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Book Series Review - The Adventures of Tintin: A Belgian Comic Series



Photo by Cuthbert-calculus
The daring reporter Tintin and his dog, Snowy, are perhaps one of the greatest detective duos in comic book history! Whether they’re off exploring the moon or defeating a criminal organization along with their friends, you can always expect there to be plenty of action, adventure, and humor!

Overview

The Adventures of Tintin, written by Hergé (real name Georges Remi), is definitely one of my favorite comic book series. The series follows Tintin on his journeys, aided by his dog, Snowy as well his his many friends such as Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Thompson, and Thomson.

The series consists of 24 books, with the last one (Tintin and Alph-Art), being unfinished, as Hergé died before he finished writing it. The series is hugely popular in Europe, has been written in more then 70 languages, and has sold more than 200 million copies.

In the series, Tintin and his loyal dog Snowy go on adventures, while investigating mysteries, fighting criminal organizations, and more. Along he way, he makes friends, such as the whiskey-loving Captain Haddock, the “little hard of hearing” Professor Calculus, and the hilarious detective duo, Thomson and Thompson.

Tintin is known for its clear, detailed, and organized art, which definitely sets it apart from today’s superhero comics. It is also known for its humor:
Photo by Fred Sanders
Tintin also contains lots of suspense, as nearly every page of it ends with a cliffhanger or a punchline.

Furthermore, when creating Tintin, Hergé certainly did his research, as many things in Tintin, from the cars to the buildings, are based on real life.

For more reasons on why Tintin is great!, click here.

History 

Tintin was first published in 1929, in Le Petit Vingtième (The Little Twentieth) , a supplement for children, created by Le Vingtième Siècle (The Twentieth Century), a Roman Catholic newspaper based in Brussels, Belgium.

The owner of the newspaper, Abbé Wallez, ordered Hergé to set Tintin’s first adventure in the Soviet Union (even though Hergé wanted Tintin to go to the US). The first Tintin, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, was serialized in the newspaper from 1926 to 1930. The story was later published in book form, and became very popular (it probably also helped that Wallez organized a few publicity stunts for advertisement).

In 1940, however, during World War II, Belgium was invaded by the Nazis, and Le Petit Vingtième was shut down. Hergé then went to work for Le Soir (The Evening), which was allowed by the Germans to continue, as long as they managed it. Around October, 1940, he started writing more Tintins, and published them in Le Soir Jeunesse, the children’s supplement to Le Soir.

In September 1944, Brussels was taken back by the Allies, and Le Soir was shut down. In 1946, Hergé accepted a proposal from the publishing company Le Lombard, to create a a Tintin magazine (Le Journal de Tintin). After Hergé’s death in 1983, his 24th volume, which wasn’t finished, was published, and the studio that created the comics was disbanded.

Adaptions

There have been many adaptions of Tintin, which include television and radio series, movies, documentaries, plays, and video games. There are also multiple Tintin shops, art exhibitions, and even a Tintin Museum located in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium!

The Adventures of Tintin, filmed from 1991 to 1992, is a popular animated television adaption of Tintin. It has episodes covering 21 of the 24 Tintin books, and the writers of the series also didn't change the original plots much. The Adventures of Tintin, released in 2009 and directed by Steven Spielberg, is a film which is based on three of the Tintin books (The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham’s Treasure). It is an excellent movie and has been nominated for over 40 awards, out of which it has won 11.

Photo by IMDb
Thanks for reading this post and if you have any questions about Tintin, please comment below.






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