164-654: The Seven Crystal Balls (French: Les 7 Boules de cristal ) is the thirteenth volume of The Adventures of Tintin , the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé . The story was serialised daily in Le Soir , Belgium's leading francophone newspaper, from December 1943 amidst the German occupation of Belgium during World War II . The story was cancelled abruptly following the Allied liberation in September 1944, when Hergé
328-629: A Grand-officier de la Légion d'honneur and made member of the Order of the British Empire . (French: Les frères Loiseau ) The Bird brothers, Max and G. Bird (French: Maxime et G. Loiseau ) are the main adversaries in The Secret of the Unicorn . They are antique dealers who learn about a treasure left by the pirate Red Rackham , and are willing to kill in order to possess it. In
492-466: A big-game hunter , accidentally killing fifteen antelope as opposed to the one needed for the evening meal. However, concerns over the number of dead animals led Tintin ' s Scandinavian publishers to request changes. A page of Tintin killing a rhinoceros by drilling a hole in its back and inserting a stick of dynamite was deemed excessive; Hergé replaced the page with one in which the rhino accidentally discharges Tintin's rifle while he sleeps under
656-938: A solar eclipse . He eventually releases his control over the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members by order of the Prince of the Sun . Paolo Colombani, is Skut's co-pilot and hijacker of that flight. Rastapopoulos planned to eliminate him and the other conspirators. Mr. J.M. Dawson is the corrupt British chief of police of the Shanghai International Settlement in The Blue Lotus . In revenge for Tintin's rebuking of his American friend, businessman Mr. Gibbons , Dawson has Sikh prison guards assault Tintin, but Tintin outwits them. Dawson then plots with Mr. Mitsuhirato and turns Tintin over to
820-400: A telegram from the police announcing the fakir had been recaptured. Mr. W.R. Gibbons is an American steel trader in The Blue Lotus . Gibbons is portrayed as an overweight, loud-mouthed, racist bigot. He is rude and abusive to a Chinese rickshaw driver, prompting Tintin to intercede. Gibbons also physically assaults a Chinese waiter at the "Occidental Private Club". He reports Tintin to
984-512: A 24th unfinished album was released, the studios were disbanded, and the assets were transferred to the Hergé Foundation . Tintin is a young Belgian reporter and adventurer who becomes involved in dangerous cases in which he takes heroic action to save the day. The Adventures may feature Tintin hard at work in his investigative journalism, but seldom is he seen actually turning in a story. Readers and critics have described Tintin as
1148-532: A Chinese man sent to warn Tintin against Mitsuhirato , another leader of the drug smugglers. In that title's original black-and-white version, the fakir can be seen escaping through the forest with his blowpipe after shooting the dart at the Chinese man. Not taking any chances, Tintin tells the Maharaja of Gaipajama he will not leave until he knows the fakir is unable to do him any harm. The next day they receive
1312-525: A German prisoner-of-war camp and their mother had become highly delusional and was moved to a psychiatric hospital. In October 1945, Hergé was approached by Raymond Leblanc , a former member of a conservative Resistance group, the National Royalist Movement (MNR), and his associates André Sinave and Albert Debaty. The trio were planning on launching a weekly magazine for children. Leblanc, who had fond childhood memories of Tintin in
1476-612: A branch of the Western Publishing Company in the 1950s. The albums were translated from French into American English with some artwork panels blanked except for the speech balloons. This was done to remove content considered to be inappropriate for children, such as drunkenness and free mixing of races. The albums were not popular and only six were published in mixed order. The edited albums later had their blanked areas redrawn by Hergé to be more acceptable, and they currently appear this way in published editions around
1640-604: A classic Franco-Belgian strip". Syldavia in particular is described in considerable detail, Hergé creating a history, customs, and a language, which is actually a Slavic-looking transcript of Marols , a working-class Brussels dialect. He set the country in the Balkans , and it is, by his own admission, modelled after Albania . The country finds itself threatened by neighbouring Borduria, with an attempted annexation appearing in King Ottokar's Sceptre . This situation parallels
1804-577: A coherent body of work, an oeuvre". Harry Thompson stated that the "overriding theme" of The Seven Crystal Balls was "fear of the unknown", adding that while it did blend humour with menace, it remained "Hergé's most frightening book". He noted that the story marks the complete transition of Captain Haddock from the "pitiable drunk" which he was introduced as in The Crab with the Golden Claws to
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#17328018583451968-563: A criminal case was initiated, although the matter was transferred to a civil court. Belgium's Centre for Equal Opportunities warned against "over-reaction and hyper political correctness ". List of The Adventures of Tintin characters#Captain Chester This is the list of fictional characters in The Adventures of Tintin , the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé . The characters are listed alphabetically, grouped by
2132-643: A criminal diamond smuggling operation, trying to gain control of the African diamond production. He orders thugs to face Tintin in Tintin in America . Capone's main rival in Chicago is Bobby Smiles . Tintin arrests 355 members of Capone's Central Syndicate of Chicago Gangsters. Capone himself is tied up by Tintin and arrested, but he escapes. The character is based on the real-life Al Capone of Chicago. Al Capone
2296-540: A dismayed Bohlwinkel listening to a radio announcement that reveals that the police are onto him. Bohlwinkel has physical traits reflecting a stereotypical Jew in Nazi propaganda . In the original edition of The Shooting Star published during World War II , he was named Blumenstein, an American Jew from a bank in New York. For the later edition of the book, Hergé altered the financier's antecedents by relocating him to
2460-523: A dream involving Capac's mummy throwing a crystal ball to the floor. They find Tarragon comatose in his bed, with the accompanying crystal shards nearby; the attacker had bypassed the guards by climbing in via the chimney. The next day while Tarragon is being examined by a doctor, Calculus is walking on the grounds of Tarragon's house when he discovers one of the mummy's bracelets, which he places on himself. Tintin and Haddock later realise that Calculus has gone missing, and surmise that he has been kidnapped by
2624-534: A lesson in mathematics. Hergé later admitted the flaws in the original story, excusing it saying: "I portrayed these Africans according to ... this purely paternalistic spirit of the time". Sue Buswell, who was the editor of Tintin at Methuen, summarised the perceived problems with the book in 1988 as "all to do with rubbery lips and heaps of dead animals", although Thompson noted her quote may have been "taken out of context". Drawing on André Maurois ' Les Silences du colonel Bramble , Hergé presents Tintin as
2788-505: A message was posted in Le Soir stating: The story returned to its serialisation in Le Soir on 7 July, starting with a summary of the story so far. However, it would be interrupted again on 2 September 1944. Brussels was liberated from German occupation by the Allied forces on 3 September, upon which Le Soir immediately ceased publication. Hergé had been forced to abandon the story after 152 strips, equivalent to fifty pages of
2952-480: A mysterious illness which has afflicted the members of an archaeological expedition to Peru. The Seven Crystal Balls was a commercial success and was published in book form by Casterman shortly after its conclusion, while the series itself became a defining part of the Franco-Belgian comics tradition . Critics have ranked The Seven Crystal Balls as one of the best Adventures of Tintin , describing it as
3116-419: A new character that Hergé had developed for the story. Hergé also included a number of characters who had previously appeared in earlier adventures, among them Professor Cantonneau from The Shooting Star , General Alcazar from The Broken Ear , and Bianca Castafiore from King Ottokar's Sceptre . The scenery and background of the story was meticulously copied from existing sources; car model types like
3280-698: A number of guests, including Mr. Gibbons; "He's in import-export", Castafiore says. Not to be confused with another Gibbons, who is an American criminal worker affiliated with Al Capone and appears only in Tintin in the Congo . The gunrunner, who appears in Cigars of the Pharaoh , is an arms trafficker who rescues Tintin from a storm at sea, then turns him over to his enemies when Tintin discovers his weapons of contraband. After he and his men learn that Thomson and Thompson are about to board his ship, he escapes. He
