Tintin Forums

Hi, I'm new to this site and this is my first post :-).

I recently acquired "Tintin...in the Land of the Soviets" (LOS) and now need only two other titles to complete my English collection. At the same time, I also bought Michael Farr's "Tintin: The Complete Companion." In reading the latter referencing the LOS, it refers to certain page numbers that are wrong in my edition. I noticed a pattern and all the referenced images were 4 pages ahead of the images located in my book. Then I discovered that LOS starts numbering its pages from 4! I'm not missing any pages, thankfully, but it struck me as odd.

I have, I believe, a 1999 Casterman/Moulinsart version in hardback published by Egmont.

I'm interested to know if this is found in all editions and why the numbering is such.

Any thoughts?

Thanks...

Peter

I do not know of it is of any help but I have a Dutch version of the land of the soviets. And the Dutch version also starts with page four but in the Dutch version there are two pages before the first page with the drawings. One blank page and one title page. If you start counting pages at the blank page the page with the drawings is exactly page four. This is also the case with my black and with Dutch copy of the cigars of the Pharaoh. This might explain why the book starts at page four. Butt it is still strange that a reference book gives the wrong page numbers.

I hope this helps

Freek

My copy of Soviets is an English language version and is one from very limited 1999 print run. Its in English and the first numbered page is on the right but there is a page before that (the one where Tintin leaves the station to get on the train). And it has the missing page! 96A or 94 A or something.

Freek is right, the page numbers in the modern (i.e. post-1999 Methuen) editions are counted from the first blank page.

The reason why Farr's numbering is different is because the first edition (1989 by Sundancer) was a facsimile and used the numbering from the original French version. This didn't include the first page and labelled the second as "1", which is now page 5 of the modern version. Also the modern page 102 was given as "97a" in the original, so all the pages after that are five out of sync!

So Farr was obviously working from his 1989 first edition when referencing for The Complete Companion.

Ed

What's my copy then? It has 139 pages that are numbered, the missing page and the first page is unumbered.

Tintinrulz

Your copy seems to match with the original 1930 issue or the 1981 blue cloth bound facsimile, both with the 1st plate on the left but without any page number, and the 2nd plate on the right, numbered as page #1...
The 'missing page' was published only in the Petit Vingtieme around Xmas 1929, and in the 'Archives Herge I' (in the 70's) which included Totor, Soviets, Congo and America, all in B&W...

What's my copy then? It has 139 pages that are numbered, the missing page and the first page is unumbered.

Sounds like you have a post-1989 facsimile, not a first edition, but an impression of it. Casterman did a few after 1989, and Last Gasp do them now. They retain the old numbering.

Ed

Is there a Last Gasp facsimile of Soviets that has been released recently in the same style as Congo and America? I have one from 1999 which has a white cover

Rik

If you mean with the same beige-coloured cover, then no. Congo and America got their beige covers in 1937 under Casterman's publication. By then Soviets had been discontinued so it didn't have the opportunity to have a redesigned cover.

Ed

Thanks yamilah and edcharlesadams! My copy is a Sundancer edition, so I guess it was published by Casterman.