Tintin in America

Herge

The first of the canonical Tintin works (the third written; the other two, out of print for decades, are finally being brought back into print in 2007), Tintin in America has served since the forties as an introduction to Tintin and Snowy for generations of fans. It's an odd little volume, not as smooth nor as funny as the later works got, and it still contains some pretty nasty stereotypes (the reason those first two adventures have been out of print for so long) about ethnic minorities as part of the background humor. If you're a Tintin completist, obviously, you'll need a copy of this one, if you've never read it; otherwise, I'd suggest starting with one of the later adventures and coming back to this one once you're already a fan.