3444-450: A petroleum firm called Golden Oil, he uses his wealth and resources to attempt to beat Tintin and his friends in the race to find a recently fallen meteorite . Apart from financing the exploratory vessel Peary , he unsuccessfully attempts to sabotage the competing expedition's ship Aurora , helmed by Captain Haddock. This includes depositing lit dynamite onto its deck (which Snowy puts out), instructing another ship under his control to ram
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#17328018583453608-399: A policy of neutrality. Without the need to satirise political types, entertainment producer and author Harry Thompson observed that "Hergé was now concentrating more on plot and on developing a new style of character comedy. The public reacted positively". Following the culmination of his previous Tintin adventure, Red Rackham's Treasure , Hergé had agreed to a proposal that would allow
3772-547: A presence "far beyond what we might expect from a novelist, let alone a cartoonist". He then compared the scenario in which Tarragon was trapped within his home to that in The Calculus Affair in which Professor Topolino was tied up in his house. He also identified elements within the story that he believed reflected recurring themes within The Adventures of Tintin . He argued that the way in which Alcazar
3936-409: A result of the transition to full colour double pages as the initial means of publication. They noted that The Seven Crystal Balls is "bathed in the surreal atmosphere that Hergé knew how to create so well", with Tintin confronting "a dark and oppressive force" that was "worthy of a Hammer film". They particularly praised the characters of Professor Tarragon and Mark Falconer (Marc Chalet), describing
4100-571: A result, the colourful supporting cast was developed during this period. Thomson and Thompson ( Dupont et Dupond in Hergé's original version) are two incompetent detectives who look like identical twins, their only discernible difference being the shape of their moustaches. First introduced in Cigars of the Pharaoh , they provide much of the comic relief throughout the series, being afflicted with chronic spoonerisms . They are extremely clumsy, thoroughly incompetent, and usually bent on arresting
4264-603: A reward for the capture of Tintin and Haddock. At the close of The Red Sea Sharks , Bab El Ehr's regime is declared over. His name is derived from the Brussels dialect word babbelaar or "tattler". See Alonso Pérez and Ramón Bada , (French: Barnabé ) Barnaby is the man hired by the antique dealers, the Bird brothers , to acquire the three parchments from the three model ships of the Unicorn —the first of which he finds in
4428-485: A rock that had been intended for Tintin. When the Blue Lotus was originally published in black-and-white, the fakir tells his boss on the phone how he intends to bribe an asylum guard into arranging Tintin's "suicide". It is also later hinted that he is the chairman of the meeting of the hooded leaders of the drug cartel. In the sequel The Blue Lotus , the fakir escapes from prison and again uses his darts to poison
4592-476: A sense of responsibility to my readers". Hergé's use of research and photographic reference allowed him to build a realised universe for Tintin, going so far as to create fictionalised countries, dressing them with specific political cultures. These were heavily informed by the cultures evident in Hergé's lifetime. Pierre Skilling has asserted that Hergé saw monarchy as "the legitimate form of government", noting that democratic "values seem underrepresented in [such]
4756-443: A story surrounding a dangerous invention that Calculus had developed. The story was probably inspired by an article authored by Le Soir 's science correspondent, Bernard Heuvelmans , and while Hergé did not use this idea at the time, he revived it a decade later as the basis for The Calculus Affair . As with Hergé's two previous stories, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure , The Seven Crystal Balls
4920-578: A strip about a Boy Scout patrol leader titled Les Aventures de Totor C.P. des Hannetons ( The Adventures of Totor, Scout Leader of the Cockchafers ) for the Scouting newspaper Le Boy Scout Belge ( The Belgian Boy Scout ). Totor was a strong influence on Tintin , with Hergé describing the latter as being like Totor's younger brother. Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier stated that graphically, Totor and Tintin were "virtually identical" except for
5084-662: A strong protagonist. Tintin's iconic representation enhances this aspect, with Scott McCloud noting that it "allows readers to mask themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world". Snowy ( Milou in Hergé's original version), a white Wire Fox Terrier dog, is Tintin's loyal companion. Like Captain Haddock, Snowy is fond of Loch Lomond brand Scotch whisky , and his occasional bouts of drinking tend to get him into unintentional trouble, as does his only fear: arachnids. Captain Archibald Haddock ( Capitaine Haddock in Hergé's original version)
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5248-417: A team of artists for the purpose, including Edgar P. Jacobs and Jacques Van Melkebeke , who became the magazine's first editor. Hergé continued at the point where he had left The Seven Crystal Balls , prior to embarking on Prisoners of the Sun , although both were published under the title of Le Temple du Soleil ( The Temple of the Sun ). Rather than re-serialising the story from its beginning, he began
5412-491: A train, members of the press were labelled as 'traitors'". Hergé The period witnessed widespread allegations against accused collaborators, with military courts condemning 30,000 on minor charges and 25,000 on more serious charges; of those, 5,500 were sentenced to life imprisonment or capital punishment. A judiciary inquiry into Hergé's case was launched by the deputy public prosecutor, Mr Vinçotte, although in his report he urged lenience, stating that "I am inclined to close
5576-700: A traitor" for his work at Le Soir . The decision whether Hergé would stand trial belonged to the general auditor of the Military Tribunal, Walter Ganshof van der Meersch . He closed the case on 22 December, declaring that "in regard to the particularly inoffensive character of the drawings published by Remi, bringing him before a war tribunal would be inappropriate and risky". Now free from threat of prosecution, he continued to support his colleagues at Le Soir who were being charged as collaborators; six of them were sentenced to death, and others to lengthy prison sentences. Among those sentenced to death
5740-517: A tree. In 2007, the UK's Commission for Racial Equality called for the book to be pulled from shelves after a complaint, stating: "It beggars belief that in this day and age Borders would think it acceptable to sell and display Tintin in the Congo." In August 2007, a Congolese student filed a complaint in Brussels that the book was an insult to the Congolese people. Public prosecutors investigated, and
5904-463: A visit to Haddock's old friend Chester , who has docked at another nearby port. They miss Chester, but instead discover Calculus' hat on the docks, indicating that he was taken to sea from here. Investigating, they realise that Calculus must be aboard the Pachacamac , a ship headed to Peru, and board a flight, intent on intercepting its arrival. The Seven Crystal Balls began serialization amidst
6068-411: A well-rounded yet open-ended, intelligent, and creative character, noting that his lack of backstory and neutral personality permits a reflection of the evil, folly, and foolhardiness which surrounds him. The character never compromises his Boy Scout ideals, which represent Hergé's own, and his status allows the reader to assume his position within the story, rather than merely following the adventures of
6232-665: A work given to him by Wallez and authored by Joseph Douillet , the former Belgian consul in Russia, that is highly critical of the Soviet regime, although Hergé contextualised this by noting that in Belgium, at the time a devout Catholic nation, "anything Bolshevik was atheist ". In the story, Bolshevik leaders are motivated by personal greed and a desire to deceive the world. Tintin discovers, buried, "the hideout where Lenin , Trotsky , and Stalin have collected together wealth stolen from
6396-430: A work whose idioms and jokes would be meritorious in their own right. Despite the free hand Hergé afforded the two, they worked closely with the original text, asking for regular assistance to understand Hergé's intentions. The British translations were also Anglicised to appeal to British customs and values. Milou, for example, was renamed Snowy at the translators' discretion. Captain Haddock's Le château de Moulinsart
6560-460: A youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle ( The Twentieth Century ). The success of the series led to serialised strips published in Belgium's leading newspaper Le Soir ( The Evening ) and spun into a successful Tintin magazine . In 1950, Hergé created Studios Hergé , which produced the canonical versions of ten Tintin albums. Following Hergé's death in 1983,
6724-495: Is Rastapopoulos in disguise. His name, like many in the series, is based upon the Brussels patois marols . In the two completed versions of Tintin and Alph-Art by Yves Rodier and a pseudonymous writer called Ramó Nash, Endaddine is indeed revealed to be Rastapopoulos. "You will never take me alive!" he says in the dramatic conclusion. Colonel Alvarez is the polite aide-de-camp to General Tapioca who appears in Tintin and
