Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (French: Tintin, reporter du "Petit Vingtième", au pays des Soviets) is the first of The Adventures of Tintin, the series of comic albums written and illustrated by Belgian artist Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as the hero. Originally serialised in the Belgian children's newspaper supplement Le Petit Vingtième between 10 January 1929 and 8 May 1930, it was subsequently published in book form in 1930. Designed to be a work of anti-communist propaganda for children, it was commissioned by Hergé's boss, the Abbé Norbert Wallez, who ran the right wing Roman Catholic weekly Le XXe Siècle in which Le Petit Vingtième was published.
The plot revolves around the young Belgian reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy, who travel, via Berlin, to the Soviet Union, to report back on the policies instituted by the state socialist government of Joseph Stalin and the Bolsheviks. However, an agent of the Soviet secret service, the OGPU, attempts to prevent Tintin from doing so, and sets traps to get rid of him. Despite this, the young reporter is successful in discovering that the Bolsheviks are stealing the food of the Soviet people, rigging elections and murdering opponents.
The success of the work led to Hergé producing further Adventures of Tintin, starting with the controversial Tintin in the Congo (1930–31), as well as beginning a new comic series, entitled Quick and Flupke. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets was the only one of the 23 completed Tintin adventures that Hergé did not subsequently redraw in a colour edition. He himself thought little of the work, claiming that when he produced it, "I didn't consider it real work... just a game", and later categorising it as simply "a transgression of my youth." Due to this, he prevented its republication, but with the rising production of pirated editions being sold amongst Tintinologists, he finally allowed for an official reprint in 1973, and then an English language translation in 1989. It is one of only three Adventures of Tintin–the others being Tintin in the Congo and the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art—that have not been used as a basis for any theatrical, radio, television or cinematic adaptations.
Read more about Tintin In The Land Of The Soviets: Synopsis, Critical Reception
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