In this thoroughly enjoyable adventure an empty tin of crab meat sets Tintin off on adventure that lands him in North Africa. ‘Shanghai’d’ at the docks, it’s whilst on board the freighter ‘Karaboudjan’ that he meets the drunken sot that is Captain Haddock, and his dastardly first mate, Allan.
The doppelgänger detectives are on hand to clown around, but it’s Captain Haddock, making his debut, who steals the show, his clumsy drunken faux pas causing Tintin as much trouble as the opium-running villains. I dock half a star here, because as much as Haddock is an excellent new addition, he isn’t yet fully formed, and will mature and improve in coming adventures.
It’s interesting to see how Hergé introduces and develops new characters: Allan arrives on the scene fully formed (but then he’s a relatively minor figure), acting and appearing much the same in other stories in which he appears (e.g. Flight 714), whereas the Capt. Haddock of this adventure isn’t quite the Haddock of most other Tintin stories.
With some nice full page single frame art, and an enjoyable plot, this is solid, reliable fun from Hergé.