Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh (Les Cigares du pharaon)1932-34 (collected 1934) / Ecomic / 69 pages / Belgium
****
Introducing the supporting cast, ancient history and exotic mysticism, this finally feels like the Tintin I vaguely remember from the cartoon, but authentically unsanitised with guns, drugs and mummified murder victims intact. The downside of this vintage is that the locals suddenly transform into gollywogs when you travel south of Cairo.
1935-42 (collected 1943) / Audiobook/ebook / 40 pages / USA
***
Skipping from the dark chaos of The Waste Land to the illuminated confidence of these wartime sermons is good advertising for the therapeutic benefits of religion. A lot duller though.
Jean "Moebius" Giraud, Dan O'Bannon and Philippe Druillet, Mœbius 4: The Long Tomorrow and Other Science Fiction Stories
1971-87 (collected 1987) / Ecomic / 80 pages / France***
Best treated as detailed storyboards for awe-inspiring matte paintings and expensive model shots for films that don't exist, kids will also appreciate the hardcore sex and gore. There was at least one 2000 AD style twist I enjoyed, but those directors didn't hire Mœbius for the quality of his non-existent scripts.
Faves: 'The Long Tomorrow' & 'Blackbeard and the Pirate Brain.'
1992 / Ebook / 116 pages / Ireland
***
You can enjoy these pretty piano poems without the analysis, but as a fan of the pompous prog rock epic and closed-circuit stand-up set, it was satisfying to find the same preoccupation with structure and callbacks playing out over the course of a decade almost two centuries back.
Algernon Blackwood, Four Weird Tales
1911-38 (collected 2005) / Audiobook / 136 pages / UK***
The first story was authentically nightmarish and shockingly nasty at the end, no doubt the result of the decades-later rewrite after the War desensitised everyone. The rest get worse as they go along, but the themes of mental illness and obsession are largely consistent.
Faves: 'The Insanity of Jones: A Study in Reincarnation.'
Worsties: The rest.
