The Seven Crystal Balls
The Seven Crystal Balls (Les 7 Boules de cristal) | |
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Date | 1948 |
Series | The Adventures of Tintin |
Publisher | Casterman |
Creative team | |
Creator | Hergé |
Original publication | |
Published in | |
Date of publication |
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Language | French |
Translation | |
Publisher | Methuen |
Date | 1962 |
Translator |
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Chronology | |
Preceded by | Red Rackham's Treasure (1944) |
Followed by | Prisoners of the Sun (1949) |
The Seven Crystal Balls (French: Les 7 Boules de cristal) is the thirteenth volume of
The Seven Crystal Balls was a commercial success and was published in book form by
Synopsis
Young reporter
The next day, Tintin and Haddock learn that members of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition are falling into comas, with fragments of a shattered
Tintin and Haddock later realise that Calculus has gone missing, and surmise that he has been kidnapped by the same individual who placed Tarragon in a coma. The police set up road blocks, but the kidnappers switch cars and are able to evade them. Tintin visits a hospital where the seven stricken members of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition are housed; he is astonished that at a precise time of day, all awaken and scream about figures attacking them before slipping back into their comas. Haddock is dejected by Calculus' abduction, but upon learning that police have spotted the kidnapper's car at a port, he and Tintin race there, believing that the abductors seek to board a boat with Calculus and take him abroad. At the docks, they spot Alcazar boarding a ship to South America; he reveals that Chiquito was one of the last descendants of the Inca and has disappeared. Tintin surmises that Chiquito must be one of Calculus' captors.
Having lost Calculus' trail, Tintin and Haddock decide to pay a visit to Haddock's old friend Chester, who has docked at another nearby port. They miss Chester, but instead discover Calculus' hat on the docks, indicating that he was taken to sea from here. Investigating, they realise that Calculus must be aboard the Pachacamac, a ship headed to Peru, and board a flight, intent on intercepting its arrival.[2]
History
Background
The Seven Crystal Balls began serialization amidst the
Following the culmination of his previous Tintin adventure, Red Rackham's Treasure, Hergé had agreed to a proposal that would allow the newspaper to include a detective story revolving around his characters, Thomson and Thompson. Titled Dupont et Dupond, détectives ("Thomson and Thompson, Detectives"), Hergé provided the illustrations, and the story was authored by Le Soir crime writer Paul Kinnet.[9] While this was being serialised, Hergé began contemplating ideas for his new Tintin adventure, toying with the idea of a story surrounding a dangerous invention that Calculus had developed. The story was probably inspired by an article authored by Le Soir's science correspondent, Bernard Heuvelmans, and while Hergé did not use this idea at the time, he revived it a decade later as the basis for The Calculus Affair.[10]
As with Hergé's two previous stories, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure, The Seven Crystal Balls was designed as part of a twofold story arc, to be concluded with the then yet unnamed Prisoners of the Sun.[11] Hergé planned for the former story to outline a mystery, while the latter would see his characters undertake an expedition to solve it.[11] His use of an ancient mummy's curse around which the narrative revolved was inspired by tales of a curse of the pharaohs which had been unearthed during the archaeologist Howard Carter's 1922 discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb. This was not the first time that Hergé had been inspired by this tabloid story, having previously drawn from it when authoring Cigars of the Pharaoh.[12]
In autumn 1943, Hergé decided that he wanted
The museum's director, Professor Capart, exhibited similarities with Professor Tarragon, a new character that Hergé had developed for the story.
The scenery and background of the story was meticulously copied from existing sources; car model types like the Opel Olympia 38 in which Calculus' abductors escaped the police were drawn from real examples,[21] while Hergé closely adhered to the reality of the port and docks at Saint-Nazaire.[22] Professor Tarragon's house was drawn from a real house in Avenue Delleur, Boitsfort, which Jacobs had identified for Hergé's purposes. Hergé and Jacobs stationed themselves outside the house and completed a sketch of the building. Immediately after, two grey cars containing German soldiers pulled up; the house had been requisitioned by the Schutzstaffel (SS). Hergé realised that, had he and Jacobs been discovered sketching, they would have been interrogated.[23]
Publication
The story began serialisation in Le Soir under the title of Les Sept Boules de Cristal on 16 December 1943.
