This story marks the real beginning of the series the adventures of Tintin because of the appearance of characters called àn share other adventures as Thompson and Thomson (X33 & X33 bis) or Rastapopoulos.
Note that it was considered a formal color that album cover of some drawings of black and white and full frame coverage appearing on this edition. But the start of construction of the lunar adventure not allowed Hergé to devote himself to setting 62 pages of this story will be overhauled in 1955, with more modern designs.
Many will say that "The Blue Lotus" is the real start of the series the adventures of Tintin. But it feels real progress soon "Cigars of the Pharaoh" because the adventure comes to Tintin unlike previous stories where he is sent on a mission. It is the start of the series because it's the first album where characters appear called to share other adventures.
Hergé had proposed to send Tintin to China at the end of the story of Tintin in America. This justifies the presence of Asians at the end of the edition black and white among the gangsters who throw him into the water. The destination of the ship begins the adventures of Tintin already evokes the city of the "Blue Lotus".