madness and heals Wang's son. Tintin's revelations cause an international scandal. Japan has to leave the League of Nations . Wang takes Zhang into his family. Tintin returns to Europe.
Work on the album
If Erzhe's early albums were created under the influence of common prejudices about certain countries, starting with the Blue Lotus, the artist began to take care of greater authenticity and study the culture of the peoples depicted [1] . Herzhe’s consultants in creating the album were his friend, a Chinese student Zhang Chunzhen [4] , and the priest Edouard Nyo, who supplied Erzhe with the necessary literature [5] .
The Chinese are generally represented in the album in a positive light, while the Japanese are depicted with protruding teeth, like rats. Japanese diplomats, considering Erzhe's pictures to be racist , filed a protest with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs [6] [7] .
The "Blue Lotus" aroused the satisfaction of the Chinese authorities; Chiang Kai-shek even invited Erzhe to visit his possessions. However, in socialist China, the comic was only released in 1984, and then after adjustments were made to it for censorship reasons.
Interesting Facts
In the album "Blue Lotus" featured detectives DuPont and DuPont appear. According to P. Assulin, here their images resonate somewhat with American agents Graig and Free from the novel Jules Verne “ Chinese Misadventures in China ” ( 1879 ) [9] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Jean-Marie Apostolidès. The Metamorphoses of Tintin . Stanford University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8047-6031-7 . Pages 25-26.
- ↑ M. Keith Booker. Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels . Vol. 1. P. 281. ISBN 978-0-313-35748-0 .
- ↑ Peeters, Benoit. Tintin and the World of Hergé . ISBN 978-0-316-69752-1 .
- ↑ Andrews, Julia Frances. Painters and Politics in the People's Republic of China, 1949-1979 . University of California Press, 1994. Page 450.
- ↑ Assouline P. Hergé. - P., Plon, 1996 .-- P. 89.
- ↑ André De Vries. Brussels: A Cultural and Literary History . ISBN 978-1-902669-47-2 . Page 78.
- ↑ Michael Farr. Tintin: The Complete Companion . ISBN 978-0-86719-901-7 . Page 103.
- ↑ Fredrik Strömberg. Comic Art Propaganda: A Graphic History . ISBN 978-1-905814-70-1 . Page 17.
- ↑ Assouline P. Hergé. - Op. cit., p. 94.