ISBN: 0316358444
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Summary: Trouble in Khemed
An oil crisis breaks out, leading Tintin to the Arab Emirate of Khemed. There he works his way through a series of escapades in the desert and the cities of Kemekhal and Wadesdah where Tintin must deal with the thuggery of the local Arabs . Tintin meets with Emir Ben Kalish Ezab and agress to rescue his kidnapped son Prince Abdullah leadfing him to confront his old enemy Dr Muller, as well as the impossibility of dealing with his charge, the young Abdullah. Quite fast moving and without the flow of some of the Tintin books, this adventure is nonetheless jam-packed with action. We discover that behind all the troubles are agents of a foreign power (Most likely the Soviet Union, whose menace had finally been recognized by the West when this book was first written, in French, 1950. As usual the rest of the gang such as the fiery Captain Haddock and the disastrous Thompson and Thomson add to the brew!
Summary: One Day Your Car Goes Boom!
With the completion of The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun, Herge finally saw an opportunity to resurrect The Land of Black Gold, a story he had originally concocted nine years before but was forced to abandon due to the wartime shutdown of Le Vingtieme Siecle. As Michael Farr points out in his formidable book "Tintin: The Complete Companion," in 1948 German villains were no longer taboo; thus Herge could introduce this tale complete with the nefarious Dr. Muller, last seen in The Black Island.
Of course, there was much revision to be done before The Land of Black Gold could appear. At the time of its creation there had been no Captain Haddock, no Professor Calculus, no Marlinspike, etc. Herge cunningly surmounted this hurdle by having Haddock appear briefly at the beginning of the book and explain to Tintin that he has been called on to assume command of a ship. He then reappears - as do Calculus and the house - just in time for the story's end; thus Tintin can go it on his own for fifty-some pages, just as was originally intended.
This story marks a couple of important benchmarks: first of all there is the debut of the little menace Abdullah, son of the Emir Ben Kalish Ezab. (The scene where Haddock looks after him in the desert is a special highlight.) Also in this story is the return of good old Oliveira da Figueira, Tintin's salesman friend from Cigars of the Pharaoh, who is always ready to be there for Tintin when he needs a hand.
Fortunately, the end of The Land of Black Gold does not mark the end of Abdullah and father: both were to make further appearances in The Red Sea Sharks eight (?) years later. Indeed one of the most wonderful aspects of Herge's stories was the unexpected popping-up of former bit players: there was no old friend, old foe, or (as in Abdullah's case) old pest whom we could not expect to see again one day.
Summary: Tintin and Snowy avert an oil crisis in the Middle East
"Land of Black Gold" was the first Adventure of Tintin I ever read, so, of course, it has a special place in my heart. It seems that all around the world cars (or lighters) using petrol are exploding. In a storyline eerily prescient of what would happen decades later with the rise of OPEC, the world is on the brink of an oil crisis. In the Middle East the evil Sheik Bab El Ehr tries to overthrow Sheik Ben Kalish Ezab, so Tintin heads to the Middle East to save the day. Throwing a monkey wrench into the proceedings, in addition to the omnipresent evil agents and hapless Thompson brothers, is Abdullah, son of Sheik ben Kalish Ezab, who pulls a constant string of practical jokes on everybody in sight (Historical Note: This is where the Thompsons first develop their habit of becoming extremely hairy at inopportune moments). I always think of Tintin as constituting "realistic absurdity," which reflects the way our hero plunges on despite the lunacy around him, which exists mainly in the characters rather than the situation. This delicate balance seems to be reflected even in Herge's artwork, where his "clear-line" style combines iconic characters with unusually realistic backgrounds, appeals to me. I also admire his remarkable restraint with Snowy, who "talks" less than any other "talking" dog in comic book history. These are truly timeless tales. More Historical Notes: "Tintin in the Land of Black Gold" (the 9th Tintin Adventure) was the episode in progress in "Le Vingtieme Siecle" when German troops invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940. Herge suspended the story for eight years and actually began another adventure, "The Crab with the Golden Claws," in the interim, which was published in "Le Soir," one of the few newspapers authorized during the German occupation.
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