Explorers of the Moon by Herge

Herge's Explorers on the Moon follows one of the many adventures of Tintin, the classic boy explorer. One of the interesting things I first noticed about  Explorers of the Moon is that it takes the iconic boy reporter, Tintin whom I was already somewhat familiar with, and launches him into outer space. Putting a character that has otherwise always resided on planet Earth seems simple enough, but completely changing the environment so drastically has to be difficult from a world building standpoint. However, it does off new and unique situations. Something I'd always admired about Herge's work and that is apparent in Explorers on the Moon is that while it is an adventure story there are plenty of character-building moments for not just Tintin, but the whole ensemble. Another notable aspect of this particular comic, is the amount of research Herge probably had to do. There is no great mystery or fantastical aspect on the moon. It seems like Herge decided that the actual trip to the moon was enough of a deviation from the norm. This probably was to keep Explorers on the Moon grounded as part of a series of Tintin adventures. After some research, I learned that Explorers on the Moon was published before actual landings on the moon which was interesting to take into account when looking back on the story. Herge seemed to do a decent job of predicting how an actual landing on the moon might happen. Once on the moon, the "surprise" waiting for Tintin and his crew is just frozen ice which is an interesting decision on Herge's part. He could have easily chosen something more fantastical but he chose ice which speaks to how grounded he wanted the comics to be. Compared to contemporary action/adventure stories in media like movies, a grounded-ness is something I would like to see more of. It seems like in a time where science was still relatively primitive and advancing basing things in a scientific realm was exciting in itself. However, nowadays with a rampant spread of technology we've almost become desensitized to the fantasticalness of real science. Stories like Expolorers of the Moon hold value because they focus on the human capacity for greatness.