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Tintin #22
Flight 714 to Sydney
One of the most iconic characters in children’s books
The world’s most famous travelling reporter goes Down Under.
Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus are on their way to Sydney, Australia. Through a chance meeting they are invited to travel on board the private jet of billionaire Lazlo Carreidas. But then they fall victim to a plot to kidnap Carreidas and are captured by Tintin's arch enemy Rastapopoulos.
Join the most iconic character in comics as he embarks on an extraordinary adventure spanning historical and political events, and thrilling mysteries. Still selling over 100,000 copies every year in the UK and having been adapted for the silver screen by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in 2011.
The Adventures of Tintin continue to charm more than 80 years after they first found their way into publication. Since then an estimated 230 million copies have been sold, proving that comic books have the same power to entertain children and adults in the 21st century as they did in the early 20th.
Hergé (Georges Remi) was born in Brussels in 1907. Over the course of 54 years he completed over 20 titles in The Adventures of Tintin series, which is now considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comics series of all time.
Have you collected all the graphic novel adventures?
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
Tintin in America
Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh
Tintin: The Blue Lotus
Tintin: The Broken Ear
Tintin: The Black Island
Tintin: King Ottakar’s Sceptre
Tintin: The Crab with the Golden Claws
Tintin: The Shooting Star
Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Tintin: Red Rackham’s Treasure
Tintin: The Seven Crystal Balls
Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun
Tintin: Land of Black Gold
Tintin: Destination Moon
Tintin: Explorers of the Moon
Tintin: The Calculus Affair
Tintin: The Red Sea Sharks
Tintin in Tibet
Tintin: The Castafiore Emerald
Tintin: Flight 714 to Sydney
The Adventures of Tintin and the Picaros
Tintin and Alph-Art
The world’s most famous travelling reporter goes Down Under.
Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus are on their way to Sydney, Australia. Through a chance meeting they are invited to travel on board the private jet of billionaire Lazlo Carreidas. But then they fall victim to a plot to kidnap Carreidas and are captured by Tintin's arch enemy Rastapopoulos.
Join the most iconic character in comics as he embarks on an extraordinary adventure spanning historical and political events, and thrilling mysteries. Still selling over 100,000 copies every year in the UK and having been adapted for the silver screen by Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in 2011.
The Adventures of Tintin continue to charm more than 80 years after they first found their way into publication. Since then an estimated 230 million copies have been sold, proving that comic books have the same power to entertain children and adults in the 21st century as they did in the early 20th.
Hergé (Georges Remi) was born in Brussels in 1907. Over the course of 54 years he completed over 20 titles in The Adventures of Tintin series, which is now considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comics series of all time.
Have you collected all the graphic novel adventures?
Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
Tintin in America
Tintin: Cigars of the Pharaoh
Tintin: The Blue Lotus
Tintin: The Broken Ear
Tintin: The Black Island
Tintin: King Ottakar’s Sceptre
Tintin: The Crab with the Golden Claws
Tintin: The Shooting Star
Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Tintin: Red Rackham’s Treasure
Tintin: The Seven Crystal Balls
Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun
Tintin: Land of Black Gold
Tintin: Destination Moon
Tintin: Explorers of the Moon
Tintin: The Calculus Affair
Tintin: The Red Sea Sharks
Tintin in Tibet
Tintin: The Castafiore Emerald
Tintin: Flight 714 to Sydney
The Adventures of Tintin and the Picaros
Tintin and Alph-Art
62 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
46 people are currently reading
1720 people want to read
About the author
Hergé
1,112 books1,905 followersGeorges Prosper Remi (22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist.
His best known and most substantial work is The Adventures of Tintin comic book series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, leaving the twenty-fourth Tintin adventure Tintin and Alph-Art unfinished. His work remains a strong influence on comics, particularly in Europe.
"Hergé" is the pseudonym of George Remí, making a game with the initials of his name inverted. Throughout the evolution of his star character, Tintin, we can see the progress of this author: from the first titles marked by the ultraconservative doctrine of the director of the newspaper Le Petit Vingtième, to the breaking of conventions embodied from The Blue Lotus , as well as the evolution of the society of his time. The research carried out by Hergé to historically contextualize his Adventures, as well as his implicit social criticism, have made Tintin a masterpiece of the 20th century.
Series on Goodreads:
* The Adventures of Tintin
* Quick & Flupke
* The adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko
His best known and most substantial work is The Adventures of Tintin comic book series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, leaving the twenty-fourth Tintin adventure Tintin and Alph-Art unfinished. His work remains a strong influence on comics, particularly in Europe.
"Hergé" is the pseudonym of George Remí, making a game with the initials of his name inverted. Throughout the evolution of his star character, Tintin, we can see the progress of this author: from the first titles marked by the ultraconservative doctrine of the director of the newspaper Le Petit Vingtième, to the breaking of conventions embodied from The Blue Lotus , as well as the evolution of the society of his time. The research carried out by Hergé to historically contextualize his Adventures, as well as his implicit social criticism, have made Tintin a masterpiece of the 20th century.
Series on Goodreads:
* The Adventures of Tintin
* Quick & Flupke
* The adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 357 reviews
January 25, 2023
Pas votre histoire comique moyenne!
VOL 714 POUR SYDNEY is not your average comic book adventure story crafted merely for young readers.
Tintin, his dog Snowy, and their friends Captain Haddock and Calculus are en route to Sydney to attend an astronautical conference. During a brief stop over in Jakarta, they meet millionaire, Laszlo Carreidas, known as "the man who never laughs". When the antics of the deaf and lovable Professor Calculus actually manage to make Carreidas howl with laughter, he expresses his appreciation by inviting them to continue their journey to Sydney aboard his prototype business jet, the Carreidas 160.
When the jet is hijacked, our intrepid group of travelers find themselves in the power of greedy criminals who want a good deal more than the prototype jet ... they're also determined to lay their hands on the wealth that Carreidas has squirreled away in a numbered Swiss bank account. And, of course, they're not planning on leaving any witnesses behind.