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6888-454: Is a Merchant Marine sea captain and Tintin's best friend. Introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws , Haddock is initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character, but later evolves to become genuinely heroic and even a socialite after he finds a treasure from his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock ( Chevalier François de Hadoque ). The Captain's coarse humanity and sarcasm act as a counterpoint to Tintin's often-implausible heroism; he
7052-426: Is a guru and main antagonist of the unfinished book Tintin and Alph-Art , the last of The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé . An odd-looking man with a large nose, long hair, beard, moustache, and large spectacles, Endaddine Akass holds a conference on "health and magnetism" for crowds of followers including Bianca Castafiore . Tintin recognises his voice. He could be Dr. Müller or Max Bird, but more than likely he
7216-635: Is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé . The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a century after Hergé's birth in 1907, Tintin had been published in more than 70 languages with sales of more than 200 million copies, and had been adapted for radio, television, theatre, and film. The series first appeared in French on 10 January 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième ( The Little Twentieth ),
7380-422: Is always quick with a dry comment whenever the boy reporter seems too idealistic. The hot-tempered Haddock uses a range of colourful insults and curses to express his feelings, such as "billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!" ( Mille milliards de mille sabords! ) or "ten thousand thundering typhoons!" Professor Cuthbert Calculus ( Professeur Tryphon Tournesol in Hergé's original version; tournesol
7544-399: Is an opera singer of whom Haddock is terrified. She was first introduced in King Ottokar's Sceptre and seems to appear wherever the protagonists travel, along with her maid Irma and pianist Igor Wagner . Although amiable and strong-willed, she is also comically foolish, whimsical, absent-minded, talkative, and seemingly unaware that her voice is shrill and appallingly loud. Her speciality
7708-554: Is attempting to fit the role at his newfound family château, becoming a socialite and dressing formally. The three spend an evening at a music hall , where they witness the performance of a clairvoyant , Madame Yamilah, who predicts the illness of one of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members ; this expedition has recently returned from an archaeological venture to the Andes mountains. The evening's entertainment also includes
7872-402: Is being patronised by Rastapopoulos . He has Tintin and Captain Haddock denied entry to Khemed and plants a bomb on their return plane. Dawson's plan ultimately fails. Although he does not reappear after this, Dawson is depicted in some sketches of the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art , in which he is at the inauguration of Ramó Nash 's art exposition. In the animated series, Dawson's role
8036-572: Is especially noticeable in the seascapes, which are reminiscent of works by Hokusai and Hiroshige . Hergé also declared Mark Twain an influence, although this admiration may have led him astray when depicting Incas as having no knowledge of an upcoming solar eclipse in Prisoners of the Sun , an error T. F. Mills attributed to an attempt to portray "Incas in awe of a latter-day ' Connecticut Yankee '". Tintin first appeared in English in
8200-422: Is frequently replaced by malapropisms such as " Paddock ", " Stopcock ", or " Hopscotch ", while Nestor, Haddock's butler, is confused with "Chestor" and "Hector". Her own name means "white and chaste flower": a meaning to which Professor Calculus once refers when he breeds a white rose and names it for the singer. She was based upon opera divas in general (according to Hergé's perception), Hergé's Aunt Ninie (who
8364-441: Is highly reduced. He speaks only briefly with first Mitsuhirato (by phone), and then Thomson and Thompson (in person). He does not appear to have anything more than an informal alliance with Mitsuhirato, as he only agrees to help arrest Tintin on trumped-up charges. (French: Caporal Diaz ) Corporal Diaz was a colonel for General Alcazar until Alcazar demoted him to corporal, replacing him with Tintin, after Diaz complained to
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#17328018583458528-714: Is the French word for 'sunflower') is an absent-minded and partially deaf physicist and a regular character alongside Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock. He was introduced in Red Rackham's Treasure , and based partially on Auguste Piccard , a Swiss physicist. "Everybody wants to be Tintin: generation after generation. In a world of Rastapopouloses , Tricklers and Carreidases —or, more prosaically, Jolyon Waggs and Bolt-the-builders —Tintin represents an unattainable ideal of goodness, cleanness, authenticity". —Literary critic Tom McCarthy , 2006 Hergé's supporting characters have been cited as far more developed than
8692-459: Is the Jewel Song ( Ah! Je ris de me voir si belle en ce miroir / Ah! My beauty past compare, these jewels bright I wear ) from Gounod 's opera Faust , which she sings at the least provocation. She is often maternal toward Haddock, of whose dislike she remains ignorant. She often confuses words, especially names, with other words that rhyme with them or of which they remind her; "Haddock"
8856-483: Is the loincloth-wearing ascetic appearing in Cigars of the Pharaoh as a high-ranking member of an opium smuggling ring. He shoots darts soaked in the dangerous Rajaijah juice that drives people mad. Among his talents are hypnosis, the Indian rope trick, and escapology (to the point where he is offended by Tintin thinking he could tie him up). He is eventually captured when the leader accidentally knocks him out with
9020-529: The Adventures of Tintin from a more "adult" perspective as Les Métamorphoses de Tintin , published in English as The Metamorphoses of Tintin, or Tintin for Adults in 2010. In reviewing Apostolidès' book, Nathan Perl-Rosenthal of The New Republic thought that it was "not for the faint of heart: it is densely-packed with close textual analysis and laden with psychological jargon". Following Apostolidès's work, French psychoanalyst Serge Tisseron examined
9184-473: The Allies entered Brussels and Hergé's German employers fled. Le Soir was shut down and The Adventures of Tintin was put on hold. Then in 1946, Hergé accepted an invitation from Belgian comic publisher Raymond Leblanc and his new publishing company Le Lombard to continue The Adventures of Tintin in the new Le journal de Tintin ( Tintin magazine). Hergé quickly learned that he no longer had
9348-611: The Art Deco designer, also affected early Tintin adventures: "His influence can be detected at the beginning of the Soviets , where my drawings are designed along a decorative line, like an 'S'". Hergé also readily adopted the image of round noses from George McManus , feeling they were "so much fun that I used them, without scruples!" During the extensive research Hergé carried out for The Blue Lotus , he became influenced by Chinese and Japanese illustrative styles and woodcuts . This
9512-533: The Aurora during a storm, refusing to allow the Aurora to refuel at a Golden Oil depot (only to have Haddock's old friend Captain Chester fuel the Aurora by siphoning oil being pumped into his tanks), and sending a fake S.O.S. to throw the Aurora off course (Tintin contacting multiple shipping agencies to determine that the ship and company that sent the distress call do not exist). The Shooting Star ends with
9676-463: The Brussels Place du Jeu de Balle old market in The Secret of the Unicorn . When he failed his employers and Tintin purchased the ship instead, first he stole Tintin's Unicorn , then ransacked Tintin's flat after he broke the mast and did not find the parchment. Later, he chloroforms Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine and breaks the mast of his ship, acquiring a parchment. When he brings it to
9840-541: The German occupation of Belgium during World War II . Hergé had accepted a position working for Le Soir , Belgium's largest Francophone daily newspaper. Confiscated from its original owners, Le Soir was permitted by the German authorities to reopen under the directorship of Belgian editor Raymond de Becker , although it remained firmly under Nazi control, supporting the German war effort and espousing anti-Semitism . Joining Le Soir on 15 October 1940, Hergé
10004-626: The Italian conquest of Albania , and that of Czechoslovakia and Austria by expansionist Nazi Germany prior to World War II. Hergé's use of research would include months of preparation for Tintin's voyage to the Moon in the two-part storyline spread across Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon . His research for the storyline was noted in New Scientist : "The considerable research undertaken by Hergé enabled him to come very close to
