After a large meteorite just misses the earth, a small piece lands in the sea causing nothing more than an earthquake. After the professor discovers that its made up of an unknown metal, he gets Tintin and Captain Haddock to take him and a group of European scientists to claim it in the Arctic Ocean. But they soon realise that they aren't the only expedition on the high sea to reach the meteorite, as now it's a race to get their first before a greedy South American banker comes away with it.
"The Shooting Star" is the tenth story of the comic-strip albums by creator Herge, but the first episode of season 2. This steers away from the usual Tintin adventure, where there's no real mystery or a clash with some bigwigs, but a simple discovery that turns into light-hearted sea race for a prized possession. After a somewhat gloomy beginning with some creative visuals and atmosphere, it then transcends to a slow understated middle half, which enters the closing turn with a taut final last dash to the meteorite. There are some unusually gigantic surprises awaiting Tintin after he sets his foot on it. Everyone's favourite character, the cursing Captain Haddock would go on to cement himself as one of the memorable main players after this outing. His enthusiastically chaotic presence was a real delight to the contrast of the modest and determine Tintin. Who always makes sure he's in it for the long run, no matter how many tough spots he gets caught up in. "The Shooting Star" is no exception to it. This leaves the rest of the characters, like the other professors led by Professor Decimus Phostle and even their competition in the form of banker Bohlwinkel coming across merely as secondary features. The story does provide some moral questioning and insightful developments, but sometimes it gets too mopey in its attitude. The excitement levels are kept low, but again there's a nice dose of chirpy dialogues that liven up the outing and it moves on pretty quickly even with those plodding patches. I might label this one as one of the weakest, if not the weakest, but it delivers on the quota of sheer comic entertainment.
"The Shooting Star" is the tenth story of the comic-strip albums by creator Herge, but the first episode of season 2. This steers away from the usual Tintin adventure, where there's no real mystery or a clash with some bigwigs, but a simple discovery that turns into light-hearted sea race for a prized possession. After a somewhat gloomy beginning with some creative visuals and atmosphere, it then transcends to a slow understated middle half, which enters the closing turn with a taut final last dash to the meteorite. There are some unusually gigantic surprises awaiting Tintin after he sets his foot on it. Everyone's favourite character, the cursing Captain Haddock would go on to cement himself as one of the memorable main players after this outing. His enthusiastically chaotic presence was a real delight to the contrast of the modest and determine Tintin. Who always makes sure he's in it for the long run, no matter how many tough spots he gets caught up in. "The Shooting Star" is no exception to it. This leaves the rest of the characters, like the other professors led by Professor Decimus Phostle and even their competition in the form of banker Bohlwinkel coming across merely as secondary features. The story does provide some moral questioning and insightful developments, but sometimes it gets too mopey in its attitude. The excitement levels are kept low, but again there's a nice dose of chirpy dialogues that liven up the outing and it moves on pretty quickly even with those plodding patches. I might label this one as one of the weakest, if not the weakest, but it delivers on the quota of sheer comic entertainment.
