1942-1943 (collected 1943) / Ecomics / 62 pages / Belgium
***
Perhaps with an eye to animated features, or just making sure the next book sells, this is all setup as Hergé structures his first real two-parter to delay gratification (though the less gripping pickpocket B-plot is resolved, quite anticlimactically).
Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure (Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge)
1943 (collected 1944) / Ecomics / 62 pages / Belgium***
The Nelvana gang's finally together as Professor Calculus from Cigars of the Pharaoh is reintroduced, though the lingering side-effects of the date-rape drug mean he and Tintin don't recognise each other. After the foreboding flashbacks and ill omens, this turns out to be a surprisingly leisurely trezer hunt as Hergé makes the strange decision to keep it free from time pressure or jeopardy, save for an ineffectual shark or two.
Martha C. Sammons, A Guide Through Narnia with complete Index of Names & Places, plus Map & Chronology1979 / Ebook / 164 pages / USA
***
Recapping events and highlighting themes across the series, the cross-referencing with the author's life and explanations gives it value, but the Chronicle chronicler's unquestioning devotion to Aslan means she doesn't dwell on any of the less wholesome implications.
William Messner-Loebs, Dan Barry and Mike Richardson, from a story by Hal Barwood and Noah Falstein, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
**
I'm not a fan of adaptations generally, whether it's a book being filmed or a point-and-click adventure game converted into a linear comic strip. The breakneck seaplaning of this efficient graphic walkthrough shows why the latter doesn't really work. Looks like I got almost half way back in the day.
2011 / Ebook / 269 pages / UK
****
Slow-burning investigations into the supernatural across time, space and mind that take the time to smell the ectoplasm.
Fave: 'Sika Tarn'