Je n'avais que dix ans quand j'ai lu VOL 714 (en anglais) la première fois. Presque cinquante ans plus tard, l'histoire, c'est encore puissante et passionante; les actions, même les émotions transmises par l'oeuvre d'art sont convaincantes; et, bien sur, Tournesol et Haddock sont plus amusants, comiques et drôles que jamais. Avec des volcans, lave chaude et des tremblements de terre, des soucoupes volantes, une civilisation ancienne et un temple souterrain, hypnose et amnésie collective, VOL 714 POUR SYDNEY est une histoire bien étrange qui ne peut pas échouer à vous amuser. Des parents peuvent être rassurés qu'elle se prête bien aux lecteurs de n'importe quel age.
The reason I chose to read the original French edition so many years later was simply to brush up on my French reading skills which I have left to languish unattended and untested for far too long. It seems I made the perfect choice. Not only did the hints from the story-line as revealed through the art mean that I didn't have to consult a French-English dictionary even once, I was also thrilled to be able to interpret several French idioms purely on the basis of context! For example:
"Je vous tiens à l'oeil"
... literally, "I'm holding you to the eye"
... figuratively, "I've got my eye on you"
"La voie est libre"
... literally, "the way is free:
... figuratively, "the coast is clear"
"J'ai la chair de poule"
... literally, "I have chicken flesh"
... figuratively, "I've got goose bumps"
Great fun to read for any purpose and certainly of significant value in brushing up on French reading skills at an intermediate level.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
VOL 714 POUR SYDNEY is not your average comic book adventure story crafted merely for young readers.
Tintin, his dog Snowy, and their friends Captain Haddock and Calculus are en route to Sydney to attend an astronautical conference. During a brief stop over in Jakarta, they meet millionaire, Laszlo Carreidas, known as "the man who never laughs". When the antics of the deaf and lovable Professor Calculus actually manage to make Carreidas howl with laughter, he expresses his appreciation by inviting them to continue their journey to Sydney aboard his prototype business jet, the Carreidas 160.
When the jet is hijacked, our intrepid group of travelers find themselves in the power of greedy criminals who want a good deal more than the prototype jet ... they're also determined to lay their hands on the wealth that Carreidas has squirreled away in a numbered Swiss bank account. And, of course, they're not planning on leaving any witnesses behind.
Je n'avais que dix ans quand j'ai lu VOL 714 (en anglais) la première fois. Presque cinquante ans plus tard, l'histoire, c'est encore puissante et passionante; les actions, même les émotions transmises par l'oeuvre d'art sont convaincantes; et, bien sur, Tournesol et Haddock sont plus amusants, comiques et drôles que jamais. Avec des volcans, lave chaude et des tremblements de terre, des soucoupes volantes, une civilisation ancienne et un temple souterrain, hypnose et amnésie collective, VOL 714 POUR SYDNEY est une histoire bien étrange qui ne peut pas échouer à vous amuser. Des parents peuvent être rassurés qu'elle se prête bien aux lecteurs de n'importe quel age.
The reason I chose to read the original French edition so many years later was simply to brush up on my French reading skills which I have left to languish unattended and untested for far too long. It seems I made the perfect choice. Not only did the hints from the story-line as revealed through the art mean that I didn't have to consult a French-English dictionary even once, I was also thrilled to be able to interpret several French idioms purely on the basis of context! For example:
"Je vous tiens à l'oeil"
... literally, "I'm holding you to the eye"
... figuratively, "I've got my eye on you"
"La voie est libre"
... literally, "the way is free:
... figuratively, "the coast is clear"
"J'ai la chair de poule"
... literally, "I have chicken flesh"
... figuratively, "I've got goose bumps"
Great fun to read for any purpose and certainly of significant value in brushing up on French reading skills at an intermediate level.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
September 21, 2022
Tintin was one of the comic book heroes of my childhood. I'm going to read my way through the series again as I listen to a radio program about him, and his creator, Hergé. After taking time off from normal adventure bisiness in The Castafiore Emerald, Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus are on their way to Sydney, Australia, and about to end up in one more adventure. They get a líft with the private jet of billionaire Lazlo Carreidas, which may have sound eð a good idea, but doesn’t turn out that way. Tintin's arch enemy Rastapopoulos wants to kidnap Carreidas, and takes Tintin and co with him.
I feel like Hergé wanted show he could turn out exciting adventures, and not just country idyllic, and he does up to a point. The story has a real drive, probably one of the strongest in the series. But to me there is one problem with this story. It starts off very well, but goes slowly down the hill after that. When Hergé tried very hard to base the moon books on real science, Flight 714 to Sidney goes all in on pseudoscience, ESP, and aliens. To me that’s not really what Tintin is about. That’s kind of my problem with it, Tintin just goes off the rails a bit here.
It has its comic moments, but isn’t quite as funny as the previous book. The humor is put aside to certain extend to be fast, and exciting. The Tintin books I think are best are mostly the ones that manage to mix these two elements together. All in all, not really among my favorite Tintin books.
I feel like Hergé wanted show he could turn out exciting adventures, and not just country idyllic, and he does up to a point. The story has a real drive, probably one of the strongest in the series. But to me there is one problem with this story. It starts off very well, but goes slowly down the hill after that. When Hergé tried very hard to base the moon books on real science, Flight 714 to Sidney goes all in on pseudoscience, ESP, and aliens. To me that’s not really what Tintin is about. That’s kind of my problem with it, Tintin just goes off the rails a bit here.
It has its comic moments, but isn’t quite as funny as the previous book. The humor is put aside to certain extend to be fast, and exciting. The Tintin books I think are best are mostly the ones that manage to mix these two elements together. All in all, not really among my favorite Tintin books.
December 8, 2020
Tintin, Captain Haddock, and Professor Calculus are invited to attend an international aeronautical conference in Sydney. During their transit in Jakarta, they meet an old acquaintance, Mr. Skut, who is the chief pilot to the millionaire Carreidas. When the trio is invited by Mr. Carreidas to his private jet for the next phase of their journey, they become embroiled in yet another adventure.
