While staying in a magnificent palace in India, a mysterious visitor from Shanghai approaches Tintin with a cryptic warning of a looming threat. His clues take Tintin to the bustling streets of Shanghai, where nothing is as it seems. Soon enough, he will find that he has been entangled into a devious plot to reach the highest level of power. With a peculiar gang watching his every move, Tintin must tackle a seemingly impossible task with the world working against him.
The Blue Lotus is a super culturally and politically rich adventure. The Chinese backdrop gives the story a deeper plot and a fresh, new setting. The storyline itself is as engaging as ever as Tintin and Snowy face mortal danger throughout the book. Additionally, this book introduces Chang, a kid who Tintin saved from drowning. He is later present in other books such as Tintin in Tibet. This graphic novel contains an exciting adventure and a new political perspective on China in the 1930’s, and I would highly recommend reading it - it’s an easy four out of five.