Though Tin Tin occasionally thwarts death and danger through intelligence and physical ability, his luck carries the day. Horrific car crashes, repeated bludgeoning, knockout gas, train explosions and rock slides all fail to kill or even have any lasting effect on our hero. In addition Tin Tin survives attempted executions in Tin tin in America by train, sniper, tomahawk and drowning by sheer coincidence.
While lending a crazy, riotous tone to the story, repeated coincidence robs the text of its stakes. The lack of consequence for any of Tin Tin's actions allow the reader to feel safe despite the dangers that fill the reading. Its lightweight action lacks grit. The clean white gutters and less realistic style further remove the reader's actual world from the fabricated one of the comic. Tin Tin fits the role of an escapist fantasy more than the previous comics we have read.
The collection received its copyright in 1945 according the second page, which makes me wonder at its escapist themes. Perhaps children at the time were under stricter watch as returning soldiers arrived home from the war. I find this difference between the Tin Tin narrative of the past and the grittier works of our time period puzzling. Any comment trying to reconcile the two is welcome!
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