In this volume of 3-in-1 we are introduced to Professor Calculus. He is an absent minded professor who is very hard of hearing. Like the Twins, he too is a comical relief in the series.

Still noticing the art s improving and there is a nice little story going on now too. Nothing you need to read each issue to get, but nice to see recurring characters. ( )

Triggered to read this (like the previous volume) by the Tintin movie. The first story is Red Rackham's Treasure - in and of itself a good story, and the introduction of Professor Calculus. It's the continuation of The Secret of the Unicorn, with a search for buried treasure, a deserted island, a shark-shaped submarine and a lot of good jokes. This is _not_ the story in the movie - the end of this story is related to the end of the movie, but in the movie the treasure is still to find (and there's no Professor Calculus...yet). I prefer the way the movie had the secret, too - it required more than memory of the scrolls to solve it. Oddly enough, there's really no villain in this story - all the obstacles are more-or-less natural, or very minor (the newspaper report, and all the Red Rackhams). I liked the movie better - it took all these bits and put them together into a much more coherent storyline, while keeping the feel of a Tintin story intact. The second story is The Seven Crystal Balls - another dream-like one, and a two-parter with Prisoners of the Sun. Bianca Castafiore also shows up here, but it's not their introduction to her - Tintin mentions to Haddock three other places they've seen her (which is puzzling, since none of those happened in the sequence between when Tintin meets Haddock and this story. Or the stories are out of order in the compilation volumes, which is quite possible). Seven Crystal Balls basically sets up a mystery - seven archaeologists are struck into comas by the shattering of small glass globes, presumably containing gas; and Professor Calculus disappears. At the end, Tintin and Haddock get a clue as to Calculus' whereabouts and head off to locate him in Peru. The third story, Prisoners of the Sun, is their adventures in Peru - elastic coincidence is stretched waaaaaay out of shape for this one, which is one of the hallmarks of the stories I call dream-like among the Tintin adventures. Kindness rewarded, slapstick, a long and dangerous trek through mountains, jungle, swamp, more mountains, a capture, clever reading of an abandoned newspaper and seriously amazing amounts of luck (otherwise known as author fiat) gets them all through and out, and solves the sleeping archaeologists in the bargain. And a funny scene to end up the story - the Captain gets his own back on the llamas. I like Red Rackham's Treasure, but the other two are meh. They're stretched too far for me. ( )

Tintin = a masterpiece for all ages. ( )

This collection of three of the lovely Tintin stories provides a good mixture of adventures. Red Rackham's Treasure explores Captain Haddock's ancestor, a famous pirate; the Seven Crystal Balls deals with scientists returned from an archaeological expedition who are cursed; and the Prisoners of the Sun follows Tintin on adventures with the Incas. Sensitive readers may find the Seven Crystal Balls a bit scary, but they all come right in the end and are a nice alternative for strong readers. ( )

This volume contains several critical milestones in the Tintin chronology, including the introduction of Professor Cuthbert Calculus, who became a core character after his initial appearance in Red Rackham's Treasure. In addition, Captain Haddock takes possession of Marlinspike Hall in the same book, and this location would go on to serve as Tintin's base of operations in his later adventures.

Beyond these points, the three stories contained in this volume incorporate a real boldness in some of the artwork, and begin to show the strong graphic style that would really flourish in later tales such as Tintin in Tibet. While the three stories in this volume are not necessarily the best Tintin adventures that Herge ever created, they are nonetheless mature, visually exciting, and thoroughly entertaining. ( )