It is not the best of adventures in the series, but interesting enough to keep you at their heels. What I liked the most is the humour. Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Mr. Carreidas, and even Rastapopoulos contributed generously towards a good laugh! :) Did I mention Rastapopoulos? Yes, Tintin meets him again. He is alive and very much wicked. And there was Allan too if you remember the once second in command to Captain Haddock. Tintin is pitted against this lot, but with his natural resourcefulness and the help of the supernatural, Tintin defeats their evil plans.
This adventure of Tintin is not a favourite of mine, but I had fun reading it. I used to enjoy Herge's use of extraterrestrial existence, telepathy, and hypnotism in the story. In my childhood, I had such a fascination for them, and I remember being very much interested in watching the cartoon. But now, as an adult, what interests me the most is the truth serum! :)
It is not the best of adventures in the series, but interesting enough to keep you at their heels. What I liked the most is the humour. Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Mr. Carreidas, and even Rastapopoulos contributed generously towards a good laugh! :) Did I mention Rastapopoulos? Yes, Tintin meets him again. He is alive and very much wicked. And there was Allan too if you remember the once second in command to Captain Haddock. Tintin is pitted against this lot, but with his natural resourcefulness and the help of the supernatural, Tintin defeats their evil plans.
This adventure of Tintin is not a favourite of mine, but I had fun reading it. I used to enjoy Herge's use of extraterrestrial existence, telepathy, and hypnotism in the story. In my childhood, I had such a fascination for them, and I remember being very much interested in watching the cartoon. But now, as an adult, what interests me the most is the truth serum! :)
December 23, 2020
از شگفت انگیزترین آثار ماجرای تن تن...پرواز 714 یکی از جلد های فراموش نشدنی تن تن..
May 1, 2015
Tintin is kidnapped by his Arch-nemesis
26 February 2012
I used to love this one as a kid because it had lots of machine guns in it. However, since I have returned to reading the Tintin books so that I know what I am writing about (as opposed to some books that I am not really interested in rereading, namely because they are too long and that there are other books out there that I would rather spend my time reading) I have no longer appreciate this album as much as some of Herge's other stories. Here the comedy really does begin to take the backseat to focus on a more adventurous story.
Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus are on their way to Australia to an aeronautical conference, namely because they were the first people on the moon (though I note that the Thompsons weren't included, though with the number of protagonists that appear in this book, having a couple of extra clumsy characters may have been a bit too difficult, and the Thompsons are probably becoming a little overused by now). At Djakarta they meet an old friend, the Estonian pilot Skut and are invited to join the multi-millionaire Laslo Carreidas aboard his jet plane as he is also travelling to Sydney for the same conference (Carreidas in involved in aircraft production, among other things). However things, as usual, don't turn out as planned and they find themselves captured by some of Tintin's old enemies, Rastapopoulos and his aide-de-camp, Mr Alan Mate.
Rastapopoulos has now rejoined the ranks of the ordinary people, and being impatient (as a lot of antagonists are) has decided that he will go a quick way to becoming uber-rich again, rather than the slow way, so he decided to kidnap Carreidas and force him to reveal the location of a hidden stash of money. However, as can be expected, getting this information out of Carreidas is not all that easy.
The characterisation in this book is good, as can be expected. Not all of the protagonists are clean cut individuals, and not all antagonists are out to get Tintin. In fact, when Rastapopoulos is accidentally injected with his truth serum, and gets into an argument with Carreidas as to who is the bigger villain, Rastapopoulos reveals that he was pretty much planning on killing everybody that was working with him so that he can get away scot free with all of the money. Unfortunately it seems that the turth serum has little to no effect upon Carreidas as he is just as stubborn as he was when he wasn't drugged.
Herge also seems to be experimenting with mysticism in these later books. In Flight 715 he has aliens come down as rescue the protagonists and kidnap the antagonists (another reason why I loved this album as a kid). It is almost a Deus-ex-Machina, but then again this isn't the first time that Herge has used such plot devices. We are also given hints through the book that this is where it is leading, though the telepathic devices that are used seem to detract somewhat from Tintin's realism. Still, it is a good and enjoyable adventure, but nowhere near the quality of his earlier works.
26 February 2012
I used to love this one as a kid because it had lots of machine guns in it. However, since I have returned to reading the Tintin books so that I know what I am writing about (as opposed to some books that I am not really interested in rereading, namely because they are too long and that there are other books out there that I would rather spend my time reading) I have no longer appreciate this album as much as some of Herge's other stories. Here the comedy really does begin to take the backseat to focus on a more adventurous story.
Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus are on their way to Australia to an aeronautical conference, namely because they were the first people on the moon (though I note that the Thompsons weren't included, though with the number of protagonists that appear in this book, having a couple of extra clumsy characters may have been a bit too difficult, and the Thompsons are probably becoming a little overused by now). At Djakarta they meet an old friend, the Estonian pilot Skut and are invited to join the multi-millionaire Laslo Carreidas aboard his jet plane as he is also travelling to Sydney for the same conference (Carreidas in involved in aircraft production, among other things). However things, as usual, don't turn out as planned and they find themselves captured by some of Tintin's old enemies, Rastapopoulos and his aide-de-camp, Mr Alan Mate.
Rastapopoulos has now rejoined the ranks of the ordinary people, and being impatient (as a lot of antagonists are) has decided that he will go a quick way to becoming uber-rich again, rather than the slow way, so he decided to kidnap Carreidas and force him to reveal the location of a hidden stash of money. However, as can be expected, getting this information out of Carreidas is not all that easy.
The characterisation in this book is good, as can be expected. Not all of the protagonists are clean cut individuals, and not all antagonists are out to get Tintin. In fact, when Rastapopoulos is accidentally injected with his truth serum, and gets into an argument with Carreidas as to who is the bigger villain, Rastapopoulos reveals that he was pretty much planning on killing everybody that was working with him so that he can get away scot free with all of the money. Unfortunately it seems that the turth serum has little to no effect upon Carreidas as he is just as stubborn as he was when he wasn't drugged.
