Prisoners of the Sun
Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier believed that the two-story arc represents "one more leap forward in Hergé's graphic and narrative skills" as a result of the transition to full colour double pages as the initial means of publication. They thought that this improvement was particularly evident in the scenes of the trek through the Andes in "Prisoners of the Sun". They stated that with "Prisoners of the Sun", the story had switched into "Hitchcockian thriller mode", a similar technique that Hergé had adopted into a number of previous adventures. They described the character of Zorrino as "basically a Peruvian version" of Chang Chong-Chen, a character introduced to the series in "The Blue Lotus". They described the story as "a philosophical parable, perhaps a hidden reflection of Hergé's spiritual yearnings"; in this way anticipating the themes that he would make use of in "Tintin in Tibet". Ultimately, they awarded both halves of the story arc five out of five.