Tintin: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The Adventures of Tintin is a well-known series of comic books written and drawn by the Belgian writer-artist Hergé. Over 200 million issues of comic books featuring Tintin have been published and translated into 40 languages. The hero of the series is a young reporter named Tintin, who travels around the world landing himself in a variety of adventures.

The character of Tintin was created on January 10, 1929. His 75th birthday was celebrated in 2003. But before he created Tintin, Hergé had already drawn a comic featuring Totor, a boy-scout with a striking resemblance to Tintin. Les aventures de Totor, chef de patrouille des Hannetons appeared in the magazine Le Boy-Scout Belge between 1926 and 1929.

The narratives are diverse: some stories are swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, some are mysteries or science fiction, others have political or cultural commentary. The most notable stories take place in well-researched early-20th-century historical settings. All include plenty of slapstick humor, offset in later albums by dashes of sophisticated satire.

The comic has been admired for its stylish drawings, its exceptional direction and, in later stories, the painstaking research that went into the background story. It fits in with other comics in the great 20th century tradition of the European humouristic adventure strip (such as Spirou under Franquin and Goscinny's Asterix). The series was an inspiration to famous movie directors such as Steven Spielberg and to painters such as Andy Warhol.

Characters

Tintin

The hero of the series is a young man of more or less neutral attitudes, less colorful than the supporting cast around him. His actions never result in mishap or misfortune, as the other characters' do. As such, he is a real hero.

Tintin is a youngish reporter, who most of the time dresses in brown plus-fours and a white shirt and blue pullover (see Tintin et Milou image). Only in the last published album, Tintin and the Picaros, he changes his daily garment, wearing brown jeans and loafers. He lives in a boarding house on 16 Labrador Road in "the city", but often stays over at the opulent estate of his friend, Captain Haddock. Before Picaros, we learn very little about Tintin, and any characteristics he has in those stories are squarely in service of the story. In Picaros, however, we learn that he drives a moped and practices yoga in his spare time. Some fans consider this album therefore a betrayal of the image they had of Tintin, which could be built easily on the neutral view Hergé originally provided.

Interestingly enough, although almost every adventure features Tintin hard at work at his investigative reporting, only once in the entire series does he actually turn in a story.

Captain Haddock

The seafaring captain was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws; he is described in more detail at Captain Haddock.

Often badmouthed, Haddock is usually the target of the slapstick-like scenes of the comic. Haddock was a hard drinker, especially of whisky, and his bouts of alcoholism were often used for comic effect, for they usually resulted in some minor unpleasantness for him; occasionally, they could have ended with more tragic consequence. The Captain's coarse humanity acts as a counterpoint to Tintin's often implausible heroism; he is always quick with a wry comment whenever the boy reporter gets too idealistic. Haddock is also good-hearted, loyal and brave, however. For instance, he acts unswervingly to rescue Cuthbert Calculus from the Incas.

Physically, he is probably based on Bob de Moor, a longtime collaborator of Hergé's. After Le Tresor de Rackham Le Rouge, Haddock lives in the Chateau de Moulinsart (Marlinspike in the English translations), which is modeled on the central section of the real Chateau Cheverny.

In later stories, Hergé increasingly identified with Haddock rather than Tintin.

See also:

• List of exclamations used by Captain Haddock

Professor Cuthbert Calculus (Professeur Tryphon Tournesol)

(aka, Professor Tryphonius Sunflower) The hard-of-hearing professor invented many objects used in the series, such as the Moon rocket, a one-person submarine and an ultrasound weapon. He is an idealist and seeks to benefit mankind by inventions such as a pill that cures alcoholism by making alcohol taste horrible to the patient. His inventions, such as this pill, are usually disliked by Haddock, although Calculus usually interprets this the other way round.

His deafness is a frequent source of humour, as he repeats back what he thinks he has heard, usually in the most unlikely words possible: "attachez votre ceinture" (fasten your belt) is repeated as "une tache de peinture?" (a paint stain). He does not admit to being near-deaf and insists on having just poor hearing. This contrasts with the Duponds' spoonerisms.

On only one occasion did his hearing improve, and that was in the "Moon" books. Here, he has a hearing aid inserted, and this made him a more serious character (that is, as long as the word "goat" is not uttered in his presence). At the conclusion of that adventure, however, he lost his hearing aid and went back to his old deaf self.

It's widely admitted that the Calculus character was inspired by Auguste Piccard. Calculus first appeared in Red Rackham's Treasure, and was the end result of Hergé's long quest to find the archetypal mad scientist (For instance, Dr. Sarcophogus in Cigars of the Pharaoh, Prof. Alembick in King Ottokar's Sceptre).

Snowy (Milou)

Snowy is Tintin's faithful fox terrier. Very early in the series he talks to Tintin. Later, he occasionally makes a haughty comment, but none of the human characters can understand him. Like Captain Haddock, he has a predilection for whiskey. Milou was the name of Hergé's first girlfriend.

Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond)

Two clumsy detectives who look like twins, providing much of the comic relief throughout the series. They are afflicted with spoonerism. They usually wear bowler hats and carry walking sticks. They are thoroughly incompetent and always bent on arresting the wrong character. In spite of this, they somehow get entrusted with delicate missions - for instance the Syldavian space project.

When sent on missions abroad, they insist on wearing the local "costume" of the country they are visiting so as to blend into the local population, but in general only manage to find some ridiculous attire that actually makes them stand apart.

They also provided the name for 1980s synthesizer band The Thompson Twins - who had three members.

Ironically, their characters were based on his actual father and brother, both of which wore matching bowlers.

Minor characters

A great number of other characters also occur in the books:

• Roberto Rastapopoulos - A Greek-American tycoon, involved in criminal activities. Also known as Marquis di Gorgonzola. He first appeared in Tintin in America at a banquet table.
• Allan - originally a first mate under an alcoholic Haddock, Allan is often involved in smuggling and other criminal activities as one of Rastapopoulos' henchmen. He was known originally as Allan Thompson, but when English translations began to appear, this was shortened down to Allan to avoid confusion.
• Chong-chen Chang - A Chinese orphan, who is rescued by Tintin when he nearly drowned and becomes his friend. The character is based upon a real friend of Hergé.
• General Alcazar - General of the army of San Theodoros, Alcazar switches with comedic frequency between being president of the country and leading a rebellion to battle the government. His first appearance was as an anonymous criminal in Cigars of the Pharaoh, his last being in Tintin and the Picaros.
• Dr. J.W. Müller - Villainous doctor, whose main appearance was in The Black Island. Later we see him in Land of Black Gold and The Red Sea Sharks .
• Bianca Castafiore - A satirical diva, best-known for the 'Jewel Song', L'air des bijoux from Faust. Tintin first met her in a car in King Ottokar's Sceptre. Her singing talent is disputed: to most characters (not least herself) she is a virtuoso superstar; to Haddock she is overbearing and cacophonous. Her name is Italian for "chaste flower".
• Ben Kalish Ezab and his son Abdullah - Emir of Khemed, and his very spoilt son. Abdullah can be very tiresome at times, as Tintin finds out when rescuing him in Land of Black Gold.
• Colonel Sponz Bordurian officer.
• Piotr Skut (originally Szut) - Estonian pilot.
• Oliveira da Figueira - Portuguese travelling salesman, who settled in Khemed.
• Nestor, the butler at Marlinspike, introduced in The Secret of The Unicorn as the servant of the criminal Bird Brothers. He remained as butler when Haddock purchased Marlinspike.
• Jollyon Wagg (Séraphin Lampion)- An incredibly boorish insurance salesman whose sole purpose in life seems to be to annoy Tintin and Haddock.
• Pablo- first appears in The Broken Ear when he saves Tintin from some soldiers. He later tried to help him get killed. Tintin forgives him, however.
• Irma - the maid of Bianca Castafiore.
• Wagner - the pianist working with Bianca Castafiore.
• General Tapioca - an enemy of General Alcazar. He appears in The Broken Ear and Tintin and the Picaros. He is the on-again, off-again dictator of San Theodoros (deposed and re-instated in that fictional country's innumerable coups).
• Mitsuhirato - a Japanese spy who appears in The Blue Lotus. He tries to turn Tintin insane by stabbing him with a lethal juice extract. After this fails, he trys to kill Tintin with his knife, then discovers it is a rubber knife. He ends up arrested after being found out.
• Ranko A giant ape who appears in the Black Island. Tintin rescues him from his evil master Dr. J.W. Müller. He ends up in a caged Zoo in Glasgow.
• Frank Wolff - A scientist who assisted Calculus during the moon mission.

Humour is an important ingredient of all Tintin albums. Tintin himself is a real hero and thus a very serious character, so it's the secondary and minor characters who have to provide comic relief. Captain Haddock's temper, Bianca Castafiore's singing, and professor Calculus' deafness provide endless material for gags. Thomson and Thompson are real slapstick characters. There are also numerous examples of national stereotyping.

Less obvious sources of humour are the frequent use of puns for names of characters and places, as well as the use of Marols (see below).

The earliest stories in The Adventures of Tintin have been criticized for racist and colonialist leanings, including caricatured portrayals of non-Europeans. However, Hergé changed his views sometime between these early works and The Blue Lotus.

This story, set in China during the then-current Sino-Japanese War, was the first for which he did extensive background research. It criticized Japanese and Western colonial meddlings in China and helped to dispel popular myths about the Chinese people. From then on, meticulous research would be one of Hergé's trademarks.

Some of the early albums were altered by Hergé in subsequent edition, usually at the demand of publishers. For example, at the instigation of his American publishers, many of the black characters in Tintin in America were re-colored to make their race white or ambiguous. The Shooting Star originally had an American villain with a Jewish name, who was changed to a South American with a less ethnically-specific name in later editions.

