Of thundering typhoons and blistering barnacles…

Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Bianca Castafiore, Thomson and Thompson…. Do these names ring a bell?

I was first introduced to the world of Tintin sometime in the late seventies, when the Times of India serialized “The Red Sea Sharks”. Though not yet ten, it was obvious to me that this was no run of the mill comic strip. The characters, the narrative, the entire package so to say, held me in thrall. Shortly thereafter we chanced upon Tintin comic books in a book shop in Mumbai (then Bombay). Again, these were unlike the usual comic books we were used to. Large pages, all 62 of them, filled with colourful, detailed drawings and taking forward a single story full of adventure, thrills and humour. They were also more expensive as compared to the comics we were used to buying but it was decided that the money spent would be worth it and so the first Tintin book came into our hands. It was “Flight 714”, my brother’s choice.

Upon returning to Indore from our vacation, we were to discover to our utter delight that Tintin comics were available in our city too at select shops. And so started the process of building our collection. Every few months, a new book would be purchased with my brother and I taking turns to select the title. The arrival of every new book was a special event in itself. Also, one didn’t read Tintin comics on the go or just to while away some time. You had to take time out from your schedule to settle down quietly and savour them. Doing otherwise would be disrespectful to the visual details in every frame and the elaborate storylines, not to mention the delightful humour. The sharp and clean drawings were outstanding and the narrative was solid. That Tintin’s creator Herge had done his research thoroughly was evident in most of the books.

Today, all these years after first discovering and devouring volume after volume of Tintin, the pantheon of characters that livened up those lazy summer afternoons, those rainy Monsoon evenings or those freezing winter nights seem like people one met just yesterday.

Frankly, Tintin himself was the least interesting of the lot. Ok, for a freelance boy reporter he sure had friends in high places- from Ben Kalish Ezab, the Emir of Khemed to General Alcazar, the now ruling-now deposed president of San Theodorus and from the King of Syldavia to the Maharaja of Gaipajama but so what? It was the supporting cast where all the fun lay, led of course by Captain Haddock, the boozing, swearing old sea dog who later transforms into the owner of the aristocratic estate of Marlinspike Hall. Haddock introduced us to an entirely new vocabulary. His favourite expressions “Thundering Typhoons” and “Blistering Barnacles” could, in a more agitated frame of mind, extend to “Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons” and “Billions Of Bilious Blue Blistering Barnacles”! Whether sozzled or sober, Haddock was a riot. It didn’t take long for his temper to get the better of him but it was more than obvious that beneath the tough exterior, he was a softie at heart.

Then there was Professor Cuthbert Calculus. He could invent anything, from a submarine to a spacecraft, an ultrasonic weapon to a new variety of rose and even a tablet that imparts a disgusting taste to any alcohol taken thereafter…! Yes sir, cute little Calculus was dynamite, though he wouldn’t know it if some dynamite actually went off next to him, as he stubbornly refused to wear a hearing aid because hearing aids are meant for deaf people “and I am only a little hard of hearing in one ear”! In the one story where he wears a hearing aid throughout (Explorers on the moon) he’s not that much fun.

Thomson and Thompson, the identical twin detectives were of course, in a league of their own. Bumbling and blundering along, they could be absolutely endearing in their stupidity. The twins were among the characters closest to my heart. You can still wake me up in the middle of the night and ask, “What did Thompson say when Thomson advised him to drive round what appeared to be the umpteenth mirage they encountered in ‘Land of Black Gold’?” and I will rattle off, “Me? Drive round something that’s nothing but something you think is something but is nothing? I never heard such rubbish. We are going straight ahead.”

When the Milanese Nightingale Bianca Castafiore made an entry, you could be sure the Jewel song from “Faust” wouldn’t be far behind. You just had to admire the prima donna’s spirit as she broke into her favourite song on any and every occasion- while riding a car, giving an interview on live TV, even in a courtroom after she had just been sentenced to imprisonment for life! Her maid Irma and accompanist Wagner, though very minor characters, too left their mark.

Nestor, the longsuffering butler at Marlinspike Hall mostly stayed in the background but made his presence felt nevertheless. And what about

Jolyon Wagg, the irritating, idiosyncratic insurance agent? He appeared sparingly but was always a laugh riot. The various villains in the series too were a memorable lot- Rastapopoulos, Allan, Dr Muller, General Tapioca, Sheikh Bab el ehr etc.

To those not quite acquainted with the world of Tintin, all this may seem like silly rambling but if you too have devoured those 62-page masterpieces in your adolescence, you might just have been transported back a few years or decades….