- They're coming! Who? Why, Tintin and Snowy, of course! Perhaps, since you have not heard anything about them lately, you have been afraid, dear readers, that something bad had happened to them? Nothing of the sort! Tintin and Snowy were simply waiting for our excellent associate and friend Hergé to return to better health, as he was sick for a few weeks.[25]
The story returned to its serialisation in Le Soir on 7 July, starting with a summary of the story so far.[26] However, it would be interrupted again on 2 September 1944.[27] Brussels was liberated from German occupation by the Allied forces on 3 September, upon which Le Soir immediately ceased publication.[21] Hergé had been forced to abandon the story after 152 strips, equivalent to fifty pages of the later published book volume.[28] The story had been left unfinished after the scene in which Tintin leaves the hospital where he sees the seven members of the expedition enduring a simultaneous fit.[28][a] Three days later the entire staff were fired and a new editorial team introduced.[21]
Hergé was arrested on 3 September, having been named as a
"[During the occupation] I worked, just like a miner, a tram driver, or baker! But, while one found it normal for an engineer to operate a train, members of the press were labelled as 'traitors'".
Hergé[28]
The period witnessed widespread allegations against accused collaborators, with military courts condemning 30,000 on minor charges and 25,000 on more serious charges; of those, 5,500 were sentenced to life imprisonment or capital punishment.[35] A judiciary inquiry into Hergé's case was launched by the deputy public prosecutor, Mr Vinçotte, although in his report he urged lenience, stating that "I am inclined to close the case. I believe it would bring ridicule on the judicial system to go after an inoffensive children's book author and illustrator. On the other hand, Hergé worked for Le Soir during the war, and his illustrations are what made people buy the newspaper".[36] Unable to work for the press, Hergé worked from home re-drawing, and Jacobs colouring, the older Adventures of Tintin for publication by his book publisher Casterman, completing the second version of Tintin in the Congo and starting on King Ottokar's Sceptre.[37] Casterman supported Hergé throughout his ordeal, for which he always remained grateful.[38] He and Jacobs produced a comic strip under the pseudonym of "Olav", although no publishers accepted it.[39] Although this period allowed him an escape from the pressure of daily production which had affected most of his working life,[28] he also had family problems to deal with; his brother Paul returned to Brussels from a German prisoner-of-war camp and their mother had become highly delusional and was moved to a psychiatric hospital.[40]
In October 1945, Hergé was approached by
Now free from threat of prosecution, he continued to support his colleagues at Le Soir who were being charged as collaborators; six of them were sentenced to death, and others to lengthy prison sentences.[46] Among those sentenced to death was Hergé's friend, Paul Jamin, although his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.[47][b] In May 1946, Hergé was issued a certificate of good citizenship, which became largely necessary to obtain employment in post-war Belgium.[49] Celebrations were marred by his mother's death at age 60 in April 1946.[50] Harry Thompson has described this post-war period as the "greatest upheaval" of Hergé's life.[11] Hergé later described it as "an experience of absolute intolerance. It was horrible, horrible!"[51] He considered the post-war trials of collaborators a great injustice inflicted upon many innocent people,[52] and never forgave Belgian society for the way that he had been treated, although he hid this from his public persona.[53]
Leblanc's new magazine was titled
Republication
As with previous adventures, it then began serialisation in the French Catholic newspaper Cœurs Vaillants, from 19 May 1946.[27] After the story had finished serialisation, the publishing company Casterman divided it into two volumes, Les Sept Boules de Cristal and Le Temple du Soleil, which they released in 1948 and 1949 respectively.[27] One of the scenes that had been found in Le Soir, in which Haddock is humiliated by the clairvoyant at the theatre, was removed from the story when it was being reformatted in book form.[63] The book contained additional backgrounds not found in the original serialised story which had been drawn by Jacobs.[27]
When translated into English for a publication by Methuen in 1963, a number of Francophone place-names were changed; for instance, the port of Saint-Nazaire was renamed Westermouth, which, according to author Michael Farr, was probably inspired by the real English coastal town of Weymouth.[21] As the English-language translation was published after the English translation of other Tintin adventures, which had actually been authored later than The Seven Crystal Balls, in the English version, references are made to events that would occur in The Calculus Affair and The Red Sea Sharks.[64]
Critical analysis
Biographer Benoît Peeters described The Seven Crystal Balls as "the most terrifying of The Adventures of Tintin".[14] He believed that in this story, Hergé had come under the clear influence of Jacobs, in that the "décor grows more lush; the details clearer. No more streets suggested by a few lines, monochromatic posters, or characters walking on the edge of the frame".[25] Elsewhere, he noted that in this story, Hergé "produced a gripping tale that went further than any other in the direction of the supernatural".[65] Fellow biographer Pierre Assouline believed that The Seven Crystal Balls achieved "a more complete integration of narrative and illustrations" than previous adventures,[66] and that from that point on, his books "begin to form a coherent body of work, an oeuvre".[67]