Herge also seems to be experimenting with mysticism in these later books. In Flight 715 he has aliens come down as rescue the protagonists and kidnap the antagonists (another reason why I loved this album as a kid). It is almost a Deus-ex-Machina, but then again this isn't the first time that Herge has used such plot devices. We are also given hints through the book that this is where it is leading, though the telepathic devices that are used seem to detract somewhat from Tintin's realism. Still, it is a good and enjoyable adventure, but nowhere near the quality of his earlier works.
August 7, 2023
I have spent this week with one of my sisters and her family at our mother's house, where some of the remnants of our shared childhood book collection have survived several moves. My sister decided to pick up a Tintin in French so as to "practice" her "French" (her noble and entertaining efforts to speak this language without ever having actually studied it are a part of family lore). So I was hit by Tintin nostalgia myself -- I reread the books endless times in my childhood, but haven't picked one up in something like thirty years, at least. So I went down to the basement, and was taken aback to see that we only had five or so in English, and they were all my least favorites. The finger of suspicion has fallen on the sister who wasn't with us, who must've quietly removed all the good ones to her own home at some point.*
Anyway, having hoped for The Crab with the Golden Claws (the first appearance of Captain Haddock!) I settled for Flight 714, which I remembered as being odd and disquieting. That turned out to be accurate. The second half of the story just degenerates into an irritatingly lazy weirdness but I LOVED the first half, with all the funny dialogue and byplays (the way Calculus' deafness actually advances the plot, the way the "Sani-Cola" kills the plant, the hilarious game of battleships on board the plane). So brilliant!
This enjoyment makes me a little more vexed with my oldest sister than I was before** -- but perhaps she asked at the time if we minded if she took most of the books, and I simply don't remember. Anyway, I suspect that if I were to reread them all now, I would probably get increasingly bothered by the fact that literally the only female character, Bianca Castafiore (almost literally, she does actually have her maid Irma) is a virago. What is up with that -- was Herge famously a misogynist or something?
The fact that I reread these books over and over (and also the Asterix books) makes me realize how much as a child I would've enjoyed the graphic novel explosion we are seeing today. I hope present day kids appreciate their good fortune!
*Edited to add: in a dramatic plot twist it turned out it was the sister that I was with who'd removed the missing books to her own home, and she just hadn't remembered it, and was sure that if she had taken them, she'd know exactly where they were in her house, so therefore she didn't have them. Well. She has so many books, the best place to hide them in her house is in plain sight, and they turned out to be on a bookshelf in her oldest child's room.
**I owe my oldest sister an apology for this!
Anyway, having hoped for The Crab with the Golden Claws (the first appearance of Captain Haddock!) I settled for Flight 714, which I remembered as being odd and disquieting. That turned out to be accurate. The second half of the story just degenerates into an irritatingly lazy weirdness but I LOVED the first half, with all the funny dialogue and byplays (the way Calculus' deafness actually advances the plot, the way the "Sani-Cola" kills the plant, the hilarious game of battleships on board the plane). So brilliant!
This enjoyment makes me a little more vexed with my oldest sister than I was before** -- but perhaps she asked at the time if we minded if she took most of the books, and I simply don't remember. Anyway, I suspect that if I were to reread them all now, I would probably get increasingly bothered by the fact that literally the only female character, Bianca Castafiore (almost literally, she does actually have her maid Irma) is a virago. What is up with that -- was Herge famously a misogynist or something?
The fact that I reread these books over and over (and also the Asterix books) makes me realize how much as a child I would've enjoyed the graphic novel explosion we are seeing today. I hope present day kids appreciate their good fortune!
*Edited to add: in a dramatic plot twist it turned out it was the sister that I was with who'd removed the missing books to her own home, and she just hadn't remembered it, and was sure that if she had taken them, she'd know exactly where they were in her house, so therefore she didn't have them. Well. She has so many books, the best place to hide them in her house is in plain sight, and they turned out to be on a bookshelf in her oldest child's room.
**I owe my oldest sister an apology for this!
February 3, 2011
My review, as published at Tintin Books:
For a man who has been criticised (fairly or not) for sexism, padding of stories and racism to (among others) Africans, Jews, Native Americans, Japanese, Russians and Indians, it's amusing to think that his most controversial work amongst fans is probably "Flight 714", the penultimate completed adventure in the series. But, on re-reading, you can count me amongst those who think it was probably one big mistake.
"Flight 714" starts off strongly enough, with the first 12 pages devoted to something Herge had perfected in The Castafiore Emerald - comedies of manners featuring the main characters and others bound to annoy them - but combining it with that genuine sense of unease and discord which underlies all of his best works. Laszlo Carreidas is a truly fascinating character, and he brings out various dimensions of Captain Haddock; Snowy gets some business; and Calculus is at his rip-roaring malapropistic best. But from the moment Carreidas' plane is hijacked, we're into prime James Bond territory. The evil villain and his henchmen have co-opted an entire volcanic island for their ridiculously complex plan (any villain with a past like Rastopopolous can surely find a better means to cash than this...), and characters are tied up, tortured and pursued through various jungle locations.
None of the business in the first two-thirds of the album is bad; indeed it all has precedents in the series. But perhaps that's the problem? It's clear that we've come a long way: note the monitor and the proboscis monkey, who each receive two frames in a show of ambience. In early "Tintin" books, these guys would've been the subject of a one-or-two page adventure. Herge has learnt now how to balance the atmosphere with the plot. Yet, when we spend an entire third of the book on a chase sequence, one begins to realise that this in no way matches up to the amazing stretch of classic works that immediately preceded it. With the exception of Carreidas himself, the album lacks the emotional resonance of Tintin in Tibet; has none of the elegant plotting of The Red Sea Sharks; and - in spite of the jungle atmosphere - lacks the bravura artwork that so embodies The Calculus Affair and Explorers on the Moon.
Strangely, the only recent "Tintin" work that the album calls to mind is "The Castafiore Emerald" itself! Herge relished using the claustrophobic, trivial atmosphere of Marlinspike in that album, and it comes across here too. Entire pages focus on the petty trials of Rastopopolous, to the point where he isn't interesting or scary, but just... bumbling. And sequences in which henchmen stutter without teeth, or the villain literally emerges from a bomb blast with his clothes in tatters, are just beneath this era. Comdey is welcomed, and delightful in the early part of the album, but sections where Herge was just painting-by-numbers are brutally evident.
