The Blue Lotus
Review
The Blue Lotus, by , is the fifth book in the The Adventures of Tintin. It continues the story started in Cigars of the Pharaoh, ending with Tintin busting an opium ring in China.
The Blue Lotus is a departs from the earlier books in the series by placing Tintin in an actual historical event: the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The book follows history closely, with Tintin witnessing Japanese agents blowing up a rail line in a false-flag attack, just like what happened in the real war. The tone is more serious to fit the wartime setting: no bouncing on fat men like in Cigars of the Pharaoh, though there’s still plenty of slapstick with Thomson and Thompson.
The artwork is strong as always, with large panels showing detailed views of Shanghai. The story has a strong sense of place: first the crowded streets, then the poorer countryside, and finally an occupied city. The military hardware—planes, trains, and ships—feels heavy and menacing on the page. Unlike Tintin in the Congo, depicts the Chinese characters with sensitivity, even poking fun at some European stereotypes of East Asians, while clearly condemning the Japanese occupation.
This book is more story-driven than early entries like Tintin in the Congo and Tintin in America, but it’s not as tightly scripted as later works like The Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackham’s Treasure, Destination Moon, or Explorers on the Moon. In some ways it suffers from sticking too closely to history: Tintin’s role feels smaller against the backdrop of the invasion.
We haven’t picked our next book yet, but I suspect it will be The Secret of the Unicorn. We’ll see!