Tintin books in order

There are 24 Tintin albums by Hergé. The first, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, appeared in 1930, and the last, Tintin and Alph-Art, is unfinished and was released in 1986 after Hergé’s death in 1983. Most readers treat the 23 finished albums as the series and read Alph-Art as an extra.

Publication order is the simplest: start with Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and end with Alph-Art. Because most albums stand alone, you can start anywhere. Read the paired stories together: Secret of the Unicorn with Red Rackham’s Treasure, Seven Crystal Balls with Prisoners of the Sun, and Destination Moon with Explorers on the Moon.

The Crab with the Golden Claws is a popular first pick because it introduces Captain Haddock and is a complete adventure. The Secret of the Unicorn is a good choice if you want a mystery and a treasure hunt. Both are written so a new reader can follow them without earlier books.

No. Most albums are self-contained, and characters are reintroduced as the story needs them. The exceptions are the paired stories, which you should read one after the other. If you want to watch the art and cast develop over time, publication order is the way to do it.

We place the Tintin albums in our ages 9 to 12 band. They are adventure stories with some comic violence, and the earliest albums contain outdated and offensive depictions, notably in Tintin in the Congo. Look through an album before giving it to a child, and be ready to talk about the older ones.

Egmont publishes the books in the UK and elsewhere, and Little, Brown publishes them in the US. Availability and editions vary by country, and some albums are sold in omnibus volumes that bundle several stories. Check the listing to see which stories a volume holds before you buy it.