This isn't to deny the enjoyment of Carreidas as a character, or the hilarity of the sticking-plaster callback, but much is limited here. I've never noticed the severe drop in quality of art that Michael Farr mentions, but the frames certainly don't sparkle here.
And then there's the ending... Where to begin? From page 45, things get weird. Tintin and Haddock have been hearing voices that turn out to be telepathic communications from the queer little man, Mit Kanrokitoff. In and of himself, Kanrokitoff calls to mind other members of Herge's pantheon of humorous bores such as Jolyon Wagg: so far acceptable. And the idea that the ancient Sondonesians had met aliens, and their statues and totems are actually monuments to this? Not terribly original, but still captivating. (The image of a statue to a god turning out to be a man with communications equipment is startling).
So far, none of that really contradicts any of the wackier elements of some previous stories. But... the revelation that Kanrokitoff genuinely is an alien, and that he uses his powers - and his flying saucer(!) - to save our characters... is taking things a little too far, don't you think? For a series that has always held some connection to reality, the sudden switch to such fantastic adventures seems unnatural. It doesn't help that the final ten pages expose the formula so much, with literally every major character getting an end-of-page cliffhanger in a seemingly neverending chase. Closing with a four-page news story is also too wordy, and only serves to rehash what happened on the previous eight pages. (The closing revelation that Snowy actually remembers everything is a good one, but can't make up for what has passed.)
I'm far from certain about my feelings on "Flight 714". As an idea, it's quite intriguing. But with the exception of the opening act, the story never comes together as anything more than one giant chase. The villian is unappealing; the stakes feel too consistently high; and the alien nonsense is from another series altogether. (Again, there are many series where this could be done WONDERFULLY. It's just not in "Tintin"'s wheelhouse.) A shame, and a true letdown.
For a man who has been criticised (fairly or not) for sexism, padding of stories and racism to (among others) Africans, Jews, Native Americans, Japanese, Russians and Indians, it's amusing to think that his most controversial work amongst fans is probably "Flight 714", the penultimate completed adventure in the series. But, on re-reading, you can count me amongst those who think it was probably one big mistake.
"Flight 714" starts off strongly enough, with the first 12 pages devoted to something Herge had perfected in The Castafiore Emerald - comedies of manners featuring the main characters and others bound to annoy them - but combining it with that genuine sense of unease and discord which underlies all of his best works. Laszlo Carreidas is a truly fascinating character, and he brings out various dimensions of Captain Haddock; Snowy gets some business; and Calculus is at his rip-roaring malapropistic best. But from the moment Carreidas' plane is hijacked, we're into prime James Bond territory. The evil villain and his henchmen have co-opted an entire volcanic island for their ridiculously complex plan (any villain with a past like Rastopopolous can surely find a better means to cash than this...), and characters are tied up, tortured and pursued through various jungle locations.
None of the business in the first two-thirds of the album is bad; indeed it all has precedents in the series. But perhaps that's the problem? It's clear that we've come a long way: note the monitor and the proboscis monkey, who each receive two frames in a show of ambience. In early "Tintin" books, these guys would've been the subject of a one-or-two page adventure. Herge has learnt now how to balance the atmosphere with the plot. Yet, when we spend an entire third of the book on a chase sequence, one begins to realise that this in no way matches up to the amazing stretch of classic works that immediately preceded it. With the exception of Carreidas himself, the album lacks the emotional resonance of Tintin in Tibet; has none of the elegant plotting of The Red Sea Sharks; and - in spite of the jungle atmosphere - lacks the bravura artwork that so embodies The Calculus Affair and Explorers on the Moon.
Strangely, the only recent "Tintin" work that the album calls to mind is "The Castafiore Emerald" itself! Herge relished using the claustrophobic, trivial atmosphere of Marlinspike in that album, and it comes across here too. Entire pages focus on the petty trials of Rastopopolous, to the point where he isn't interesting or scary, but just... bumbling. And sequences in which henchmen stutter without teeth, or the villain literally emerges from a bomb blast with his clothes in tatters, are just beneath this era. Comdey is welcomed, and delightful in the early part of the album, but sections where Herge was just painting-by-numbers are brutally evident.
This isn't to deny the enjoyment of Carreidas as a character, or the hilarity of the sticking-plaster callback, but much is limited here. I've never noticed the severe drop in quality of art that Michael Farr mentions, but the frames certainly don't sparkle here.
And then there's the ending... Where to begin? From page 45, things get weird. Tintin and Haddock have been hearing voices that turn out to be telepathic communications from the queer little man, Mit Kanrokitoff. In and of himself, Kanrokitoff calls to mind other members of Herge's pantheon of humorous bores such as Jolyon Wagg: so far acceptable. And the idea that the ancient Sondonesians had met aliens, and their statues and totems are actually monuments to this? Not terribly original, but still captivating. (The image of a statue to a god turning out to be a man with communications equipment is startling).
So far, none of that really contradicts any of the wackier elements of some previous stories. But... the revelation that Kanrokitoff genuinely is an alien, and that he uses his powers - and his flying saucer(!) - to save our characters... is taking things a little too far, don't you think? For a series that has always held some connection to reality, the sudden switch to such fantastic adventures seems unnatural. It doesn't help that the final ten pages expose the formula so much, with literally every major character getting an end-of-page cliffhanger in a seemingly neverending chase. Closing with a four-page news story is also too wordy, and only serves to rehash what happened on the previous eight pages. (The closing revelation that Snowy actually remembers everything is a good one, but can't make up for what has passed.)
I'm far from certain about my feelings on "Flight 714". As an idea, it's quite intriguing. But with the exception of the opening act, the story never comes together as anything more than one giant chase. The villian is unappealing; the stakes feel too consistently high; and the alien nonsense is from another series altogether. (Again, there are many series where this could be done WONDERFULLY. It's just not in "Tintin"'s wheelhouse.) A shame, and a true letdown.
