The Seven Crystal Balls

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tintin: The Seven Crystal Balls (Les Sept boules de cristal)
Cover of the English edition
Publisher Casterman Date 1948 Series The Adventures of Tintin (Les aventures de Tintin) Creative team Writer(s) Hergé Artist(s) Hergé Original publication Published in Le Soir Date(s) of publication December 16, 1943 - September 3, 1944 Language French ISBN ISBN 2-203-00112-7 Translation Publisher Methuen Date 1962 ISBN ISBN 1-4052-0624-1 Translator(s) Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner Chronology Preceded by Red Rackham's Treasure, 1944 Followed by Prisoners of the Sun, 1949

The Seven Crystal Balls (Les Sept boules de cristal) is the thirteenth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero.

[edit] Synopsis

A mysterious illness is afflicting members of a scientific expedition recently returned from the Andes where they had unearthed the tomb of the Inca, Rascar Capac. One by one, the expedition members fall into a coma. The only clue is shards of crystal found near each victim, which are fragments of shattered crystal balls. Concerned, Tintin, Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus go to stay with Calculus' old friend, the ebullient Professor Tarragon. But Rascar Capac's mummy soon disappears from the house when a lightning storm sends a ball of fire down the chimney, and, after each being visited in their nightmares by the mummy, the three wake to find Tarragon comatose, with the telltale shards of crystal by his bed.

The plot thickens even further, however, when Calculus, taking a stroll around Professor Tarragon's house, discovers a striking gold bracelet, puts it on (remarking on how nicely it goes with his coat), and then mysteriously disappears. The bracelet had previously been worn by the now-vanished mummy. Tintin and the Captain find reason to believe he has been taken to South America, and resolve to meet his ship there. The story is continued in Prisoners of the Sun, the next volume in the series, although that did not appear until 1946, due to problems Herge got into following the liberation of Belgium at the end of World War II.

[edit] Background

The Seven Crystal Balls was written during World War II. With Belgium under German occupation, Hergé decided to avoid the overt political content that he had included in previous Tintin stories, such as The Blue Lotus, The Broken Ear and King Ottokar's Sceptre.

The Seven Crystal Balls and its theme of an ancient curse was inspired by the Curse of the Pharaohs, the speculation that members of the Howard Carter expedition, discoverers of the tomb of Tutankhamun, had died in tragic and mysterious ways.

The original serial version began regular publication in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir on December 16, 1943. It was suspended on September 3, 1944, following the liberation of Brussels, when Herge and many of his colleagues had to answer for working for a collaborationist newspaper.

[edit] Spinoffs

Main article: Prisoners of the Sun (video game)

A video game has been released based on this book and Prisoners of the Sun.

The Adventures of Tintin
Creation of Tintin · Books, films, and media · Ideology of Tintin
Characters:	Supporting · Minor · Complete list
Miscellany:	Hergé · Marlinspike · Captain Haddock's exclamations