For those in the greater Los Angekes area, the local PBS station KCET is airing a documentary all about Tintin and his creator, Hergé, at 9pm tonight, Saturday, July 15.
I read Tintin's adventure "Rocket To the Moon" when I was very small, thanks to my older brother, older enough in years to have a great library already assembled. The book fascinated me--its real sense of danger and even a pre-2001 Kubrickian moment, which really blew my tiny mind. And I loved the drawings. And "Snowy", better known as Milou. But where my brother acquired that book, back in the 1960s in an age of very different mainstream comics, I don't know. San Francisco?
Certainly Tintin wasn't the cultural icon here in the US then that he's always been in Europe, and of course he's generally known and loved here now, but not then. So I grew up considering Tintin my personal discovery, my own secret. I hope that's as amusing to my EU pals as it is to me.
I have no idea how good or otherwise this particular documentary is, but it's definitely going to be checking out. Hergé was amazing and started a style of drawing and even of storytelling that continues to this day, carried on by many other terrific artist/writers.
It's a really great documentary. It only goes slightly into into his drawing style and the like, but it focusses on his struggles as an artist, how his creative process worked, what things and experiences inspired him to do certain stories or create certain characters, and so on. Definitly worth watching, not in the least for a story-artist.
ReplyDeletethe tivo's been programmed. thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteI discovered Tin-tin when I was seven-years-old and living in a Swiss boarding school.
ReplyDeleteThe year was 1956. I'd never seen anything like those big, hard-cover comic books before. I was transfixed.
I couldn't read the French dialogue balloons, but it didn't matter. The drawings and color were all I needed.
I also discovered Tintin through an older brother. I loved the way every adventure would take place in a different environment, fully realised, fully coloured and glorious. Makes me want to rush home and dig out all those books again...
ReplyDeleteTintin is the best. I'm a proud tintinologist.
ReplyDeleteMy cousins lived in Belgium for a while in the early 70's, and they sent me several soft cover books featuring Tintin and Asterix & Obelix. I loved 'em all!
ReplyDeleteI never was all that much into Tintin, but Franquin's Spirou et Fantasio and Gaston LaGaffe were my favourite from that Belgian school of comics.
ReplyDeleteI recently tried to read Asterix and Lucky Luke again and was freaked out by how awfully it's aged... Franquin's stuff has stood the test of time much better, à mon avis.
The average quality of the Franc-belgian comics is very hight.I'm also a big fan of Franquin's work,not only "Spirou&Fantasio" and "Gaston" but,in my opinion,his real master piece is "Les idées noires".Astérix and Lucky Luke are too smart for the "averagem" north american "intelect".
ReplyDeleteI think Jude Law looks like Tin-Tin
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