Harry Thompson stated that the "overriding theme" of The Seven Crystal Balls was "fear of the unknown", adding that while it did blend humour with menace, it remained "Hergé's most frightening book".[11] He noted that the story marks the complete transition of Captain Haddock from the "pitiable drunk" which he was introduced as in The Crab with the Golden Claws to the position of "chief sidekick and comic attraction", with Snowy being relegated to the position of "normal dog".[68]
Michael Farr described both The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun as "classic middle-period Tintin", commenting on their "surprisingly well-balanced narrative" and noting that they exhibited scant evidence of Hergé's turbulent personal life.[62] He felt that The Seven Crystal Balls encapsulated the "air of doom" which pervaded the mood of Europe at the time to an even greater extent than Hergé had done in his earlier work, The Shooting Star.[62] At the same time, Farr thought it to be "a simple detective story", comparing Tintin's hunt for clues regarding Calculus' disappearance to Arthur Conan Doyle's stories of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.[62] He thought that the story was "truly Hitchcockian in its suspense and quite cinematic in its presentation", comparing the use of the music hall in the story with its use in Hitchcock's film, The 39 Steps (1935).[62] Farr suggested that in the scene in which Haddock dejectedly sits around Marlinspike awaiting news of Calculus, "Hergé had allowed himself to step for a moment into Haddock's shoes and to be autobiographical".[specify][29]
Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier believed that the two-story arc represents "one more leap forward in Hergé's graphic and narrative skills" as a result of the transition to full colour double pages as the initial means of publication.[69] They noted that The Seven Crystal Balls is "bathed in the surreal atmosphere that Hergé knew how to create so well", with Tintin confronting "a dark and oppressive force" that was "worthy of a Hammer film".[69] They particularly praised the characters of Professor Tarragon and Mark Falconer (Marc Chalet), describing the former as "to archaeology what Haddock is to the sea", and that the latter resembled an older Tintin with darker hair, noting that "one regrets that their appearances are all too brief, and wonders what the adventures of Falconer and Tarragon would be like".[19] Ultimately, the Lofficiers awarded both halves of the story arc five out of five.[70]
Literary critic
In his psychoanalytical study of the Adventures of Tintin, the academic Jean-Marie Apostolidès believed that The Seven Crystal Balls-Prisoners of the Sun arc reflects a confrontation between civilisations, and between the sacred and the secular.[76] He also discussed Haddock's position in the story, noting that the scene at the theatre in which a bull's head mask falls onto Haddock's head reflects "one of Hergé's most constant themes: the union of human and animal".[77] He further added the opinion that Haddock's transformation from seaman to country gentleman was not believable.[78] He suggested that the appearance of Yamila and Castafiore at the start of the story injected "a feminine element" into the story, which represented an attempt to "round out Haddock's family", which was dominated by the male figures of Tintin, Calculus, and Snowy.[79] He further argued that Calculus' kidnapping represented a "rite of passage" that would allow him to join Tintin and Haddock's family.[80]
Adaptations
In 1969, the animation company
In 1991, a
The video game
At the turn of the new century, Tintin remained popular. In 2001, The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun were adapted into a theatrical musical, Kuifje – De Zonnetempel (Tintin – The Temple of the Sun), which premiered at the Stadsschouwburg in Antwerp in the Dutch language on 15 September. The production, directed by Dirk de Caluwé, adapted by Seth Gaaikema and Frank Van Laecke with music by Dirk Brossé, featured Tom Van Landuyt as Tintin. The musical was adapted by Didier Van Cauwelaert into French and premiered a year later in Charleroi as Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil. From there, the production was scheduled for Paris in 2003 but was cancelled.[84][85] It returned for a brief run in Antwerp on 18 October 2007.[86]
References
Notes
- ^ Following this scene in which Tintin leaves the hospital, Hergé had then published a scene in Le Soir in which Tintin, while absorbed by a newspaper article, literally bumps into General Alcazar on the street and is informed that Chiquito has disappeared, which was the final panel before Le Soir was shut down. This scene with Tintin and Alcazar on the street was essentially cut and done in a different way when the story picked up again two years later and when it was published in book form.[29]
- ^ Jamin was released from prison in the early 1950s.[48]
- ^ Readers who had gone without The Adventures of Tintin for two years were reunited with the story of The Seven Crystal Balls in the new Tintin magazine with a symbolic image of Tintin returning to Marlinspike Hall (page 50 in the book). Farr suggested that the image of Captain Haddock dejectedly waiting by the telephone, followed by his triumphant return to adventuring, was Hergé's symbolic depiction of himself at the end of his two-year hiatus. These scenes were soon followed by the redone scene with Tintin and General Alcazar.[29]
Footnotes
- ^ Hergé 1962, p. 1–40.
