Tin tin is a pilgrimage to a far eastern domain where unlocked treasure lives alive with a great heart. Soon or late there come travelers from unknown opaque destinations. What will those monsters we claim as such say to the truly beautiful and to the brutes? ( )

My review, as published at Tintin Books:

Mention Tintin to any fan over 20, and chances are they'll recall [b:Red Rackham's Treasure|146109|Red Rackham's Treasure (The Adventures of Tintin)|Hergé|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172178127s/146109.jpg|729618], and then "Tintin in Tibet". The first - filled with adventure, science, excitement and a tale of pirates - is obvious; the second, not so much.

As everyone knows, one of the forces that led to this album's creation was Herge's own personal problems, and haunting dreams of an expanse of never-ending white. Determined to take the series in a new direction, Herge ended up with this work - surely his most emotional and mature. From the very start, Tintin's face is more expressive than we've ever seen him before - whether in joy, fear or anger. And Haddock is allowed to be more mature and stoic at times, befitting the sober side of his character, which works very well.

As is constantly touted, this work features no villain nor many recurring characters. It is instead, an emotional - almost spiritual - journey for Tintin. Every single person he meets, from kind sherpa to humble monk, attempts to convince him that his quest is worthless, that his good friend Chang must surely be dead from the plane crash in the Himalayas. Yet he presses on, forcing himself through the endless mountain expanses of Tibet. As things get more isolated, Herge's drawing gets more lush, and he does seem to have revelled in the minimalist opportunities afforded him on this occasion. The early frames - capturing true-to-life shots of Nepal, for instance - are equally well done, but the cap must surely be Haddock's surreal dream sequence of playing chess with a nappy-wearing Calculus!

One of the tropes that defines Herge's later work is his willingness to be realistic about the consequences of the adventures. The teddy bear found at the plane crash site is not Chang's, but it doesn't matter: even if Chang survived, no one else did. As the Abbot says, the mountains keep those they take. As a result, Chang's safety seems more uncertain here than Tintin's safety in the previous 19 works combined.

Snowy also gets a fair amount to do, which is atypical of the later albums. His fantasy sequences, in which Snowy is taunted by angel and devil versions of himself, are again a stylistic experiment but manage to be a success due to Herge's more mannered use of Tintin's loyal dog. Snowy's actions - be they risking his life, or attempting to save his friends - are as intimately connected to the story as everything else here. This hasn't always been the case, as in many stories he functions as light comic relief, so it is nice to see the dog being used as a plot point but without losing his sprightly characterisation.

Other successes include the well-balanced portrayals of the Tibetan monks - humorous and yet earnest in turn; the hilarious shots of Haddock gradually falling behind the explorer's party; - and the frames with Tintin and Chang together at the end. It's popular these days to associate the two as a 'couple' even though we're aware that this was far from Herge's intention. But whether platonic or otherwise, their friendship resonates off the page, again belying Herge's own feelings of lost friendship toward the original 'Chang'.

Less successful elements:

* Haddock losing faith and then turning back at the last second, happens maybe twice too often. It's very satisfying to see Tintin being the 'irrational' person, for once, but it seems as if - in such a differently-structured adventure - Herge was out of ideas for how to introduce dramatic tension.

* Again, Herge's biggest downfall may be one of his biggest strengths: his desire to impart knowledge. Whilst waiting for their transport, Haddock and Tintin go sight-seeing. But when it's time to catch the plane, Tintin seems reluctant to leave the architecture behind. Which is a bit frustrating, since earlier he was determined to find his missing-possibly-dead friend as soon as possible!

One final thought: Herge seems to be reluctant to ascribe an age to Tintin. He starts out on holiday with the Captain, still as the earnest reporter. By album's end, he is constantly being referred to as a young boy and the scenes in the cave - see page 57 - show him at the most boyish he has ever looked!

All in all, "Tintin in Tibet" is surely a four-and-a-half star work. In keeping with his humanist philosophy, Herge rightly draws the Yeti as a figure of pathos : a lonely being unable to truly help his ward. The artist experiments further with his surrealist dream sequences, and manages finally to produce emotion from a character who has been an audience cipher for nineteen albums now. On top of this, distanced from the wide cast of characters who have populated the last half-dozen albums, Herge creates something decidedly different. I'll concede it is not my favourite - possibly it is number 5 or 6 in my estimation. After all, the first quarter is the inevitable build-up, and in terms of plot, Herge is reduced to recycling through two or three different beats. (To his credit, they seem realistic every time). But as an emotional exercise, and as a work of art, this is surely a contender for Tintin's most human adventure. (And any story that can end with Haddock being given the nickname "Rumbling Thunderblessings" must be given some credit!) ( )

Read it in Japanese. Harder than I thought, because there's not as much furigana as I'd like. To date it's still only the second Japanese book I've read, I think. And it's probably my favourite Tintin, even though the Thompson twins aren't in it.

4.5*
Once again, the artwork of this 62 page comic book (or graphic novel as they call them now) was superb! Tintin, his dog Snowy and his friend the Captain (from "The Crab with the Golden Claws", vol. 9 in the series) set off to find Tintin's friend Chang whom everyone except Tintin believes is dead as a result of a plane crash in the mountains of Tibet. I found this one less out and out funny but loved the story. ( )

I think my favorite characters here are Snowy and the Yeti. ( )