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#173280185834510168-528: The Opel Olympia 38 in which Calculus' abductors escaped the police were drawn from real examples, while Hergé closely adhered to the reality of the port and docks at Saint-Nazaire . Professor Tarragon's house was drawn from a real house in Avenue Delleur, Boitsfort , which Jacobs had identified for Hergé's purposes. Hergé and Jacobs stationed themselves outside the house and completed a sketch of
10332-596: The Paris Gare du Nord railway station, following which he organised the publication of the story in book form. The story's popularity led to an increase in sales, so Wallez granted Hergé two assistants. At Wallez's direction, in June he began serialisation of the second story, Tintin in the Congo , designed to encourage colonial sentiment towards the Belgian Congo . Authored in a paternalistic style that depicted
10496-903: The United Kingdom . He also sent Tintin to fictional countries of his own devising, such as the Latin American republic of San Theodoros , the East European kingdom of Syldavia , or the fascist state of Borduria —whose leader's name, Müsstler, was a portmanteau of the names of the Nazi German Führer Adolf Hitler and the Italian Fascist Prime Minister Benito Mussolini . In May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium as World War II spread further across Europe. Although Hergé briefly fled to France and
10660-485: The "air of doom" which pervaded the mood of Europe at the time to an even greater extent than Hergé had done in his earlier work, The Shooting Star . At the same time, Farr thought it to be "a simple detective story", comparing Tintin's hunt for clues regarding Calculus' disappearance to Arthur Conan Doyle 's stories of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes . He thought that the story was "truly Hitchcockian in its suspense and quite cinematic in its presentation", comparing
10824-632: The Arab emir, and Abdullah his mischievous son, Dr. Müller the evil German psychiatrist, Oliveira da Figueira the friendly Portuguese salesman, Cutts the butcher whose phone number is repeatedly confused with Haddock's, and Allan the henchman of Rastapopoulos and formerly Haddock's first mate. The settings within Tintin have also added depth to the strips. Hergé mixes real and fictional lands into his stories. In King Ottokar's Sceptre (revisited once more in The Calculus Affair ) Hergé creates two fictional countries, Syldavia and Borduria , and invites
10988-483: The Bird brothers and then asks them for more money to get the other two, then threatens to expose them when they refuse, he is shot and wounded outside Tintin's flat. He turns from his employers and tries to warn Tintin of them but could only point to feeding birds. In the motion capture film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn , Barnaby is an Interpol agent investigating Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine . It
11152-687: The British countryside would be acceptable to British readers. The resulting 1966 album is the dramatically updated and redrawn version most commonly available today. As of the early 21st century, Egmont publishes Tintin books in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The Tintin books have had relatively limited popularity in the United States. The works were first adapted for the American English market by Golden Books ,
11316-430: The Congolese as childlike idiots, in later decades it was accused of racism, but at the time was uncontroversial and popular, and further publicity stunts were held to increase sales. For the third adventure, Tintin in America , serialised from September 1931 to October 1932, Hergé finally got to deal with a scenario of his own choice, and used the work to push an anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist agenda in keeping with
11480-494: The English translation of other Tintin adventures, which had actually been authored later than The Seven Crystal Balls , in the English version, references are made to events that would occur in The Calculus Affair and The Red Sea Sharks . Biographer Benoît Peeters described The Seven Crystal Balls as "the most terrifying of The Adventures of Tintin ". He believed that in this story, Hergé had come under
11644-570: The Golden Claws was the first to be published with Hyslop's lettering. Hyslop was given versions of Hergé's artwork with blank panels. Hyslop would write his English script on a clear cellophane -like material, aiming to fit within the original speech bubble. Occasionally the size of the bubbles would need to be adjusted if the translated text would not fit. In the early 2000s, Tintin's English publishers Egmont discontinued publishing books featuring Hyslop's handwritten lettering, instead publishing books with text created with digital fonts. This change
11808-743: The Hergé Foundation has presented such criticism as naïveté and scholars of Hergé such as Harry Thompson have said that "Hergé did what he was told by the Abbé Wallez", Hergé himself felt that his background made it impossible to avoid prejudice, stating: "I was fed the prejudices of the bourgeois society that surrounded me". In Tintin in the Land of the Soviets , the Bolsheviks were presented as villains. Hergé drew on Moscow Unveiled ,
11972-677: The Hergé Foundation, Hergé's widow Fanny Rodwell said: "We never thought that this story of friendship would have a resonance more than 40 years later". The study of Tintin, sometimes referred to as "Tintinology", has become the life work of some literary critics in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. Belgian author Philippe Goddin has written Hergé et Tintin reporters: Du Petit Vingtième au Journal Tintin (1986, later republished in English as Hergé and Tintin Reporters: From "Le Petit Vingtième" to "Tintin" Magazine in 1987) and Hergé et les Bigotudos (1993) amongst other books on
12136-615: The Japanese authorities in retaliation only to be arrested as a liar when his information is found inaccurate. He is a friend of the Shanghai police chief Dawson who arranges for Gibbons to be released in return for expelling Tintin from the International Settlement into Japanese hands. In the unfinished adventure Tintin and Alph-Art , Haddock and Tintin visit Bianca Castafiore at an island villa. There they meet
12300-575: The Japanese, who have put a price on his head, calmly dismissing Tintin's protest that he is on neutral ground, as he did not have a passport to enter the Settlement to begin with. Dawson is ultimately forced to attend the ceremony in honour of Tintin. Appearing in a more sinister role in The Red Sea Sharks , Dawson sells weapons to both General Alcazar and General Tapioca using the pseudonym Mr. Debrett (French: M. Dubreuil ), and
12464-537: The Land of the Soviets , thought Hergé would be ideal for it. Hergé agreed, and Leblanc obtained clearance papers for him, allowing him to work. Concerned about the judicial investigation into Hergé's wartime affiliations, Leblanc convinced William Ugeux , a leader of the Belgian Resistance who was now in charge of censorship and certificates of good citizenship, to look into the comic creator's file. Ugeux concluded that Hergé had been "a blunderer rather than
12628-579: The Picaros . He is the one who receives Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus when they arrive in San Theodoros and takes them to their apartment. When he is first introduced in the adventure, he seems to be friendly and good-natured, which impresses the Captain. However, it is then revealed that Alvarez is a part of the plot orchestrated by Colonel Sponsz to eliminate Tintin, the Captain, and
12792-475: The Professor, and Alvarez is enraged when his men fail. When General Tapioca is overthrown, Alvarez shifts over to Alcazar's side, even expressing disappointment that Tapioca will not be executed. He then assists Tintin and the Captain in rescuing Thomson and Thompson and also freeing Bianca Castafiore and her entourage. Sheikh Bab El Ehr is an Arab insurgent who fights Emir Ben Kalish Ezab , ruler of
12956-424: The Sanders-Hardiman expedition are falling into comas, with fragments of a shattered crystal ball found near each victim. Tintin, Haddock, and their friend Professor Calculus visit the only expedition member yet to be affected, Professor Hercules Tarragon , who is an old friend and former classmate of Calculus'. Under police guard, Professor Tarragon shows his visitors one of the expedition's discoveries from Peru:
13120-532: The Scout uniform, also noting many similarities between their respective adventures, particularly in the illustration style, the fast pace of the story, and the use of humour. He was fascinated by new techniques in the medium such as the systematic use of speech bubbles—found in such American comics as George McManus ' Bringing up Father , George Herriman 's Krazy Kat , and Rudolph Dirks 's Katzenjammer Kids , copies of which had been sent to him from Mexico by
13284-591: The Soviet Union, Belgian Congo, Peru, India, Egypt, Morocco, Indonesia, Iceland, Nepal, Tibet, and China. Other actual locales used were the Sahara Desert, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Moon. Hergé's extensive research began with The Blue Lotus ; Hergé said that "it was from that time that I undertook research and really interested myself in the people and countries to which I sent Tintin, out of
