The Black Island (1938)
The Black Island Review
The Black Island is the 7th volume of The Adventures of Tintin comics series by Belgian cartoonist Herge. It was published in 1938 and it was the second best volume released so far in the series’ run.
Tintin and Snowy travel to England in pursuit of a gang of counterfeiters. Framed for theft and hunted by detectives Thomson and Thompson, Tintin follows the criminals to Scotland, discovering their lair on the Black Island. After numerous entries that were deeply political, it was a breath of fresh air to read a Tintin story that mostly discards politics and detailed depiction of one country in favor of pure adventure and comedy.
For a comic called The Black Island, we only get to that island in the last third of the story, which led to the first half being less interesting, though still solid in its own right. The beginning was excellent and there was a lot of intrigue throughout, but it is the action on the island that was the highlight of the story.
Thompson and Thompson are wonderfully utilized in this volume. They were hilariously clumsy and idiotic here. This is where the series introduced Muller, a German villain who was both competent and memorable. Tintin was cool and heroic, but not too heroic, which was important in making him feel more relatable. He was even saved multiple times by other characters, including Snowy himself, who was absolutely terrific and so much fun in this book.
I could have gone without that gorilla on the island. I get that it’s a ‘King Kong’ reference, but this inclusion made the story a bit too silly. It’s an uneven book for sure, but it’s so wonderfully adventurous throughout with so many panels packing a lot of fun action and memorable scenarios. The illustrations are the best ones yet as Scotland looked meticulously detailed, polished and very inviting.
