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Are there two different covers to Yves Rodier's version of Alph-Art?

yes there are, the french one features a mercedes trying to hit tintin and one with cap haddock and tintin standing on a rock is the english version, I'm looking for the french version btw if you happen to own it...

-Cuthbert

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I just finished reading the English version. Rodier did a horrible job for the ending with that secretary that invites Tintin to have dinner and to meet her parents. It just does not fit with Herge's Tintin.
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tintinmob
Rodier did a horrible job for the ending with that secretary that invites Tintin to have dinner and to meet her parents. It just does not fit with Herge's Tintin.

Hmmm, that is interesting...

You mean you could stand the extremely dull walking around, the possible lynching of Tintin and the Captain, and the overly gruesome death of Rastapopoulos, but the thought of Tintin being of interest to a young lady is the thing you find non-Hergé??

I rather like it, and could imagine Hergé having approved (after all, he found the second Mme. Hergée in his own office); it would have gone some way to making Tintin more human, less priggish, and less of a boy scout, which was a transition which came to Hergé late in his own life. The little scene at the end of the book with Martine is deftly handled, and is to my mind one of Rodier's better achievements.

I'm in agreement there, Jock - it's a sweetly touching little scene, and I like the way Tintin (not having had much to do with women in his previous 23 adventures, to put it mildly) seems charmingly at a loss as to how to respond! I'm glad Rodier left it at that though, as I wouldn't want to see Tintin and Martine running hand in hand around the Marlinspike woods throwing flowers about, or whatever!

I really like the last couple of pages, with the low-key "back at Marlinspike" ending too. For me, it's the closest Rodier got to Hergé in feel, after all the disappointment of the long sequence following the unmasking of the villain. As you say, it's dull, and there's something not quite right about spending so long dwelling on Rastapopoulos's intention to lynch Tintin and the Captain.
I find it annoying that what should have been a no-holds-barred final reckoning becomes seven or eight pages of our passive heroes, bound and unable to defend themselves, trudging around a mountainside being forced to listen to Rastapopoulos's rantings.

I've said it elsewhere, but if I had the time or the talent to do something like this, I'd have had Akass (and not necessarily Rastapopoulos) becoming a victim of poetic justice, and ending up falling into his own vat of plastic, becoming the artwork he intended to turn Tintin into! The almost casual way in which Rodier has Rastapopoulos take his dive over the cliff seems, just... wrong somehow.

I do feel a little churlish criticising though, as the whole thing is so obviously a labour of love on Rodier's part. Hasn't he himself expressed dissatisfaction with it, and said he'd like to have another crack at it?

Going to the original question, there are at least two versions of the "car" cover. I've seen one with the car seen from behind, and Tintin (in a rather unfortunate "ooh, I need a toilet!" pose) seen from the front, and another (slightly better, IMO) one from the opposite angle, with a foreground Tintin and Snowy seen from the rear as the Mercedes shoots round the corner.
I'm not sure that Rodier intended the "rocks" cover to be used as such; I've seen four full page Alph-Art illustrations, of which this is one, the others being Tintin looking on as Akass gives his blessing to a follower, Tintin entering the abandoned factory, and my favourite, a startled Tintin viewing a forged canvas in the basement, whilst Akass lurks behind the door.
I reckon they might have been done some time after the completion of the album, as the art style is a lot better on all of them!

To be fair to Rodier Tintin was almost lynced in Tintin in America, so I wouldn't say it was un-Herge like.

Rik

Rodier has Rastapopoulos take his dive over the cliff seems, just... wrong somehow.

Yeah I agree, and isn't it the same as what happens at the end of Cigars?
I liked the lynching scene as it features an excellent parody of the unconcious dream-like sequences Hergé portrayed in numerous books.

Fair play, the dream sequence is great, especially the idea of Tintin amused at finding himself in his old clothes and plus-fours. I just find most of the rest of the lynching sequence rather too grim and gritty for my tastes. In America, there's a comic side to it, with the constant hold-ups and the drunken sheriff, but in Alph-Art, I can't see a lot in the way of light relief. Poor old Tintin gets pistol-whipped twice, the Captain smashes his head on a rock, and they play no real part in the villain's (literal) downfall.

IMO, the characterisation of Rastapopoulos is a bit off too. In Flight 714 he's certainly a dangerous man, but again, there's a lot of humour to be had from his babyish red-faced rages, and his pride in his evil schemes. In some ways, he's akin to an outrageous James Bond villain. Rodier's Rastapopoulos seems to me to be an all too realistic psychopath, obsessed with getting rid of Tintin and the Captain, no matter what. On the other hand, that might fit better with the more down to earth plot of Alph-Art even though it's hard to believe that such a raving nutter could successfully pose as Akass and run a lucrative forgery ring for so long!

Like I said above though, I shouldn't be too critical. On the whole, it's a nice thing to have around, and a creditable stab at getting Tintin out of the terrible peril that he was left in on page 42 of the original. What do people think of Rodier's resolution of Herge's "impossible" cliffhanger, BTW? Given that it's almost legendary amongst Tintin fans as the ultimate fate of the character, I think it would be hard for anyone to come up with a rescue that lived up to expectations!

I would have let him die I think, perhaps a closing scene of Tintin as a museum piece.
Would have been a bit of a downer ending but also it would have ended the series off.

Rodier's ending always reminds me of my drama teacher's yearly Shakespeare production, she would rewrite the endings to correct what she saw as weaknesses in Shakespeare's writing.
I see the Rodier ending, obviously an adult himself, wanting to see a more serious side to Tintin adventures with hangings and gruesome deaths. However I don't see Hergé ever having ended the story like that.

Did Hergé know Alph-Art would be his final adventure? Or was he intending to go on after it, if he hadn't died?
It would have been interesting; I feel Hergé had decided to call it quits on writing new adventures, so we could have seen Tintin in a final swansong.

Perhaps finally losing the tag of boy reporter and living happily ever after with Martine?

Perhaps a thread: how would you have ended the Tintin adventures is worthy of discussion? I would start one but I'm about to head out the door.

Rik

Hmm as John said, I really appreciate what Rodier did. Its a really nice piece of work and interesting to Tintin fans. However, I do surely dont like lot of parts of the plot. I haven't read the original Alph-Art so I dont know whether Rodier matched atleast the versions sketched by Herge.

For example: I dont think Tintin would come directly to Martine and blame her for being involved with the gangsters. Rather it could be like Tintin meets Akass before, sees the necklace and has a doubt on him due to his voice. And after the incident where the gangsters try to kill Tintin, he is at Marlinspike reading newspaper where he sees an article on microphones and it reminds him of M for miss martine when it strucks him that microphones could be hidden in her necklace. Our hero goes straigthly back to the gallery and follows Miss Martine and sees her going to the theatre where Akass performs.

And then Tintin plans up a scheme where he goes to Martine, does a general talk and tells her that he would go to Freaux Factory. But he does not get captured there and the gangsters escape somehow. However, Tintin gets a clue (I can devise something up if you want) then goes to the theatre to know more about this Akass guy. Akass does some wierd performace like he rises up in the air. Rather than sitting in the audience, Tintin leaves his seats and goes backstage to somehow find more about Akass. However, the gangsters follow him and try to capture him. Like they throw weight that hang in stages on Tintin which knocks him out but unfortunately Haddock arrives at the scene and the gangsters act as if it was an accident. I could go on and on but I guess I should stop here :P