- ^ Hergé 1962, p. 41–62.
- ^ Assouline 2009, pp. 70–71; Peeters 2012, pp. 116–118.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 72; Peeters 2012, pp. 120–121.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 73; Assouline 2009, p. 72.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 73; Peeters 2012.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 99; Farr 2001, p. 95.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 99.
- ^ Goddin 2009, pp. 128, 130; Assouline 2009, p. 94.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 130.
- ^ a b c d Thompson 1991, p. 124.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 115; Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 57.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 152.
- ^ a b c Peeters 2012, p. 153.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 121; Peeters 2012, p. 154.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 121; Peeters 2012, p. 153.
- ^ Ziemendorff, Stefan (2023). "Identification of the mummy that inspired Hergé's character Rascar Capac". Investigaciones Sociales. 48: 79–94.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 137.
- ^ a b Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 57.
- ^ a b Thompson 1991, p. 125; Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 57; Assouline 2009, p. 99.
- ^ a b c d Farr 2001, p. 116.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 116; Goddin 2009, p. 157.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 116; Goddin 2009, p. 134.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 124; Farr 2001, p. 118; Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 55; Assouline 2009, pp. 98–99.
- ^ a b c Peeters 2012, p. 154.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 155.
- ^ a b c d Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 55.
- ^ a b c d Farr 2001, p. 118.
- ^ a b c d Farr 2001, p. 119.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 195; Peeters 2012, p. 159.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 126; Farr 2001, pp. 117–118; Assouline 2009, p. 106; Peeters 2012, p. 159.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 116; Peeters 2012, p. 160.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 106.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 127; Farr 2001, p. 118; Assouline 2009, p. 106; Peeters 2012, p. 160.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 107.
- ^ Assouline 2009, pp. 108–109.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 118; Assouline 2009, p. 108; Peeters 2012, p. 162.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 162.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 126; Peeters 2012, p. 162.
- ^ Peeters 2012, pp. 163–164.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 150.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 109; Peeters 2012, pp. 164–165.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 110.
- ^ Assouline 2009, pp. 111–112.
- ^ Assouline 2009, pp. 111–113.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 118; Peeters 2012, p. 167.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 168.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 233.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 113; Peeters 2012, p. 167.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 113; Peeters 2012, p. 169.
- ^ Assouline 2009, pp. 113–114; Peeters 2012, p. 161.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 161.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 113.
- ^ Peeters 2012, p. 165.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 124.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 122.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 130; Farr 2001, pp. 119, 121.
- ^ Goddin 2009, p. 161.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 131.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 124; Peeters 2012, p. 174.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 131; Farr 2001, p. 121.
- ^ a b c d e Farr 2001, p. 115.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 135.
- ^ Farr 2001, p. 125.
- ^ Peeters 1989, p. 80.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 99.
- ^ Assouline 2009, p. 100.
- ^ Thompson 1991, p. 125.
- ^ a b Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 58.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 59.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, p. 8.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, pp. 74–75.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, pp. 48–49.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, p. 97.
- ^ McCarthy 2006, p. 73.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 154.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 162.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 159.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, pp. 150–151.
- ^ Apostolidès 2010, p. 153.
- ^ a b c d Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 89.
- ^ Lofficier & Lofficier 2002, p. 90.
- ^ GameFAQs 1997.
- ^ Tintinologist.org 2005.
- ^ Antwerp Gazette 30 August 2001.
- ^ Antwerp Gazette 19 August 2007.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-8047-6031-7.
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- ISBN 978-1-86207-831-4.
- ISBN 978-0-416-14882-4.
- ISBN 978-1-4214-0454-7.
- ISBN 978-0-340-52393-3.
- "Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun". GameFAQs.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- "Kuifje – De Zonnetempel (De Musical) / Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil – Le Spectacle Musical". Tintinologist.org. 2005. Archived from the original on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- "Musical Kuifje binnen 2 weken in Antwerpen" [Musical Tintin Within 2 weeks in Antwerp]. Gazet Van Antwerpen (in Dutch). 30 August 2001. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
- "'Kuifje — De Zonnetempel' dit najaar ook in Antwerpen" ['Tintin — The Temple of the Sun' This Autumn in Antwerp]. Gazet Van Antwerpen (in Dutch). 19 August 2007. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
External links
- The Seven Crystal Balls at the Official Tintin Website
- The Seven Crystal Balls at Tintinologist.org