The Broken Ear

English-edition cover

English-edition cover

The Broken Ear (originally L'Oreille Cassée) is a one of a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. The Broken Ear was serialized in 1935, and first collected in book form in French in 1943. Although the publishing history of the Tintin books is complex, it is generally considered the sixth in the Tintin series.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler The story begins when an Amerindian fetish is stolen from the Museum of Ethnography. Tintin rushes to the museum, finding that it was returned, along with a note apologizing for the inconvenience caused, saying that the reason had been a bet. But Tintin realizes that the replacement is a fake, the distinction being a broken ear.

He finds a book with an image of the fetish, drawn by an explorer who disappeared into the jungle. Following this and other clues, including a parrot who says that a man called Balthazar was killed, Tintin travels to South America, where the plot thickens.

External links

• The Broken Ear, in Tintinologist.org