The Adventures of Tintin

Les Aventures de Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin is a series of comics written and illustrated by the Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The series began in January of 1929 in the supplemental youth section of the newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle, eventually becoming extremely popular and beloved across Europe. The series has been adapted into many forms such as television, theatre, radio, video games, and film. The heart of the series revolves around 24 published comic albums featuring a wide variety of themes such as science fiction, political commentary (both good and bad), and good old-fashioned adventures.

Characters

Personnages

Tintin

Tintin is the main character and namesake of the series. He is an investigative reporter from Brussels, though he acts like more of a detective or explorer. He is an all-rounded character with expertise in many different skills. He is portrayed as diplomatic, kind, and virtuous, often taking after a boy scout. The monks in Tintin in Tibet refer to him as "Pure Heart" which reflects his steadfast personality; Tintin is always sticking up for what's right. He cares deeply for his friends and stays very loyal to them throughout the comics.

Snowy (Milou)

Snowy is Tintin's loyal companion. He is a white Fox Terrier with a spunky personality. In the earlier comics, he talks to Tintin very frequently, serving as a deuteragonist to help Tintin along the way. This changed when Captain Haddock became a recurring character in the story, though Snowy still remained a very important character. He is always by Tintin's side and often has to break him out of tough and dangerous situations.

Captain Haddock (Capitaine Haddock)

Haddock is a retired captain. His personality often reflects that of a stereotypical sailor: he is often hotheaded and irascible. He also has a penchant for using very outlandish words as expletives, most notably "blistering barnacles." Despite his headstrong personality, Haddock has a heart of gold and would go to the ends of the earth to protect his friends. His clumsiness is often a source of slapstick humor throughout the comics. He also serves to counteract Tintin's idealistic personality through sarcasm and cynicism.

Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol)

Professor Calculus is a scientist and physicist with an airy and absentminded personality. His inventions are an important part of several of the comics and he is very dedicated to his work. His most notable trait is that he is hard of hearing, which he denies. This causes him to mishear things in a very erroneous but comedic fashion. Another one of his interests is dowsing with a pendulum, which complements his whimsical personality. Although his personality is often frivolous, he is very intelligent, sentimental, and a good friend to Tintin and Haddock.

Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond)

Thomson and Thompson are a pair of investigators. They are often seen pursuing the same cases that Tintin and his friends are, and their paths cross quite frequently. Like Haddock, Thomson and Thompson are very clumsy and often provide silly comic relief to Tintin's explorations. They are very keen on disguises, though they usually aren't very effective. They often repeat what one another is saying, acting almost as a unit. Overall, they act as a very loyal ally to Tintin and his friends, helping them to solve crime and bring justice to the world.

Tintin and Me

Tintin et Moi

If I'm being honest, I don't know how I stumbled upon Tintin. Most of the people I've met who like Tintin are European and grew up reading his stories, which makes me smile. I like the idea that people can find something that brought them joy as a child on my site. In my case, nobody in the States has really heard of Tintin besides the occasional "is that the 'Captain, it's only Wednesday' guy?" I suppose I must've stumbled upon it sometime within the past year and thought it was cute, watched from afar for a few months, and (inevitably) read it. Nevertheless, I'm very glad it came into my life. I have a partial disdain for some of the earlier comics (which are definitely a product of their time), but overall I really enjoy the rapport and dynamics between Tintin and his pals. Tintin himself makes me especially happy; he is so cute and kind - I just want to squish him like a little bug. I flip between the show and the comic depending on what is most convenient for me at the time (which means I watch the show more often than not), so I'm still chipping away at some parts of it, but as of recent history my favorite of the comics has been The Shooting Star and Tintin in Tibet. I also love The Secret of the Unicorn/Red Rackham's Treasure and Destination Moon/Explorers on the Moon.

Additions to this page will likely be added in due time as my favorites shift and I get more ideas. I'd like to add a section for Bianca Castafiore and Tchang as well, which I'm mostly including here so I don't forget.

Resources

Ressources

If you're interested in learning more about Tintin, here are some resources from Archive.org:

All images by Hergé, courtesy of tintin.com