13448-413: The Sun arc reflects a confrontation between civilisations, and between the sacred and the secular. He also discussed Haddock's position in the story, noting that the scene at the theatre in which a bull's head mask falls onto Haddock's head reflects "one of Hergé's most constant themes: the union of human and animal". He further added the opinion that Haddock's transformation from seaman to country gentleman
13612-528: The Sun on the Pachacamac and catches Tintin who has swum aboard and found Calculus. When Chiquito calls for assistance, Tintin takes the opportunity to jump back into the water, swimming back to safety as Chiquito shoots at him. Their next meeting is at the Temple of the Sun, high in the mountains, where he and the Incas perform the ceremony of burning Tintin and his friends at the stake , only to be interrupted by
13776-677: The Sun . At the turn of the new century, Tintin remained popular. In 2001, The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun were adapted into a theatrical musical, Kuifje – De Zonnetempel ( Tintin – The Temple of the Sun ), which premiered at the Stadsschouwburg in Antwerp in the Dutch language on 15 September. The production, directed by Dirk de Caluwé, adapted by Seth Gaaikema and Frank Van Laecke with music by Dirk Brossé , featured Tom Van Landuyt as Tintin. The musical
13940-521: The Young Aged 7 to 77", the magazine's logo featured the Tintin character himself. Inspired by the example set by Le Petit Vingtième , Tintin magazine was to be a weekly, centred on the eponymous hero. The Adventures of Tintin would be serialised two pages per week, accompanied by other Franco-Belgian comics . For the first time, the Adventures would be in colour from the outset. Hergé assembled
14104-462: The act of a knife thrower whom Tintin recognises as General Alcazar , former President of San Theodoros . Having befriended Alcazar during one of his previous adventures , Tintin reunites with him backstage after the show. Alcazar introduces Tintin and Haddock to his Quechua assistant, Chiquito , and explains that he is in exile after being deposed (once again) by his rival, General Tapioca . The next day, Tintin and Haddock learn that members of
14268-503: The animation company Belvision Studios , which had produced the 1956–57 television series Hergé's Adventures of Tintin , released its first feature-length animated film, Tintin and the Temple of the Sun , adapted from the Seven Crystal Balls - Prisoners of the Sun story arc. Produced by Raymond Leblanc and directed by Eddie Lateste, it was written by Lateste, the cartoonist Greg , Jos Marissen, and Laszló Molnár. Music
14432-443: The archaeologist Howard Carter 's 1922 discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamun 's tomb. This was not the first time that Hergé had been inspired by this tabloid story, having previously drawn from it when authoring Cigars of the Pharaoh . In autumn 1943, Hergé decided that he wanted Edgar P. Jacobs , a fellow cartoonist, to collaborate with him on The Adventures of Tintin . Although initially hesitant, Jacobs eventually agreed, adopting
14596-473: The building. Immediately after, two grey cars containing German soldiers pulled up; the house had been requisitioned by the Schutzstaffel (SS). Hergé realised that, had he and Jacobs been discovered sketching, they would have been interrogated. The story began serialisation in Le Soir under the title of Les Sept Boules de Cristal on 16 December 1943. However, Hergé's health declined, as he
14760-445: The case. I believe it would bring ridicule on the judicial system to go after an inoffensive children's book author and illustrator. On the other hand, Hergé worked for Le Soir during the war, and his illustrations are what made people buy the newspaper". Unable to work for the press, Hergé worked from home re-drawing, and Jacobs colouring, the older Adventures of Tintin for publication by his book publisher Casterman , completing
14924-523: The central character, each imbued with strength of character and depth of personality, which has been compared with that of the characters of Charles Dickens . Hergé used the supporting characters to create a realistic world in which to set his protagonists' adventures. To further the realism and continuity, characters would recur throughout the series. The occupation of Belgium and the restrictions imposed upon Hergé forced him to focus on characterisation to avoid depicting troublesome political situations. As
15088-402: The character of Tintin and the sort of adventures that would befall him came to me, I believe, in five minutes, the moment I first made a sketch of the figure of this hero: that is to say, he had not haunted my youth nor even my dreams. Although it's possible that as a child I imagined myself in the role of a sort of Tintin". —Hergé, 15 November 1966. Georges Prosper Remi, best known under
15252-572: The clear influence of Jacobs, in that the "décor grows more lush; the details clearer. No more streets suggested by a few lines, monochromatic posters, or characters walking on the edge of the frame". Elsewhere, he noted that in this story, Hergé "produced a gripping tale that went further than any other in the direction of the supernatural". Fellow biographer Pierre Assouline believed that The Seven Crystal Balls achieved "a more complete integration of narrative and illustrations" than previous adventures, and that from that point on, his books "begin to form
15416-485: The country. In Red Rackham's Treasure , Max Bird is said to have escaped again and is spotted near the Sirius , a ship about to set sail with Tintin and Haddock in their search for the treasure. Thomson and Thompson are thus sent as part of the expedition in order to look out for him, but he never appears. The detectives conclude at the end of the adventure that he was discouraged because of their presence. At one point of
15580-700: The early 21st century, Little, Brown and Company (owned by the Hachette Book Group USA ) continues to publish Tintin books in the United States. Moulinsart 's official Tintin app in Apple 's App Store , launched with the release of the digital version of Tintin in the Congo on 5 June 2015, features brand new English language translations by journalist, writer and Tintin expert Michael Farr . The English-language Adventures of Tintin books were originally published with handwritten lettering created by cartographer Neil Hyslop. 1958's The Crab with
15744-592: The early development of what became Tintin in Tibet , Hergé originally considered bringing back the Bird brothers in a story in which they frame Nestor for a crime he did not commit. However, Hergé dismissed the idea. The Bird brothers have not been seen since, though they were depicted in sketches for the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art , in which they are at the inauguration of Ramó Nash's art exposition. The Bird brothers appear in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of The Unicorn (Video Game Console Version) . In
15908-475: The executive director of ICT Europe Tsering Jampa noted was "for many ... their introduction to the awe-inspiring landscape and culture of Tibet". In 2001, the Hergé Foundation demanded the recall of the Chinese translation of the work, which had been released with the title Tintin in Chinese Tibet . The work was subsequently published with the correct translation of the title. Accepting on behalf of
16072-484: The expedition members. As he escapes, he is shot and wounded by a police officer and hides in a tree. In the morning, Calculus finds a bracelet that belonged to Rascar Capac and puts it on. He is promptly kidnapped by Chiquito and his men for sacrilege. To get past a roadblock, he and his accomplices switch cars. Chiquito takes the professor to Peru and Tintin and Captain Haddock go after them. He reappears in Prisoners of
16236-420: The fictional Arabian state of Khemed ; though overall he comes across as a villain rather than a noble fighter. In Land of Black Gold , he is shown allied with Dr. Müller and his Skoil Petroleum Company and fighting a guerrilla war against Ben Kalish Ezab, the emir. Bab El Ehr's men mistake Tintin for a weapons smuggler working for the sheikh, and rescue him from Ben Kalish Ezab's soldiers. After discovering
16400-418: The fictitious South American country São Rico and changing his name to a Brabantian dialect word for "sweet shop": bollewinkel , also modifying the spelling of the new name. After the edition was published, Hergé subsequently learnt that Bohlwinkel is a Jewish surname. Al Capone is a Chicago crime boss and the main villain in Tintin in the Congo and Tintin in America . In Tintin in the Congo , he runs
16564-546: The final instalment of the series, Tintin and Alph-Art , was released posthumously. The series is set during a largely realistic 20th century. Its protagonist is Tintin , a courageous young Belgian reporter and adventurer aided by his faithful dog Snowy ( Milou in the original French edition). Other allies include the brash and cynical Captain Haddock , the intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus (French: Professeur Tournesol ), incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson (French: Dupont et Dupond ), and
16728-766: The first of four incidents in which Hergé was arrested and freed: by the State Security, the Judiciary Police, the Belgian National Movement , and the Front for Independence , during which he spent one night in jail. On 8 September the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force issued a proclamation announcing that "any journalist who had helped produce a newspaper during the occupation
