Tintin first appeared in Le Petit Vingtieme, the weekly supplement to the Belgian daily Le Vingtieme Siecle on January 10th 1929. It was very successful and started being reprinted in French book from 1930. Georges Remi alias Herge was a highly gifted illustrator who started on the paper as a general dogsbody.
 
Tintin inhabits a self-contained universe that is contemporary of it time but harkens back to a simpler perhaps more Golden Age. Tintin is an Everyman which means that he can do everything from detective and journalistic work to jungle and space exploration, all with equal aplomb.
 
A cast of colourful characters surrounds him. Captain Haddock, as fond of a tipple of dark rum as he is uttering bizarre expletives which pose translators all sorts of problems. The Thompson Twins who are as inept as detectives as they are experts in (unintentional) slapstick comedy. And the brilliant but eccentric (and very deaf) Professor Calculus. Ever at Tintin's side is Snowy, a white fox terrier and comedy philosopher to boot.

 

 


TINTIN
  • Tintin's famous dog Snowy is known as 'Milou' in the original French.
  • The first live action film of Tintin was called 'Tintin and The Blue Oranges'.
  • The Tintin adventure 'Destination Moon' pre-figured the Apollo 11 mission by nearly 20 years and was remarkably accurate in its technical detail.
  • Georges Remi (Herge) kept huge files as artwork references so that cars and revolvers, motorboats and buildings are based on actual designs and photographs.
     
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    • Copyright Herge Moulinsart 2002