The Solar Eclipse and the Adventures of Tintin

Yesterday, May 20, 2012, we witnessed a solar eclipse. As seen from the Earth, a Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun.  (Def. by Wikipedia.) Even though it is a natural phenomenon, people in olden days regard it as a bad omen.

Solar Eclipse as seen in Los Angeles outside our house

Witnessing this rare event allows us to smoothly (or maybe not so smoothly) segway into a mention of "Prisoners of the Sun" in the Adventures of Tintin, (one of our favorite comic book series). In this comic book, our hero Tintin uses his knowledge of the timing of a solar eclipse to foil some modern day Incas' plan to sacrifice him and his friends. By timing his sacrificial hour to coincide with the solar eclipse, Tintin made the Incas believe that he can command Pachacamac, their Sun God.  The Inca prince implores Tintin to make the Sun show his light again. At Tintin's command, the Sun obeys, and the fearful Incas quickly set their prisoners free.

Prisoners of the Son-Tintin in South America

The Adventures of Tintin is a comic book series by artist Remi Georges (aka Herge) that debuted almost a century ago in 1929.  The stories feature Tintin, a young newspaper reporter who travels the globe and solves nefarious plots and crimes. His adventures take him to Africa, China, Turkey, America, the moon, South America, the Himalayas, under the sea, and many other exotic locales.  The comic books were translated into dozens of different languages. There are 24 of the Tintin comic books and we've read every one of them.

A panel from The Blue Lotus: Tintin in China

Our parents are such fans of Tintin since their childhood that they took us to Belgian to visit Musee Herge when it first opened back in 2009. That museum, designed by Christian de Portzamparc has all the original Tintin artwork and an awesome gift shop well worth visiting.

Outside the Herge Museum (We were a bit small then)

Tintin comics are amazing. We highly recommend it for their thoughtful stories, fantastic art, and endearing characters. It's a comic book series for both adults and kids alike.