16892-482: The former as "to archaeology what Haddock is to the sea", and that the latter resembled an older Tintin with darker hair, noting that "one regrets that their appearances are all too brief, and wonders what the adventures of Falconer and Tarragon would be like". Ultimately, the Lofficiers awarded both halves of the story arc five out of five. Literary critic Tom McCarthy also praised Tarragon, stating that he exudes
17056-577: The game, they are appear only in Marlinspike. Hans Boehm, who appears briefly in Flight 714 to Sydney , is one of the pilots and hijackers of that flight. Rastapopoulos planned to eliminate him and the other conspirators. Mr. Bohlwinkel is a financier from the fictitious South American country São Rico , who appears in The Shooting Star . As the owner of a major banking concern and
17220-415: The general that San Theodoros had too many colonels and too few corporals ( The Broken Ear ). In revenge, Diaz engaged in repeated, unsuccessful assassination attempts against Alcazar. Diaz expired in the last attempt when the bomb he planted exploded prematurely. Alcazar had just arrested and sentenced Tintin to death due to faked evidence, and had just promoted Corporal Diaz back to colonel. The fakir
17384-516: The homes or offices of the explorers and breaking crystal balls in their presence. The balls contain a coca -derived drug that plunges them into a deep sleep. One night, at the home of Calculus's friend Professor Tarragon , Chiquito breaks the final crystal ball in Tarragon's room after climbing down his chimney. He also seizes the jewellery of Rascar Capac , the Inca mummy whose tomb was violated by
17548-427: The independence he preferred; he was required to produce two coloured pages a week for Leblanc's magazine, a tall order. In 1950, Hergé began to poach the better members of the Tintin magazine staff to work in the large house on Avenue Louise that contained the fledgling Studios Hergé . Bob De Moor (who imitated Hergé's style and did half the work), Guy Dessicy (colourist), and Marcel DeHaye ( secretary ) were
17712-440: The kidnapper's car at a port, he and Tintin race there to Westermouth, believing that the abductors seek to board a boat with Calculus and take him abroad. At the docks, they spot Alcazar boarding a ship to South America; he reveals that Chiquito was one of the last descendants of the Inca and has disappeared. Tintin surmises that Chiquito must be one of Calculus' captors. Having lost Calculus' trail, Tintin and Haddock decide to pay
17876-430: The later published book volume. The story had been left unfinished after the scene in which Tintin leaves the hospital where he sees the seven members of the expedition enduring a simultaneous fit. Three days later the entire staff were fired and a new editorial team introduced. Hergé was arrested on 3 September, having been named as a collaborator in a Resistance document known as the "Gallery of Traitors". This would be
18040-422: The main characters, the antagonists, and the supporting characters. Before the list, there is an index of characters for each of the 24 albums. The supporting characters Hergé created for his series have been described as far more developed than the central character, each imbued with a strength of character and depth of personality that has been compared with that of the characters of Charles Dickens . Hergé used
18204-550: The mistake, Bab El Ehr accuses Tintin of being a spy for the emir and makes him a prisoner. Tintin collapses from thirst after a long march on foot through the desert, and is left behind by Bab El Ehr. Bab El Ehr plays a major behind-the-scenes role in The Red Sea Sharks , having used Mosquito fighter planes provided by Mr. Dawson to carry out a successful coup d'état and overthrow the Emir. After Dawson discovers Tintin spying on his arms dealership, he warns Bab El Ehr, who puts out
18368-566: The most frightening installment in the series. The story was adapted for the 1969 Belvision film Tintin and the Temple of the Sun , the 1991 Ellipse / Nelvana animated series The Adventures of Tintin , the 1992-3 BBC Radio 5 dramatisation of the Adventures , the 1997 video game Prisoners of the Sun , and a 2001 musical in Dutch and French versions. Young reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy , meet with their old friend Captain Haddock at his country estate. The naturally humble Haddock
18532-434: The mummified body of Inca king Rascar Capac . That evening, a lightning storm strikes the house and sends ball lightning down the chimney and onto the mummy—which evaporates. Worried, Tarragon states that this reflects the culmination of Capac's prophecy, which declares that punishment will descend upon those who desecrate his tomb. Spending the stormy night at Tarragon's house, Tintin, Haddock, and Calculus are each awoken by
18696-572: The new magazine with a summary of the story so far, presented as a press clipping. The magazine was an instant success, soon gaining a weekly circulation of 100,000 in Belgium and the Netherlands. Serialisation of The Seven Crystal Balls concluded on 22 April 1948, four and a half years after it had begun. As with previous adventures, it then began serialisation in the French Catholic newspaper Cœurs Vaillants , from 19 May 1946. After
18860-401: The newspaper to include a detective story revolving around his characters, Thomson and Thompson . Titled Dupont et Dupond, détectives ("Thomson and Thompson, Detectives"), Hergé provided the illustrations, and the story was authored by Le Soir crime writer Paul Kinnet. While this was being serialised, Hergé began contemplating ideas for his new Tintin adventure, toying with the idea of
19024-837: The nucleus. To this, Hergé added Jacques Martin (imitated Hergé's style), Roger Leloup (detailed, realistic drawings), Eugène Evany (later chief of the Studios), Michel Demaret ( letterer ), and Baudouin Van Den Branden (secretary). As Harry Thompson observed, the idea was to turn the process of creating The Adventures of Tintin into a "veritable production line, the artwork passing from person to person, everyone knowing their part, like an artistic orchestra with Hergé conducting". The studios produced eight new Tintin albums for Tintin magazine, and coloured and reformatted two old Tintin albums. Studios Hergé continued to release additional publications until Hergé's death in 1983. In 1986,
19188-433: The opera diva Bianca Castafiore . The series has been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire ("clear line") style. Its well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories feature slapstick humour, offset by dashes of political or cultural commentary. "The idea for
19352-525: The original French, their names are Loiseau (French for "the bird"). Maxime is renamed Max in the English version. In the Golden Books edition (American English), their name is spelled Byrd. The Bird brothers, like Tintin, are looking for the three parchments from Sir Francis Haddock that hold the secret of Red Rackham's Treasure . They operate from their manor, Marlinspike Hall , where at one point they hold Tintin prisoner to force him to surrender
19516-483: The original serialised story which had been drawn by Jacobs. When translated into English for a publication by Methuen in 1963, a number of Francophone place-names were changed; for instance, the port of Saint-Nazaire was renamed Westermouth, which, according to author Michael Farr , was probably inspired by the real English coastal town of Weymouth . As the English-language translation was published after
19680-494: The paid position in January 1944. The two became close friends and artistic collaborators, as Jacobs aided Hergé in developing various aspects of the plot, such as the idea of the crystal balls and the story's title. Although stylistically the two men were different both in forms of illustration and narrative, they influenced each other greatly. Hergé used Jacobs as a life model from whom he drew various poses that characters adopt in
19844-603: The paper's reporter Léon Degrelle . Although Hergé wanted to send Tintin to the United States, Wallez ordered him to set his adventure in the Soviet Union , acting as antisocialist propaganda for children. The result, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets , was serialised in Le Petit Vingtième from January 1929 to May 1930. Popular in Francophone Belgium, Wallez organised a publicity stunt at
20008-499: The paper's ultraconservative ideology. The Adventures of Tintin had been syndicated to a Catholic magazine named Cœurs Vaillants ( Brave Hearts ) since 1930, and Hergé was soon receiving syndication requests from Swiss and Portuguese newspapers, too. Hergé wrote a string of Adventures of Tintin , sending his character to real locations such as the Belgian Congo, United States, Egypt , India , Tibet , China , and
20172-428: The parchments. Furthermore, they threaten him with torture while refusing to accept Tintin's explanation that a pickpocket had earlier stolen his wallet containing the parchments. Amongst their other crimes is the attempted murder of their helper, Barnaby , just before he can tell Tintin of their plot. The Bird brothers are eventually captured by Thomson and Thompson . Max escapes, but is later caught while trying to flee
