Tintin and his creator Hergé have always have legions of
admirers: Charles de Gaulle once said ‘my only international rival is Tintin’.
Pop artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein admired his comic strips, as have
almost every comic book writer that has followed. Seth, in his picture novella
‘It’s a good life if you don’t weaken’ wrote the memorable line “Whenever I see
a train, I think of Tintin”, and many comic book readers and creators see life
through Tintin-shaped goggles.
There have been many biographies about Hergé and Tintin, and
now José-Louis Bocquet, Jean-Luc Fromental and Stanislas Barthélémy have added
a cartoon biography. Titled ‘The Adventures of Hergé’, following the format of
the Tintin albums, the book is a pleasing romp through his life, from seven
year old boy to his death in 1983.
In the first caption Hergé’s grandmother sings Bianca
Castafiore’s signature aria the Jewel Song from Faust: “Ah my beauty past
compare…”, the first of the book's many hints and references to the inspiration for
his characters, which the Tintin fan can amuse themselves by spotting.
The creators also do not sweep the problematic elements of
his life under the carpet, and tell the full story of working for the Nazi
paper ‘Le Soir’, contrasting his own treatment with that of others who were
shot for collaborating.
Hergé’s depression and marriage difficulties, are all
documented, along with his love of art and his ideas of giving up cartooning to
concentrate on painting.
The artist includes many iconic images from the Tintin
series: the house of Professor Tarragon from ‘The Seven Crystal Balls’, the
flying boat from ‘King Otokar’s Sceptre’, the Alfa Romeo from ‘The Calculus
Affair’ and the telescope from ‘The Shooting Star’, which make a parade of memorable
images from the books, which is, after all, the reason anyone would read this book in the first place.
Written by Mike Stonelake, illustrator, cartoonist and designer. See www.mikestonelake.com
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