Tag: Zette

Mr. Pump’s Legacy

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Mr. Pump’s Legacy

by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Methuen, 1987) [from Le Testament de Monsieur Pump, 1951]

Book cover: “Mr. Pump’s Legacy” by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Methuen, 1987) [from Le Testament de Monsieur Pump, 1951]

Hergé’s children’s adventure series opens here with a comedic salvo (a four-page cameo from the speed-obsessed Mr. Pump) before settling into the improbable thriller/action sequences and manifold lucky escapes that dominate early Tintin volumes. Eyebrows raise at such derring-do from pre-teen protagonists.

The Valley of the Cobras

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The Valley of the Cobras

by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Casterman, 1957)

Book cover: “The Valley of the Cobras” by Hergé; trans. Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper & Michael Turner (Casterman, 1957)

In this final book of the series, Hergé at last strikes the right balance, giving free reign to slapstick antics while more or less side-lining Jo and Zette (though still depicting them as adventurous mini Tintins; Jocko serves as a surrogate Snowy).