20336-717: The pen name Hergé , was employed as an illustrator at Le Vingtième Siècle ( The Twentieth Century ), a staunchly Roman Catholic, conservative Belgian newspaper based in Hergé's native Brussels . Run by the Abbé Norbert Wallez , the paper described itself as a "Catholic Newspaper for Doctrine and Information" and disseminated a fascist viewpoint. Wallez appointed Hergé editor of a new Thursday youth supplement, titled Le Petit Vingtième (" The Little Twentieth "). Propagating Wallez's sociopolitical views to its young readership, it contained explicitly pro-fascist and antisemitic sentiment. In addition to editing
20500-578: The people". In 1999, the issue of Tintin's politics was the subject of a debate in the French parliament; this event prompted the British weekly newspaper The Economist to publish an editorial on the matter. Tintin in the Congo has been criticised as presenting the Africans as naïve and primitive. In the original work, Tintin is shown at a blackboard addressing a class of African children: "My dear friends. I am going to talk to you today about your fatherland: Belgium". Hergé redrew this in 1946 to show
20664-425: The position of "chief sidekick and comic attraction", with Snowy being relegated to the position of "normal dog". Michael Farr described both The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun as "classic middle-period Tintin", commenting on their "surprisingly well-balanced narrative" and noting that they exhibited scant evidence of Hergé's turbulent personal life. He felt that The Seven Crystal Balls encapsulated
20828-589: The reader to tour them in text through the insertion of a travel brochure into the storyline. Other fictional lands include Khemed on the Arabian Peninsula and San Theodoros , São Rico , and Nuevo Rico in South America, as well as the kingdom of Gaipajama in India. Apart from these fictitious locations, Tintin also visits real places such as Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States,
20992-470: The same individual who placed Tarragon in a coma. The police set up road blocks, but the kidnappers switch cars and are able to evade them. Tintin visits a hospital where the seven stricken members of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition are housed; he is astonished that at a precise time of day, all awaken and scream about figures attacking them before slipping back into their comas. Haddock is dejected by Calculus' abduction, but upon learning that police have spotted
21156-493: The second version of Tintin in the Congo and starting on King Ottokar's Sceptre . Casterman supported Hergé throughout his ordeal, for which he always remained grateful. He and Jacobs produced a comic strip under the pseudonym of "Olav", although no publishers accepted it. Although this period allowed him an escape from the pressure of daily production which had affected most of his working life, he also had family problems to deal with; his brother Paul returned to Brussels from
21320-438: The series contains the key to understanding literature itself. McCarthy considered the Adventures of Tintin to be "stupendously rich", containing "a mastery of plot and symbol, theme and sub-text" which, influenced by Tisseron's psychoanalytical readings of the work, he believed could be deciphered to reveal a series of recurring themes, ranging from bartering to implicit sexual intercourse that Hergé had featured throughout
21484-642: The series in his books Tintin et les Secrets de Famille ("Tintin and the Family Secrets"), which was published in 1990, and Tintin et le Secret d'Hergé ("Tintin and Hergé's Secret"), published in 1993. The first English-language work of literary criticism devoted to the series was Tintin and the Secret of Literature , written by the novelist Tom McCarthy and published in 2006. McCarthy compares Hergé's work with that of Aeschylus , Honoré de Balzac , Joseph Conrad , and Henry James and argues that
21648-762: The series. In 1983, French author Benoît Peeters released Le Monde d'Hergé , subsequently published in English as Tintin and the World of Hergé in 1988. English reporter Michael Farr has written works such as Tintin, 60 Years of Adventure (1989), Tintin: The Complete Companion (2001), Tintin & Co. (2007) and The Adventures of Hergé (2007), while English television producer Harry Thompson authored Tintin: Hergé and his Creation (1991). Literary critics , primarily in French-speaking Europe, have also examined The Adventures of Tintin . In 1984, Jean-Marie Apostolidès published his study of
21812-625: The series. Reviewing the book in The Telegraph , Toby Clements argued that McCarthy's work, and literary criticism of Hergé's comic strips in general, cut "perilously close" to simply feeding "the appetite of those willing to cross the line between enthusiast and obsessive" in the Tintinological community. The earliest stories in The Adventures of Tintin have been criticised for animal cruelty; colonialism ; violence; and ethnocentric , caricatured portrayals of non-Europeans. While
21976-530: The sidekick to General Alcazar in The Seven Crystal Balls and is ultimately seen as a leading member of the Incas in Prisoners of the Sun . He assists General Alcazar in his knife-throwing act, but this serves as a cover since Chiquito, unknown to the General, is out to punish the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members who violated the tomb of his ancestors. He does so by breaking into
22140-467: The story had finished serialisation, the publishing company Casterman divided it into two volumes, Les Sept Boules de Cristal and Le Temple du Soleil , which they released in 1948 and 1949 respectively. One of the scenes that had been found in Le Soir , in which Haddock is humiliated by the clairvoyant at the theatre, was removed from the story when it was being reformatted in book form. The book contained additional backgrounds not found in
22304-647: The story. He also used Jacobs as a researcher, sending him to the Cinquantenaire Museum to study its collections of Incan material. Like Jacobs in "The U-Ray", he used as a basis for the creation of Rascar Capac the drawing of a Chachapoya mummy from the Larousse encyclopaedia and not, as was widely believed, a mummy from the Cinquantenaire Museum. The museum's director, Professor Capart, exhibited similarities with Professor Tarragon,
22468-409: The supplement, Hergé illustrated L'extraordinaire aventure de Flup, Nénesse, Poussette et Cochonnet ( The Extraordinary Adventure of Flup, Nénesse, Poussette and Cochonnet ), a comic strip authored by a member of the newspaper's sport staff. Dissatisfied with this, Hergé wanted to write and draw his own cartoon strip. He already had experience creating comic strips. From July 1926, he had written
22632-565: The supporting characters to create a realistic world in which to set his protagonists' adventures. To further the realism and continuity, characters recur throughout the series. During the German occupation of Belgium during World War II , and the subsequent restrictions this imposed, Hergé was forced to focus on characterisation to avoid depicting troublesome political situations. The public responded positively. Colourful main characters, villainous antagonists, and heroic supporting cast were all introduced during this period. Endaddine Akass
22796-544: The type of space suit that would be used in future Moon exploration , although his portrayal of the type of rocket that was actually used was a long way off the mark". The Moon rocket is based on the German V-2 rockets. In his youth, Hergé admired Benjamin Rabier and suggested that a number of images within Tintin in the Land of the Soviets reflected his influence, particularly the pictures of animals. René Vincent ,
22960-518: The use of the music hall in the story with its use in Hitchcock's film, The 39 Steps (1935). Farr suggested that in the scene in which Haddock dejectedly sits around Marlinspike awaiting news of Calculus, "Hergé had allowed himself to step for a moment into Haddock's shoes and to be autobiographical". 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
23124-402: The weekly British children's comic Eagle in 1951 with the story King Ottokar's Sceptre . It was translated in conjunction with Casterman , Tintin's publishers, and starts by describing Tintin as "a French boy". Snowy was called by his French name Milou . The process of translating Tintin into British English was then commissioned in 1958 by Methuen , Hergé's British publishers. It
23288-538: The world. From 1966 to 1979, Children's Digest included monthly instalments of The Adventures of Tintin . These serialisations served to increase Tintin's popularity, introducing him to many thousands of new readers in the United States. Atlantic Monthly Press , in cooperation with Little, Brown and Company beginning in the 1970s, republished the albums based on the British translations. Alterations were made to vocabulary not well known to an American audience (such as gaol , tyre , saloon , and spanner ). As of
23452-510: The wrong character. The detectives usually wear bowler hats and carry walking sticks except when sent abroad; during those missions they attempt the national costume of the locality they are visiting, but instead dress in conspicuously stereotypical folkloric attire which makes them stand apart. The detectives were based partly on Hergé's father Alexis and uncle Léon, identical twins who often took walks together, wearing matching bowler hats while carrying matching walking sticks. Bianca Castafiore
