The Adventures Of Tintin – Cigars Of The Pharaoh – New Colourised Edition – 2023

Author: Hergé
Price: £35.00
Publisher: Tintinimaginatio Casterman
Publication date: 2023
Format: Original pictorial boards
Condition: New
Pages: 144
Illustrations: Illustrated throughout in colour by the author

Description:

Quarto. New. New edition of the colourised version with introduction by Philippe Goddin. pp.144. A new copy.

Cigars Of The Pharaoh: A Brief Summary

The story opens in the Mediterranean, where Tintin and Snowy are travelling by ship. Tintin befriends Professor Philémon Siclone, an eccentric Egyptologist en route to an archaeological site. Their journey is abruptly interrupted when Tintin is kidnapped and confined aboard a mysterious vessel commanded by the sinister Allan.

Tintin escapes, only to be cast adrift and eventually rescued, setting in motion a chain of events that stretches across continents.

Egypt: tombs, mysteries, and false death

Tintin follows Siclone to Egypt, where he becomes entangled in the world of archaeology and ancient tombs. Exploring a newly discovered burial chamber, Tintin uncovers a series of cigars marked with a strange symbol—the sign of a secret organisation.

Soon afterwards, Tintin is drugged, declared dead, and buried alive in a sarcophagus. He narrowly escapes death, but the experience establishes the story’s recurring motif: illusion, disappearance, and false endings.

A secret society revealed

As Tintin survives one apparent death after another, he realises that the cigars are clues linked to a vast international conspiracy. Members of this organisation mark their victims with the same symbol and operate with chilling efficiency.

Professor Siclone himself becomes a victim, driven mad after being drugged. Madness, hallucination, and loss of identity recur throughout the story, reinforcing a sense of pervasive menace.

Arabia and India: pursuit and paranoia

Tintin’s investigation takes him through Arabia and onward to India. Everywhere he goes, the same pattern repeats: he is watched, framed for crimes, arrested, and narrowly escapes execution.

In India, Tintin encounters Colonel Mulligan and Prince of Gaipajama, who provide temporary refuge. Yet even here, the conspiracy reaches into the highest levels of authority.

The criminal network’s strategy becomes clear: enemies are not merely eliminated, but psychologically destroyed, rendered insane or disgraced.

The conspiracy unmasked

Tintin eventually uncovers the structure of the organisation, which is involved in drug trafficking and political manipulation across multiple countries. Its leaders operate anonymously, protected by layers of intermediaries and false identities.

Although Tintin disrupts several operations and exposes individual criminals, the organisation itself remains largely intact.

Cliffhanger conclusion

The story ends without full resolution. Tintin learns that the conspiracy’s centre lies in China, where its most powerful figures operate openly. Determined to pursue the truth to its source, Tintin prepares to continue the investigation.

This ending leads directly into the sequel, The Blue Lotus, where the organisation is finally confronted.

Narrative significance

Les Cigares du Pharaon marks a major turning point in the Tintin series. It introduces:

• A single conspiracy spanning multiple albums
• Recurrent villains and symbols
• A darker, more paranoid tone

For the first time, Tintin faces an enemy that cannot be defeated in one adventure.

Thematic overview

Key themes include:

• Identity under threat
• Madness as a weapon
• Illusion versus truth
• The global reach of criminal power

The repeated use of false deaths and mistaken identities creates a sense that reality itself is unstable.

Concluding assessment

Cigars of the Pharaoh is a transitional work, bridging early episodic adventures and the more coherent, morally serious narratives of Hergé’s mature period. Its unresolved ending, international scope, and atmosphere of unease prepare the ground for The Blue Lotus, where the story’s ethical and political implications are fully developed.

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Cataloguer: Daniel Hornsey

Daniel Hornsey has specialised in fine and rare books, ephemera, and collectors’ editions for over thirty years. As a long-standing member of the antiquarian book trade, he has advised private collectors, curated catalogues, and sourced works for leading dealers, libraries and institutions across the world.

Hornseys’ exhibit regularly at book and map fairs in London and throughout the UK and are members of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association, the PBFA.

His fascination with Hergé’s work — especially ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ — began in childhood. Daniel recalls reading Tintin in original European editions and quickly recognising that these were not merely children’s books, but finely illustrated narratives crafted with artistic depth and wit.

As noted by the Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve, Hergé’s ‘ligne claire’ style has influenced generations of European comic artists and his original drawings and paintings command very high prices with his painting of ‘The Blue Lotus’ jar fetching £2.8m at auction in 2021.

By presenting these works through Hornseys’, he hopes to contribute to the continued appreciation of one of the 20th century’s most influential illustrators, helping new generations discover the artistry and legacy of Hergé.