November 3, 2020
At Djakarta International Airport, Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus, make acquaintance with Laszlo Careidas, the eccentric millionaire, and accompany him on his private aircraft, en route to Sydney, Australia.
But they are hijacked by his staffs, who are in the pay of Tintin's old enemy Rastapopulous
As captives on a. wild and dangerous Indonesian Island, they must battle Rastapopulous and his villains,
But vents are to grow stranger, with a strange expert in extra terrestrial phenomena and telepathy, to cross their path.
Gangsters, terrorists, volcanoes, UFOs are just some of the dangers our friends must deal with.
This
Tintin adventure has a certain eerie quality, and the hypnotic scenes near the end , include several magnificent psychedelic , 1960's style illustrations.
But they are hijacked by his staffs, who are in the pay of Tintin's old enemy Rastapopulous
As captives on a. wild and dangerous Indonesian Island, they must battle Rastapopulous and his villains,
But vents are to grow stranger, with a strange expert in extra terrestrial phenomena and telepathy, to cross their path.
Gangsters, terrorists, volcanoes, UFOs are just some of the dangers our friends must deal with.
This
Tintin adventure has a certain eerie quality, and the hypnotic scenes near the end , include several magnificent psychedelic , 1960's style illustrations.
August 1, 2024
This time, Tintin and the gang are on their way to Australia to attend a space conference. They make a stop in Jakarta, where the rich and unscrupulous Lazlo Carreidas takes a fancy to them, and insists that they travel with him in his personal jet. This leads to yet another adventure for Tintin, as the plane is hijacked in the middle of the flight by Carreidas' own secretary, and diverted to a Pacific Island.
Our old friend, Rastapopoulos, makes an appearance in his nth avatar, with the aim of forcing Carreidas make over his fortune to him after he had lost his own. Both characters actually provide a lot of humour in the story, especially Carreidas. The story strides into the supernatural as a device to save Tintin and the others at the climax, which I felt was slightly weak and lazy storytelling.
This is not as fun as many of the other books, but still pretty good. Hergé brings in a lot of old characters but they don't actually do anything. The clever clues or comedy in the illustrations were not as ubiquitous as usual. Overall, I think Hergé had a good idea for the story but did not know how to develop it. Maybe he was just bored and brought in all kinds of random ideas. Who knows?
Our old friend, Rastapopoulos, makes an appearance in his nth avatar, with the aim of forcing Carreidas make over his fortune to him after he had lost his own. Both characters actually provide a lot of humour in the story, especially Carreidas. The story strides into the supernatural as a device to save Tintin and the others at the climax, which I felt was slightly weak and lazy storytelling.
This is not as fun as many of the other books, but still pretty good. Hergé brings in a lot of old characters but they don't actually do anything. The clever clues or comedy in the illustrations were not as ubiquitous as usual. Overall, I think Hergé had a good idea for the story but did not know how to develop it. Maybe he was just bored and brought in all kinds of random ideas. Who knows?
November 28, 2019
Tintin, Snowy, the Captain, and Calculus are heading to Sydney for a conference when their connecting plane lands in Jakharta. They meet old acquaintances and some new ones and end up on a private plane with a millionaire then a new adventure and perils await!
September 7, 2021
Besonders der Beginn hat mir gut gefallen, aber es ist schon spannend wie Hergé zum Schluss der Reihe noch mehr mit SciFi-Elementen ( spielt.
March 10, 2018
It feels like cheating to put tintin stories onto my reads for the year, but since this was the Spanish version, it seems fair enough - an easy start perhaps but my first completed book in Spanish! As a result, much of my attention was on verb conjugations and the plot was a secondary priority. But with a comic book, the visuals help maintain focus and are of course part of the humour. And with comics, it can be tempting to cheat by skimming the dialogue and just looking at the pictures. I don't think I slipped into this too much. Has it helped my Spanish? I hope so. But since I was young, Tintin has always been a fun read and I don't recall reading this before despite the Australian reference, and this was no different. Que proxima? No se!
January 8, 2022
3/5
En los últimos álbumes de Tintín se puede apreciar un intento por parte de Hergé de reinventarse. Su ritmo de producción decrece notablemente y su ilusión no es la misma. El dibujo también es otro y en la narración priman nuevos elementos. Creo que la excelencia la alcanzó unos cuantos números antes. Sin embargo, la esencia sigue presente y es difícil no disfrutar con su lectura.
Vuelo 714 para Sidney narra unos acontecimientos que, pese al nombre, no tienen lugar en Australia, sino en Indonesia, a medio camino del destino inicial. Allí, Tintín se ve envuelto en un inesperado rapto, que concluye con la supuesta intervención de personajes que no son terrenales. Es una divertida pero floja historia del reportero más famoso de Bélgica.
En los últimos álbumes de Tintín se puede apreciar un intento por parte de Hergé de reinventarse. Su ritmo de producción decrece notablemente y su ilusión no es la misma. El dibujo también es otro y en la narración priman nuevos elementos. Creo que la excelencia la alcanzó unos cuantos números antes. Sin embargo, la esencia sigue presente y es difícil no disfrutar con su lectura.
Vuelo 714 para Sidney narra unos acontecimientos que, pese al nombre, no tienen lugar en Australia, sino en Indonesia, a medio camino del destino inicial. Allí, Tintín se ve envuelto en un inesperado rapto, que concluye con la supuesta intervención de personajes que no son terrenales. Es una divertida pero floja historia del reportero más famoso de Bélgica.
May 3, 2015
كل اللى اقدر اقولهولكم انى كنت باهرب بعد الفسحه من الحصص و اتدارى فى المكتبة عشان اقرا تان تان دا
:)))))
:)))))
December 31, 2016
funny, entertaining, made me laugh
May 12, 2018
#71 for 2018
Genre: Adventure Comic
Genre: Adventure Comic
January 24, 2023
Önceki ciltlere göre oldukça derli toplu, içinde pek çok ciltte olduğu gibi ırkçılık öğeleri barındırmayan, bununla birlikte (saymaya hala devam ediyorum) içinde bir tane kadın karakterin olmadığı nispeten iyi bir kitaptı. Genellikle Jules Vernevari zihin bükmeleri yapsa da Herge bu sefer enteresan bir şekilde uzaylılara da el attı ama olsun. Irkçılık yapmasın da istediği gibi uçsun kaçsın.