23616-631: Was "characterised in every detail" by the real life Greek Vickers arms dealer Basil Zaharoff , who profited by selling weapons to both sides of the conflict between Bolivia and neighbouring Paraguay during the War of the Gran Chaco (in The Broken Ear , Bazarov fuels the "War of the Gran Chapo"). Sir Basil Zaharoff enjoyed a good reputation at the time The Broken Ear appeared; he was made
23780-515: Was Hergé's friend, Paul Jamin, although his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In May 1946, Hergé was issued a certificate of good citizenship, which became largely necessary to obtain employment in post-war Belgium. Celebrations were marred by his mother's death at age 60 in April 1946. Harry Thompson has described this post-war period as the "greatest upheaval" of Hergé's life. Hergé later described it as "an experience of absolute intolerance. It
23944-430: Was a joint operation, headed by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner, who worked closely with Hergé to attain a translation as true as possible to the original work. Due in part to the large amount of language-specific word play (such as punning) in the series, especially the jokes which played on Professor Calculus ' partial deafness, it was never the intention to translate literally; instead they strove to fashion
24108-587: Was adapted by Didier Van Cauwelaert into French and premiered a year later in Charleroi as Tintin – Le Temple du Soleil . From there, the production was scheduled for Paris in 2003 but was cancelled. It returned for a brief run in Antwerp on 18 October 2007. The Adventures of Tintin The Adventures of Tintin ( French : Les Aventures de Tintin ; [lez‿avɑ̃tyʁ də tɛ̃tɛ̃] )
24272-507: Was afflicted with flu , sinusitis , and ear ache . This was accompanied by general exhaustion, depression, and fear that upon the imminent collapse of German administration, he would face retribution as a collaborator; many accused of being collaborators had already been killed by the Belgian Resistance . Experiencing a breakdown, he took a hiatus from producing The Seven Crystal Balls between 6 May and 6 July 1944, during which
24436-444: Was aided by old friend Paul Jamin and the cartoonist Jacques Van Melkebeke . Some Belgians were upset that Hergé was willing to work for a newspaper controlled by the occupying Nazi administration, although he was heavily enticed by the size of Le Soir ' s readership, which reached 600,000. Faced with the reality of Nazi oversight, Hergé abandoned the overt political themes that had pervaded much of his earlier work, instead adopting
24600-463: Was alive in 1931 when Hergé depicted him in his comics. He would be the last real-life individual to appear as a character in the Adventures under their real name. Pietro is an Italian-American gangster in Tintin in America and one of Al Capone's fellow gangsters. Chiquito, or Rupac Inca Huaco, is a full-blooded Peruvian Quechua and one of the last descendants of the Incas . He is first seen as
24764-452: Was blacklisted after being accused of collaborating with the occupying Germans. After he was cleared two years later, the story and its follow-up Prisoners of the Sun were then serialised weekly in the new Tintin magazine from September 1946 to April 1948. The story revolves around the investigations of a young reporter Tintin and his friend Captain Haddock into the abduction of their friend Professor Calculus and its connection to
24928-510: Was by François Rauber and Zorrino's song was composed by Jacques Brel . Lofficier and Lofficier commented that the part of the film based on The Seven Crystal Balls "suffers from being overly condensed for timing reasons". In 1991, a second animated series based upon The Adventures of Tintin was produced, this time as a collaboration between the French studio Ellipse and the Canadian animation company Nelvana . The Seven Crystal Balls
25092-466: Was considered a self-imposed exile, he ultimately decided to return to his occupied homeland. For political reasons, the Nazi authorities closed down Le Vingtième Siècle , leaving Hergé unemployed. In search of employment, he got a job as an illustrator at Belgium's leading newspaper, Le Soir ( The Evening ), which was allowed to continue publication under German management. On 17 October 1940, he
25256-403: Was designed as part of a twofold story arc, to be concluded with the then yet unnamed Prisoners of the Sun . Hergé planned for the former story to outline a mystery, while the latter would see his characters undertake an expedition to solve it. His use of an ancient mummy's curse around which the narrative revolved was inspired by tales of a curse of the pharaohs which had been unearthed during
25420-488: Was for the time being barred from practising his profession". Blacklisted, Hergé was now unemployed. A newspaper closely associated with the Belgian Resistance, La Patrie , issued a strip titled The Adventures of Tintin in the Land of the Nazis , in which Hergé was lampooned as a collaborator. "[During the occupation] I worked, just like a miner, a tram driver, or baker! But, while one found it normal for an engineer to operate
25584-421: Was horrible, horrible!" He considered the post-war trials of collaborators a great injustice inflicted upon many innocent people, and never forgave Belgian society for the way that he had been treated, although he hid this from his public persona. Leblanc's new magazine was titled Tintin at the advice of Sinave, who believed that this would help attract a wide audience. Adopting the slogan of "The Newspaper for
25748-666: Was implied that he did not survive after being shot by Sakharine's accomplices. (French: Basil Bazaroff ) Basil Bazarov (formerly Mazarov in an early edition) of the Korrupt Arms Company (Vicking Arms Company in the French edition) is a German arms dealer who appears in The Broken Ear . He sells weapons to both sides of the conflict between San Theodoros and neighbouring Nuevo-Rico. He also works with his associate Mr. Trickler in an attempt to bring an end to their mutual enemy Tintin. Hergé's Basil Bazarov
25912-621: Was instigated by publisher Casterman and Hergé's estate managers Moulinsart , who decided to replace localised hand-lettering with a single computerised font for all Tintin titles worldwide. On 1 June 2006, the Dalai Lama bestowed the International Campaign for Tibet 's Light of Truth Award upon the Hergé Foundation, along with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu . The award was in recognition of Hergé's book Tintin in Tibet , Hergé's most personal adventure, which
26076-497: Was known for her "shrill" singing of opera), and, in the post-war comics, on Maria Callas . Other recurring characters include Nestor the butler, Chang (or Chang-Chong-Chen) the loyal Chinese boy, Rastapopoulos the criminal mastermind, Jolyon Wagg the infuriating (to Haddock) insurance salesman, General Alcazar the South American freedom fighter and (on and off) President of San Theodoros, Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab
26240-495: Was made editor of the children's supplement, Le Soir Jeunesse , in which he set about producing new Tintin adventures. In this new, more repressive political climate of German-occupied Belgium , Hergé could no longer politicize The Adventures of Tintin lest he be arrested by the Gestapo . As Harry Thompson noted, Tintin's role as a reporter came to an end, to be replaced by his new role as an explorer. In September 1944,
26404-428: Was not believable. He suggested that the appearance of Yamila and Castafiore at the start of the story injected "a feminine element" into the story, which represented an attempt to "round out Haddock's family", which was dominated by the male figures of Tintin, Calculus, and Snowy. He further argued that Calculus' kidnapping represented a "rite of passage" that would allow him to join Tintin and Haddock's family. In 1969,
26568-479: Was presented as Tintin's friend in this story was a manifestation of the recurring theme of friendship. He thought that the appearance of Rascar Capac's jewels reflected Hergé's use of jewels as a theme throughout the series, while the mummy's removal from its tomb was a manifestation of the recurring concept of the tomb. In his psychoanalytical study of the Adventures of Tintin , the academic Jean-Marie Apostolidès believed that The Seven Crystal Balls - Prisoners of
26732-475: Was renamed Marlinspike Hall. When it came time to translate The Black Island , which is set in Great Britain , the opportunity was taken to redraw the entire book. Methuen had decided that the book did not portray Great Britain accurately enough and had compiled a list of 131 errors of detail which needed to be put right, such as ensuring that the British police were unarmed and ensuring that scenes of
26896-452: Was the eleventh story to be adapted and was divided into two thirty-minute episodes. Directed by Stéphane Bernasconi, the series has been praised for being "generally faithful" to the original comics, to the extent that the animation was directly adopted from Hergé's original panels. The video game Prisoners of the Sun was developed and published by the French company Infogrames in 1997, based on The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of
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