For a further discussion, see The ideology of Tintin.

In Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin is introduced as a Belgian reporter who works for a Brussels newspaper. In the original edition of Tintin in Africa he returns to Belgium at the end of the story, and in the first black-and-white version of The Black Island he boards a Sabena plane to return home.

In the post-war colour albums, however, Hergé has removed all references to Tintin's nationality, probably in order to give his hero a more universal appeal. In these later albums, the only subtle reference to Belgium lies in the cryptic languages of the Picaros and the Syldavians, which are based on Marols or Marollien, the Brussels Flemish dialect spoken by Hergé's grandmother. The names of some characters and places are also often puns on words or expressions from this dialect.

(Also see the legend below)

Books

1. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (BW) - (Tintin au Pays des Soviets)1929
2. Tintin in the Congo - (Tintin au Congo)
3. Tintin in America - (Tintin en Amérique)
4. Cigars of the Pharaoh (0) - (Les Cigares du Pharaon)
5. The Blue Lotus (0) - (Le Lotus Bleu)
6. The Broken Ear - (L'Oreille Cassée)
7. The Black Island - (L'Ile Noire)
8. King Ottokar's Sceptre - (Le Sceptre d'Ottokar)
9. The Crab with the Golden Claws - (Le Crabe aux Pinces d'Or)
10. The Shooting Star - (L'étoile Mysterieuse)
11. The Secret of the Unicorn (1) - (Le Secret de la Licorne)
12. Red Rackham's Treasure (1) - (Le Trésor de Rackam le Rouge)
13. The Seven Crystal Balls (2) - (Les Sept Boules de Cristal)
14. Prisoners of the Sun (2) - (Le Temple du Soleil)
15. Land of Black Gold - (Tintin au Pays de l'Or Noir)
16. Destination Moon (3) - (Objectif Lune)
17. Explorers on the Moon (3) - (On a marché sur la Lune)
18. The Calculus Affair - (L'affaire Tournesol)
19. The Red Sea Sharks - (Coke en stock)
20. Tintin in Tibet - (Tintin au Tibet)
21. The Castafiore Emerald - (Les Bijoux de la Castafiore)
22. Flight 714 - (Vol 714 pour Sydney)
23. Tintin and the Picaros - (Tintin et les Picaros)
24. Tintin and the Lake of Sharks (F) - (Tintin et le Lac aux Requins)
25. Tintin and Alph-Art (+) pub. posthumously

Films

• Tintin and the Golden Fleece
• Tintin and the Blue Oranges (Tintin et les Oranges Bleues)
• Tintin and the Lake of Sharks (Tintin et le Lac aux Requins)
• Tintin (in 2003 it was announced Steven Spielberg would make a full length Tintin movie)

The books are listed in the order in which the stories first appeared in newspapers or magazines. Land of Black Gold was started in 1939, but was put on hold when World War II broke out. (Sceptre and Gold actually deal with the rising threat of a second big war.) Gold was not finished before 1971.

These fall in to three rough groups (rough outline follows. There are books on this...):

1. Tintin as a reporter / detective, exploring real countries (Soviets - Crab);
2. Fantasy adventures: treasure hunts (Unicorn), ghost stories (Crystal Balls). These were written during the buildup to World War II and the occupation, when Hergé had to steer clear of anything that could be construed as political. Science Fiction (Moon and Flight 714) in Moon, Tintin lands on the moon, and in 714 he flies away in a UFO only to be dumped on a raft. Tintin is joined by a crew of secondary characters: Haddock and Tournesol.
3. Coming of age: Hergé returns to political intrigue seen in Ottokar, the odysseys seen in Ear, but with a much broader stroke. Most are set in, or involve, fictional countries. Characters from old adventures make reappearances, e.g. Dawson from Lotus.

In 1993, after the death of Hergé, his friend Frederic Tuten published Tintin in the New World: A Romance (ISBN 0749396105). In this story Tintin loses his boyish innocence and lives fully, even to excess.

Hergé devised several fictional countries later in the series. Syldavia in particular is described in considerable detail (history, customs, language etc).

• Syldavia in the Balkans, and neighbouring Borduria, which is set to invade the country in King Ottokar's Sceptre — this situation parallels respectively Czechoslovakia or Austria and expansionist Nazi Germany prior to World War II. In The Calculus Affair, Borduria is used as a metaphor of a communist country.
• Khemed, in Arabia.
• San Theodoros in South America.
• Nuevo Rico, bordering San Theodoros. The two countries go to war over oil in The Broken Ear. Nuevo Rico was also added as a reference in a later versions of The Shooting Star. The original version had the bad guy masterminds as stereotypical Jewish puppet-masters — the later version darkens their skin tone and inserts Nuevo Rico as a hasty reference..
• El Chapo, after the South American Chaco region. The Broken Ear is set in a war inspired by the Chaco War.