Bu arada ilk ciltlerin yazıldığı zamana göre kadın karakter olmasını kabul edemem ama dönem itibariyle anlayabilirim ancak artık 1968'e geldik be Herge'ciğim. Hala mı?
Herkese keyifli okumalar
Bu arada ilk ciltlerin yazıldığı zamana göre kadın karakter olmasını kabul edemem ama dönem itibariyle anlayabilirim ancak artık 1968'e geldik be Herge'ciğim. Hala mı?
Herkese keyifli okumalar
December 11, 2024
past me would laugh if i told them i had to read tintin for uni yet here we are
4-stars for the sillies ig
4-stars for the sillies ig
July 13, 2014
Spoilers for those who have not read the book:
One of my favorite Tintin books. I love the hint of sci-fi, and the reappearance of Skut, the Estonian pilot. It's fun to see the recurring baddies - Allan and Rastapopolous, and see how Herge ultimately humiliates them. The "Wait for me Allan! Allan, wait! Don't go so fast!" at the end is particularly enjoyable.
We get some new characters... Mr. Carreidas, the millionaire who doesn't laugh, and his slimy secretary Spalding. And Dr. Krollspell is right out of a Nazi camp, so Herge said himself.
The story starts out in an airport, where there are endless possibilities for story, and eventually the character's find themselves on the island of Pulau-pulau Bompa, where a seemingly extinct volcano may not be as extinct as it seems... They find Rastapopolous waiting for them with a dastardly plan.
Every time I read a Tintin adventure, even if I have read them all thirty times, I notice something new. I am constantly amazed at Herge's great talent. Not only with the rich abundance of very different plot lines in each of his books, but with the humor he puts in his books; the details he puts in his drawings; the angles from which he portrays characters. For example, in the end of this book, instead of just having the character's being interview, we have Mr. Wagg (another familiar face) watching their interview on TV. It gives the story another layer, another element, a face to the common man who is reading the story at that moment.
Or when Rastapopolous and the other scoundrels find Carreidas' hat. The first panel is of the hat itself, with the baddies in the background. Who else, other than Herge, would draw from the hat's point of view?
And how about all those little jokes in the background? The plant dying after Captain Haddock pours his Sani-colo into it's pot. While the other character's are busy talking, we the reader get to see the plant's unfortunate end.
This is a jewel in the world of Tintin. The characters give the story life, color, and humor; the setting gives a sense of adventure; and the plot with it's flying saucer is out of the box and before it's time, yet wonderfully done and fully believable.
Only one question do I have: who are the aliens? And why do they think they can interfere with human life? Perhaps Mik Kanrokitoff (in the English translation), the link between humans and those of the other world, is just another Gary Seven, without the shapeshifting cat.
One of my favorite Tintin books. I love the hint of sci-fi, and the reappearance of Skut, the Estonian pilot. It's fun to see the recurring baddies - Allan and Rastapopolous, and see how Herge ultimately humiliates them. The "Wait for me Allan! Allan, wait! Don't go so fast!" at the end is particularly enjoyable.
We get some new characters... Mr. Carreidas, the millionaire who doesn't laugh, and his slimy secretary Spalding. And Dr. Krollspell is right out of a Nazi camp, so Herge said himself.
The story starts out in an airport, where there are endless possibilities for story, and eventually the character's find themselves on the island of Pulau-pulau Bompa, where a seemingly extinct volcano may not be as extinct as it seems... They find Rastapopolous waiting for them with a dastardly plan.
Every time I read a Tintin adventure, even if I have read them all thirty times, I notice something new. I am constantly amazed at Herge's great talent. Not only with the rich abundance of very different plot lines in each of his books, but with the humor he puts in his books; the details he puts in his drawings; the angles from which he portrays characters. For example, in the end of this book, instead of just having the character's being interview, we have Mr. Wagg (another familiar face) watching their interview on TV. It gives the story another layer, another element, a face to the common man who is reading the story at that moment.
Or when Rastapopolous and the other scoundrels find Carreidas' hat. The first panel is of the hat itself, with the baddies in the background. Who else, other than Herge, would draw from the hat's point of view?
And how about all those little jokes in the background? The plant dying after Captain Haddock pours his Sani-colo into it's pot. While the other character's are busy talking, we the reader get to see the plant's unfortunate end.
This is a jewel in the world of Tintin. The characters give the story life, color, and humor; the setting gives a sense of adventure; and the plot with it's flying saucer is out of the box and before it's time, yet wonderfully done and fully believable.
Only one question do I have: who are the aliens? And why do they think they can interfere with human life? Perhaps Mik Kanrokitoff (in the English translation), the link between humans and those of the other world, is just another Gary Seven, without the shapeshifting cat.
March 12, 2020
مغامرة جديدة لتان تان غير متوقعة مرورا ببركان جاكرتا ومجموعة من الأحداث الشيقة في إطار ساخر كعادة مغامرات تان تان
October 29, 2016
Now this is a Tintin adventure!!! It's got everything! Death-defying stunts, new and interesting characters, epic set pieces. It really gives Tintin a chance to be his badass self, whereas in Castafiore Emerald he was mostly a side character. He's got this particular quiet but confident and absolutely unhesitating sense of duty that is somewhat unique among heroes, and it really endears me to him.
My favorite bit is towards the end, when
This is great because it's the kind of thing that the upright character of Tintin would never say aloud, but when his friends are in danger he unflinchingly takes action regardless of risk to himself. To Tintin he and his friends are bonded, he doesn't even consider the possibility of not leaping into action for their defense. It's this loyalty and selflessness that makes Tintin such a powerful character. People always say characters that don't change aren't interesting, but Tintin offers a counterargument to that narrative. He is fascinating precisely because he presents an ideal we all wish to aspire to, one that's more achievable than Sherlock Holmes, and more optimistic than Indiana Jones.
