Well, the personal life of the author doesn't really impact how I'm gonna read the text...not a dead one at least, if Andrew Tate wrote a kick-ass sci-fi novel I still wouldn't want to give the bitch money, right? The first two are just as far as I've read so far, so that's all I've got to comment on for now. I *should* go ahead and read them out of order, buuuuut since I have them all available, I know my brain won't let that shit happen.Gyeh-heh-heh-heh, you’ve fallen right into my trap! Yes, those early Tintin books are the weird scratchy “real-world” ones, and yes, they are quite political — the magazine they were published in, Le Petit Vingtieme, was heavily right-leaning. (And, during the occupation of Belgium, outright Nazi-controlled. Fun!) During the war, the series went in a more pulp-y, adventure-y direction, and many of the later books include some element of (reasonable) fantasy. The Crab with the Golden Claws is where the formula solidifies, and everything after that (including the unfinished last one) is brilliant.
Don’t think you need to read these in order, either! Plot points and characters (outside of the main cast) typically don’t re-appear, so you miss nothing by skipping around. I did as a kid and I was never lost. Hope you enjoy going through these as much as I have!
(Also, if it makes you feel any better, Herge was well-known for being opportunistic and adapting his beliefs to those he was in close contact with. I’m of the opinion that his true views were not out of the ordinary among mid-20th century Frenchmen.)
Glad to hear it! I’ve had the first TPB sitting on my desk for about a week, and I’ll be the last person on Earth to be reading it. I’m really hopeful for this new step in the franchise’s comics — here’s hoping we get some new stories beyond the standard G1 stuff going forward, too!
(Also, the rabbit hole I went down after reading Tintin, looking up post-war Belgium was fascinating; how the European countries dealt with the fallout and collaboraters isn't really in American textbooks.)
That first TPB for Transformers really does slap, you won't regret reading it. The following arc ratchets up the stakes, the only pitfall might be the planned crossovers down the road with G.I. Joe and Void Rivals. Fingers crossed!
There's this weird thing where I never read Calvin and Hobbes as a kid, but every best friend I ever had growing up and moving around a lot was a mega-fan of the comic strip. Took till adulthood to actually check it out, it's a hell of a lot better than Garfield.View attachment 6820
I discovered these guys really recently and they have since joined a pantheon alongside other all-time greats from my childhood, like Peanuts, Asterix & Obelix, Hagar The Horrible, Tin-Tin and Lucky Luke.