The Seven Crystal Balls (1944)

The Seven Crystal Balls Review

The Seven Crystal Balls is the 13th volume of The Adventures of Tintin comics series by Belgian cartoonist Herge. It was published in 1944 and it’s not among the best installments in the series.

The story revolves around the investigations of Tintin and Captain Haddock into the abduction of their friend Professor Calculus and its connection to a mysterious illness which has afflicted the members of an archaeological expedition to Peru. I did not quite gravitate toward this story as much as I did toward the previous couple of adventures. In its memorability and quality this book is more reminiscent of the earlier installments.

The Seven Crystal Balls still has its definite strengths. One is the atmosphere. This is one of the most horror-centric stories in the series, which really appealed to me. This change in tone made this book fresh and exciting. A couple of scenes were delightfully creepy and the stakes were significantly heightened. The villains were also solid and the magic-inspired elements were unique and intriguing.

I also loved seeing Tintin and Haddock put so much care into finding the missing Calculus. Their friendship was so sweet to witness. The characterization overall was terrific and the illustration work was once again dazzling with particularly well detailed panels full of interesting imagery. I just wished for more humor and energy, not to mention adventure as this book is set at home with the next entry promising to have them go to Peru. Thus, this two-part story did not quite have the power that the previous one had.

The Seven Crystal Balls is gorgeously illustrated and delightfully creepy in its refreshing horror-inspired atmosphere. It’s a pretty good Tintin volume that still felt flawed and forgettable due to a general lack of humor, adventure and excitement. It’s the first part that did feel like just the beginning of a greater story.

My Rating – 4.1