My favorite bit is towards the end, when
This is great because it's the kind of thing that the upright character of Tintin would never say aloud, but when his friends are in danger he unflinchingly takes action regardless of risk to himself. To Tintin he and his friends are bonded, he doesn't even consider the possibility of not leaping into action for their defense. It's this loyalty and selflessness that makes Tintin such a powerful character. People always say characters that don't change aren't interesting, but Tintin offers a counterargument to that narrative. He is fascinating precisely because he presents an ideal we all wish to aspire to, one that's more achievable than Sherlock Holmes, and more optimistic than Indiana Jones.
September 3, 2019
old friends and old enemies make appearances.
it seems the prof has met his match.
the captain seems tame this time.
giorgio tsoukalos should be endorsing this book.
it seems the prof has met his match.
the captain seems tame this time.
giorgio tsoukalos should be endorsing this book.
December 14, 2021
الرحلة ٧١٤ التي لم تصل إلي سيدني
من وجهة نظري أشعر إن تلك القصص الاخيرة من السلسلة صارت أكثر تركيزا في الحبكة، وبالتالي محببة لي أكثر
ولكن ما فاجئني حقا بنهاية هذه القصة هو الجزء الخيال العلمي الشديد في ذلك المعبد المخفي في جزيرة قرب جاكارتا ، التليباثي و الحضارة الفضائية والتنويم المغناطيسي
اعتقد ان هيرجيه إن كان أستكمل تلك السلسلة لخرج منه أكثر قصص قوة بعد ذلك
للأسف يبقي لي في تلك السلسلة عددا رسميا، عدد رسمي غير مكتمل، وعدد فرعي مبني عن فيلم رسوم متحركة وتنتهي للاسف رحلاتي مع تان تان
من وجهة نظري أشعر إن تلك القصص الاخيرة من السلسلة صارت أكثر تركيزا في الحبكة، وبالتالي محببة لي أكثر
ولكن ما فاجئني حقا بنهاية هذه القصة هو الجزء الخيال العلمي الشديد في ذلك المعبد المخفي في جزيرة قرب جاكارتا ، التليباثي و الحضارة الفضائية والتنويم المغناطيسي
اعتقد ان هيرجيه إن كان أستكمل تلك السلسلة لخرج منه أكثر قصص قوة بعد ذلك
للأسف يبقي لي في تلك السلسلة عددا رسميا، عدد رسمي غير مكتمل، وعدد فرعي مبني عن فيلم رسوم متحركة وتنتهي للاسف رحلاتي مع تان تان
September 30, 2019
Just wish they arrived in Sydney...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 13, 2009
Darker than most of Tintin's adventures, but it fares better than The Castafiore Emerald and Tintin and the Picaros, both of which have less the spark of the earlier stories. That spark is very much alive in Flight 714. When I was younger I must have found Mr Carriedas, the target of the plot's hijacking, despicable, and his awfulness diminished my enjoyment of the book. And though he's a horrible man with no redeeming characteristics, I can now better appreciate the fun Herge has with this monstrous creation, how Haddock takes him initially for a pauper and, with great admiration for his own selflessness, bestows upon him a pitiable charity. Truly, Carreidas is a great character, who's sliminess benefits from a slow reveal, until suddenly, under the spell of a truth serum, he and the villain of the story are literally fighting for the mantle of the worst man alive.
Herge's art is in fine form as usual, and his writing has never been better. The slapstick of the series is in rare form, and as the story comes to an end it shakes Tintin out of his usual heroic dynamic. A classic on par with "Cigars of the Pharoah".
Herge's art is in fine form as usual, and his writing has never been better. The slapstick of the series is in rare form, and as the story comes to an end it shakes Tintin out of his usual heroic dynamic. A classic on par with "Cigars of the Pharoah".
February 8, 2018
Our friends Tintin and Captain Haddock with Professor Calculus are traveling to Sydney, but as usually they get in trouble and they find themselves prisoners of their old enemy Mr. Rastapopoulos on an Indonesian island. This issue has a bit of science fiction and paranormal influences and even promotes the idea of communication between the extra-terrestrial and the humans. The central mystery is essentially left unresolved.
Poor Snow, in this issue it fell in a lake with turbulent waters and was saved the last minute by Tintin!
Poor Snow, in this issue it fell in a lake with turbulent waters and was saved the last minute by Tintin!
May 21, 2020
One of the funniest Tintin' books! Loved re-reading it!
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon 21 May 2020
In this adventure Tintin and Captain Haddock meet again their old enemy Rastapopoulos! The adventure - which starts with a seemingly innocuous plane trip, ends up being one of the most defying ones in terms of fights and counter coups...
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon 20 January 2015.
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon 21 May 2020
In this adventure Tintin and Captain Haddock meet again their old enemy Rastapopoulos! The adventure - which starts with a seemingly innocuous plane trip, ends up being one of the most defying ones in terms of fights and counter coups...
Maria Carmo,
Lisbon 20 January 2015.
October 24, 2020
The last bunch of Tintin comics I've revisited have been disappointing for the most part. This one, despite the fact that it is apparently unpopular among fans, was actually good in my opinion. Playing with aliens and telepathy, all set on a tropical island between Indonesia and Australia, it was rather more daring than many of them tend to be. An all-round good adventure.
May 5, 2019
Tintin books are the best. I've just re-read this for the first time since I was at school and it's still brilliant. I remembered quite a lot of it from before, but I'd forgotten the crazy Deus ex Machina ending, even more bonkers than Prisoners of the Sun. Love it.
October 30, 2018
ইনফেরিয়র টিনটিন। টাকার এবং সময়ের শ্রাদ্ধ। আমার তো তাও অল্প, হার্জ সাহেবের কোয়ালিটির শ্রাদ্ধ।
ছোটোবেলায় নিশ্চই আমার রুচি খারাপ ছিলো, নাইলে তিব্বতে'র চেয়ে কারো এই বই কেনো ভালো লাগবে।
ছোটোবেলায় নিশ্চই আমার রুচি খারাপ ছিলো, নাইলে তিব্বতে'র চেয়ে কারো এই বই কেনো ভালো লাগবে।
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