The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 4 by Hergé

The three stories in this volume are: Red Rackham's Treasure, The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun. The last two can actually be considered one long adventure, since the story starts in the first book, The Seven Crystal Balls, but the Scientists imperiled in that story aren't really rescued and free until the end of "Prisoners of the Sun".

In Red Rackham's treasure, Tintin and his friend, Captain Haddock, have discovered the resting place of the Notorious Pirate Red Rackham, who Captain Haddock's ancestor tracked down and defeated. But one of the crew of Captain Haddock's Schooner talks to a friend where a newmsn overhears them and splashes the story all over the papers, causing men claiming to be the descendant of Red Rackham to try and get a place in the expedition... for half of the treasure!

They are also approached by a scientist named Cuthbert Calculus, an inventor who has developed an undersea sub that he wants to test on the journey. But his near-deafness and constantly misinterpreting everything Captain Haddock and Tintin say cause Captain Haddock to reject him and his sub. But he manages to sneak aboard anyway, along with a smaller, shark-shaped version of his sub.

They make their way to the island, where they deal with the wildlife and find a statue of Captain Haddock's ancestor along with many parrots who mimic his voice. But when they find an old ship on the bottom, they think their troubles are over. But aside from a casket full of old papers, there is no treasure. But can Professor Calculus's translation of the papers lead to the *real* hiding place of the treasure?

In the Seven Crystal Balls, Seven Scientists and Adventurers who braved the Mountains of Peru to recover artifacts from an old Peruvian Tomb are slowly falling into narcoleptic trances. But why? The only clues left behind are shards of crystal near the sleeping scientists, and the disappearance of the artifacts discovered by the adventurers.

But when Professor Calculus sees one of the Peruvian artifacts, a bracelet of solid gold set with gems, he, too, is marked for a trance, and though Captain Haddock and Tintin try to keep him away from the angry Peruvian Indians who want to take revenge on him, it is no use, and Calculus, too, is soon locked in a coma-like sleep. But there is one difference: at some point during the night, the sleeping men shout and cry out, fighting against nothingness, almost as if they are being tortured. But what could have these effects on the sleeping men?

In "Prisoners of the Sun", Tintin and Captain Haddock track the attackers to Peru, but the natives are unfriendly and no official seems to believe their story. It's only when Tintin saves a native boy from a beating at the hands of his master that the situation starts to look up.

Believing that Tintin is a good man at heart, the natives try to warn him off rather than kill him, and the boy he rescued decides to throw his lot in with Tintin and Haddock to track down the secret city of the natives responsible for the attacks on the scientists, and, it transpires, for preserving the artifacts the scientists recovered and left the country with.

But even knowing Tintin is a good man, when the natives discover him and Haddock, they sentence the two men to death. Is there any way for Tintin and Haddock to get out of this one, or has their luck run out at last? Could this be the end for our brave heroes?

As you can probably tell, of course not. But I enjoyed this series of stories more than I have some of the others in the Tintin series. There are still some anachronistic drawings that annoyed me (the way a black character is drawn in a crowd scene is awfully reminiscent of "Blackface" performers at a minstrel show), but other characters, such as the Peruvian natives, are less offensive, certainly, and not caricatures.

This series of stories is notable for the introduction of Cuthbert Calculus. Funky mad scientist-types had been introduced in the stories before, but Hergé finally found, with Calculus, the wonky, distracted scientist type he'd been looking for, and Calculus appears in nearly every story hereafter, often having to be rescued or helped by Tintin and Captain Haddock, whom he drives to distraction.

We also see Captain Haddock's fortunes change after "Red Rackham's Treasure", going from a hard-bitten sea Captain to trying to live the life of a rich nobleman, complete with horse-riding and high living. But he's ready to abandon it in a minute when Tintin comes calling.

This isn't a bad set of stories at all, complete with high adventure, danger and intrigue. While the age of the stories and pictures do show every once in a while, it's still highly enjoyable for modern-day readers. Recommended to read.