Tintin and Alph-Art (French: Tintin et l'alph-art) is the twenty-fourth and final book in the Tintin series. It is a striking departure from the earlier books in tone and subject, as well as in some parts of the style, due to Hergé having lost interest in telling more stories in the mold of his earlier 'Tintin'-books.
Hergé worked on the book until his death in 1983, and it was published posthumously (despite its unfinished status) in 1986 by Casterman in association with La Fondation Hergé, and was republished in 2004 with further material.
In 1976, a few months after the publication of Tintin and the Picaros, Hergé told the journalist and author Numa Sadoul that he was contemplating the next adventure of Tintin — setting an entire story in an airport departure lounge. This idea was eventually dropped, and in 1978, he decided to set the story in the world of modern art. He had grown tired of his creation, and the pressure he was under to produce new adventures, and in an attempt to rekindle his passion for writing and drawing the adventures of Tintin, chose to incorporate his love of avant-garde artwork into the new story. Hergé was inspired by the
Ferdinand Legros and Elmyr de Hory affair, and incorporated a second element, a
new age sect and a phoney guru. He planned to cast Rastapopoulos as the villain, but according to Harry Thompson, dropped the idea in 1980 when he introduced the alphabet art element.
The story opens with Captain Haddock having a nightmare of being visited by Bianca Castafiore, who demands that he take his "medicine" (a bottle of Loch Lomond). When he refuses, as he still cannot stand it after the events of the previous book, Castafiore turns into a huge bird-like creature which then attacks Haddock. Fortunately Tintin manages to wake him up, and then receives a telephone call from the real Castafiore, telling him that she is in Belgium for a few days, and tells him about the man she is with, Endaddine Akass, a famous mystic. In town, Captain Haddock comes across Castafiore, and to avoid her, dashes into the nearby Fourcart Gallery, meeting avant-garde artist Ramó Nash and owner of the gallery, Henri Fourcart. Fourcart shows an interest in meeting Tintin. Haddock purchases a perspex letter 'H' (Personalph-Art). Back at Marlinspike, Haddock and Tintin watch a news report about their old friend Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, who plans to buy Windsor Castle from the British government, and the Beaubourg Centre (the Pompidou). Following this is a report on the suspicious death of art expert Jacques Monastir, who is presumed drowned off the coast of Ajaccio.
In 1976, a few months after the publication of Tintin and the Picaros, Hergé told the journalist and author Numa Sadoul that he was contemplating the next adventure of Tintin — setting an entire story in an airport departure lounge. This idea was eventually dropped, and in 1978, he decided to set the story in the world of modern art. He had grown tired of his creation, and the pressure he was under to produce new adventures, and in an attempt to rekindle his passion for writing and drawing the adventures of Tintin, chose to incorporate his love of avant-garde artwork into the new story. Hergé was inspired by the Ferdinand Legros and Elmyr de Hory affair, and incorporated a second element, anew age sect and a phoney guru. He planned to cast Rastapopoulos as the villain, but according to Harry Thompson, dropped the idea in 1980 when he introduced the alphabet art element.
Tintin, Captain Haddock and Calculus are on their way to Sydney for an international conference on space exploration. While their flight makes a refueling stop in Jakarta's Kemayoran Airport, they unexpectedly meet their old friend Piotr Skut (see The Red Sea Sharks for back story), who is now the chief pilot for eccentric millionaire Laszlo Carreidas. A short time earlier, the Captain had erroneously taken the somewhat disheveled Carreidas for a tramp and surreptitiously slipped him a five-dollar bill (which later is taken by the oblivious Professor Calculus, making the millionaire laugh for the first time in years). When introduced to Carreidas, the Captain inadvertently shakes the hand of the millionaire's secretary, the tall, aloof Spalding.
The Castafiore Emerald is the twenty-first in the series. The slowest-moving and most sedate of The Adventures of Tintin, it was conceived as a narrative exercise by Hergé. Becoming disillusioned with his most famous creation, the cartoonist wanted to see if he could maintain suspense throughout sixty-two pages in which nothing much happens.[1] Consequently it is a story without villains, guns or danger, but rich in comic setpieces, red herrings, mistaken interpretations, and colourful characters. In this sense, it has many similarities to a screwball comedy film.
It is also unusually emotional for a Tintin story: moments of strong emotion for the characters include Tintin's enduring belief in Chang's survival, the discovery of the teddy bear in the snow, Haddock's attempting to sacrifice himself to save Tintin, Tharkey's return, Tintin's discovery of Chang, and the yeti losing his only friend. Indeed Tintin is seen to cry when he believes Chang's fate, something he is only seen to do twice throughout the entire series (the other occurrence being in The Blue Lotus).
