Comic Book Reads: The Adventures of Tintin by Herge

It was the mermaid who informed us that it is Tintin's birthday today. Tintin was one of my childhood favourites, hence this article.

It has been 84 years since the fearless boy reporter Tintin made his comic debut. On this day, to be more precise, 10th January 1929, the iconic series first made its appearance in the French language. A Belgian newspaper's children's supplement was Tintin's first showcase.

The adage - 'Fortune favours the brave' plays out with exaggerated comic drama in this classic series that took comic book illustrations to the zone where they are as much appreciated as great paintings.

 

Tintin

The boy detective. Sensible, fearless, calm and very lucky to survive through all his adventures.

An illustration commemorating the comic book series brought out in January 2004.    

 

Snowy 

Tintin's inseparable companion. He frequently "speaks" to the reader through his sarcastic thoughts on the situation at hand, thoughts which are supposedly not heard by other characters in the story. 

 

Captain Haddock

Full of liquor and the widest variety of abuse, he is Tintin's inseparable, boisterous companion in his adventures.

Thompson and Thompson 

They are not brothers. The difference can be seen in their moustaches. Detectives always getting into long-winded dialogues like "I presume." and "Precisely."

 

Professor Cuthbert Calculus 

An explosive goes off and the professor remarks," Did somebody knock? Absent minded, and the brainiest geek around. 

Bianca Castafiore

An opera singer whom Haddock despises to the point of delirium, Castafiore seems to be always around along with her maid, Irma, and pianist, Igor Wagner - no matter in which remote geographical corner Tintin's adventures happen to occur. 

Herge died in 1983 after creating 21 beautifully illustrated and wittily written Tintin comic books. Much later, other artists brought out a Tintin comic book, depicting a grown up Tintin, in love and falsely implicated of murder. Then there was the impressive 2011 Steven Spielberg movie released in 3D: The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. 


(Article by Snehith Kumbla)