Tintin Forums

A few years ago I became interested in the changes that occurred in Tintin albums over the years and when they occurred. Below is what I found out. I looked at English and French albums to find when the changes occurred.

I have labelled each revision R1, R2, etc. I also have a list of which English-language editions to get in order to obtain a particular version (when possible). Numbers beside a particular revision mean that in order to get that English-language version, you must buy a copy published in the years specified.

Tintin in the Congo
Published 1946
R1 (1971) – Page 56 completely redrawn for Scandanavian edition. Tintin no longer blows up Rhinocerous. Regional variation – English version has revised page, French has original page.

English
Original – Unavailable
R1 – 2005-

Tintin in America
Published 1946
R1 (1977) – Black characters on pages 1 and 47 redrawn to remove blackface, character on page 29 redrawn as white.
R2 (1979) – Black characters on page 47 redrawn as white

English
Original – Facsimile (2008)
R1 – 1978
R2 – 1979-

Cigars of the Pharaoh
Published 1955
R1 (1970) – Map on page 1 redrawn as Mediterranean cruise instead of Asian trip. Sheik on page owns Destination Moon instead of Tintin in the Congo.
R2 (1983) – Map on page 1 redrawn as Asian trip once again, using different picture to 1955 version.

English
Original – Facsimile (2008)
R1 – 1971 – 1982
R2 – 1983-

The Blue Lotus
Published 1946
No changes

English
Original – 1983-, Facsimile (2008)

The Broken Ear
Published 1943
No changes

English
Original – 1975-, Facsimile (2008)

The Black Island
Published 1943
R1 (1965) – Completely redrawn and reset in the 1960s instead of the 1930s.

English
Original – Facsimile (2008)
R1 – 1966-

King Ottokar's Sceptre
Published 1947
No changes

English
Original – Eagle Magazine (1951-52), 1958-, Golden Press (1959), Facsimile (2008)

The Crab with the Golden Claws
Published 1943
R1 (1959) Black character on pages 14, 17 and 18 redrawn as Asian. Two panels redrawn on page 19 to remove Haddock putting bottle to his lips. Panel on page 25 left white with just speech bubble and text for the same reason. Black character on pages 53-58 redrawn as Arabic. This version is exclusive to the American Golden Press edition.
R2 (1960) – Blank panel on page 25 redrawn with picture.

English
Original – 1958
R1 – Golden Press (1959)
R2 – 1964-

The Shooting Star
Published 1942
R1 (1954) – Completely recoloured. Blumenstein renamed to Bohlwinkel, his country of origin is now fictional Sao Rico instead of USA, US flag changed to Sao Rican flag.

English
Original – Unavailable
R1 – 1961-

The Secret of the Unicorn
Published 1943
R1 (1959) – French Fleur-de-lis changed to Union Jack. Regional change – only applies to English language versions. Around the world, many versions have a plain blue or white flag instead of fleur-de-lis. It is unknown if this is deliberate. Affects pages 15-18.
English
Original – Casterman (1952), Giant Facsimile (2013)
R1 – 1959-, Golden Press (1959)

Red Rackham's Treasure
Published 1944
No changes

English
Original – Casterman (1952), 1959-, Golden Press (1959), Giant Facsimile (2013)

The Seven Crystal Balls
Published 1948
No changes

English
Original – 1962

Prisoners of the Sun
Published 1949
No changes

English
Original – 1962

Land of Black Gold
Published 1950
R1 (1971) – Story removed from Palestine and reset in Khemed. All references to Jews removed. Arabs now kidnap Tintin instead of Jews and part where Jews are stopped removed. Jews being questioned at police station removed. Some scenes take place in a different order. British officers changed to Arab ones. Some pages redrawn. Affects pages 7 -18.

English
Original – Unavailable
R1 – 1972-

Destination Moon
Published 1953
No changes

English
Original – 1959-, Golden Press (1960)

Explorers on the Moon
Published 1954
No changes

English
Original –1959-, Golden Press (1960)

The Calculus Affair
Published 1956
No changes

English
Original – 1960-

The Red Sea Sharks
Published in 1958
R1 (1967) – French text changed so that Africans speak proper French instead of broken French. English version unchanged.

English
Original –1960-
R1 – Unavailable

Tintin in Tibet
Published 1960
No changes

English
Original – 1962-

The Castafiore Emerald
Published 1963
No changes

English
Original – 1963-

Flight 714 to Sydney
Published 1968
No changes

English
Original – 1968-

Tintin and the Picaros
Published 1976
No changes

English
Original – 1976-
Note: An early French limited edition contained a cut page 22bis as a separate page to be inserted after page 22.

That's nice work, thanks! It would be nice to have this in our Guides & Lists.

It also shows that The Shooting Star and Land Of Black Gold are the only books with no English version of the 'original'. The Shooting Star, no big deal - Americans instead of Sao Ricans - but it's a pity we didn't get a Land Of Black Gold. It has such a lot of interesting differences, particularly the British connections with the Mandate of Palastine.

There were other French facsimiles released (I have L'Affaire Tournesol and Tintin Au Tibet) but I'm not exactly sure what the differences are, aside from paper, colours, etc. There might have been other minor text changes, but they probably wouldn't be worth including in your very concise list!

Harrock n roll
Thanks! Totally agree on Land of Black Gold, it would be great to get the facsimile in English. It would also be great if The Black Island colour facsimile was reprinted and if they finished the black-and-white facsimile series.

As far as I am aware the later books were generally not revised, aside from Coke En Stock. That is, once they made it to album form. I read through the nine black-and-white albums last year and then the serialised versions from L'étoile Mystérieuse to Coke en Stock, mostly in Hergé Le Feuilleton Intégral. I made notes of scenes deleted from the colour album versions as I did so. I should post them here for posterity, it's part of why I did this, so I'd have somewhere to reference (and of course to share with others).