cryptid-phoenix

[cryptid-phoenix]

You have my full permission to make stickers of this and plaster it around your town to your heart's content

[cryptid-phoenix]

Free to Borrow Books about Tintin and Hergé

The only requirement is to make an Internet Archive account. (If you already have an account, check if it was compromised in the recent hack and change your password.) Note that this is in no way a comprehensive list of works or an ideal Tintinology primer, just the books that have been made available on the archive, which also means that it contains everything from picture books to highly academic texts. However, I've marked with a * the books I think are best to start with.

Includes works in both English and French (plus a few in Spanish). Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions!

General reference

Tintin and the world of Hergé Benoît Peeters, 1989*

Tintin, Hergé and his creation Harry Thompson, 1991

Tintin: The Complete Companion Michael Farr, 2001*

The Pocket Essential Tintin (1st ed.) / (2nd ed.) Jean-Marc & Randy Lofficier, 2002 / 2007

Les mystères du Lotus Bleu Pierre Fresnault-Desruelle, 2006

Captain Haddock Thompson and Thomson Professor Calculus Rastapopoulos (FR) Tchang (FR) Michael Farr, 2007

Figurines Tintin: La Collection Officielle Daniel Couvreur, Frédéric Soumois, & Dominique Maricq, 2012-2015

Hergé Dada magazine, 2016

Catalogues

Hergé, 1922-1932 : les debuts d'un illustrateur ed. Benoît Peeters, 1987

Hergé dessinateur ed. Pierre Sterckx & Benoît Peeters, 1988

The adventures of Tintin at sea Yves Horeau, 2004

Musée Hergé / Tintin : the art of Hergé Michel Daubert, 2013*

L'univers du createur de Tintin Artcurial, 2023

Biography

Hergé : portrait biographique Thierry Smolderen & Pierre Sterckx, 1988

Entretiens avec Hergé / Conversations with Hergé (excerpts) Numa Sadoul, 1989*

Hergé / Hergé: The Man Who Created Tintin (abridged translation) Pierre Assouline, 1996

Les Aventures d'Hergé / The Adventures of Hergé Jean-Luc Fromental, José-Louis Bocquet, & Stanislas, 1999

Hergé, fils de Tintin / Hergé, son of Tintin Benoît Peeters, 2002

The adventures of Hergé, creator of Tintin Michael Farr, 2007

Hergé: lignes de vie Philippe Goddin, 2007

Analysis

Le Monde de Tintin Pol Vandromme, 1959

Tintin chez le psychanalyste Serge Tisseron, 1985

Hergé écrivain Jan Baetens, 1989

L’archipel Tintin A. Algoud, J.-M. Apostolidès, D. Cerbelaud, B. Peeters, P. Sterckx, 2003

Tintin and the secret of literature Tom McCarthy, 2008

Les Secrets d'Hergé dessinateur Bruno Cassiers, 2022

Fiction & Novelizations

Ma vie de chien Ariane Valadié, 1994

Tintin in the new world / Tintin en el nuevo mundo François Tuten, 1996

La vie cachée de Tintin Henri Roanne-Rosenblatt, 2005

Petit dictionnaire énervé de Tintin Albert Algoud, 2010

The Adventures of Tintin: a novel / Les Aventures de Tintin: le roman du film / Las aventuras de Tintín Alex Irvine, 2011

The adventures of Tintin : the chapter book (print disability borrow only) / Les aventures de Tintin: l'album du film Stephanie Peters, 2011

Tintin's daring escape / Les évadés du Karaboudjan / Fuga temeraria Danger at sea / Peligro en el mar The mystery of the missing wallets Kirsten Mayer, 2011

Trivia

Êtes-vous tintinologue? François Hébert, 1983

Tintin and Snowy Big Activity Book Guy Harvey & Simon Beecroft, 2006

[cryptid-phoenix]

Tintin is a character that is not confirmed as gay, yet is an important part of queer history as a character adopted by the community

Note: Original illustration was made in the 70s by Charles Callico for the pastiche magazine "Tintin en Suisse"

[cryptid-phoenix]

I'm boggled. This isn't the same thing as in the letter, is it?

Thank you so much for the ask!! Good job on spotting the difference!

Posting the letter again for reference:

So you're right, on the rock it reads 張仲仁 (Cheung Chong Yan in standard cantonese romanisation), while on the envelope the name is 張仲文 (Cheung Chong Man). Hergé’s real life Chinese friend is 張充仁 (Cheung Chong Yan), so the romanisation would be the same as the name in your ask. 

HOWEVER, those are just romanisations (which are less accurate but easier for foreigners to pronounce). Their actual pronunciations in cantonese (spoken in Hong Kong) / mandarin (spoken in mainland China including Shanghai) are different:

張充仁 = Tcheung Chong Yun* / Zhang Chongren

張仲文 = Tcheung Tchong Mun / Zhang Zhongwen

張仲仁 = Tcheung Tchong Yun / Zhang Zhongren 

* 'Tch-' is similar to J sound; '-ong' is OW-ng; '-un' as in under

As you can see, there’s a bit of a mix and match. But I think it makes sense to change the first word in his given name into 仲 given that the story says Chang is from HK, because we seldom use 充 in our names (perhaps more common in mainland China, not 100% sure). 

Another fun fact for you on the meanings of those given names~ 

充 = full of

仲 = still be (only in cantonese)

仁 = love for all beings/ benevolence

文 = cultured/ gentle

Both 仁 and 文 are commonly used here across different generations and genders. So I think both translations are pretty nice!!

Also, I just spotted that the stamps in the top right corner are of Queen Elizabeth II and King George VI:

Not so good at maintaining consistency but good attention to detail, I must say :)

[cryptid-phoenix]

I..... I never wanted anything more in my life than how much I need these babies....

phone charm

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Ugly ass, The Adventures of Tintin (2011) dolls that I need in my collection effective immediately.

[cryptid-phoenix]

Tintin entering the public domain would be great and here's why:

Tintin is subjective

Tintin, at his core, is very interpretive. Ask anyone to describe Tintin as a character, and you will get a different answer. He has no past nor future. Herge described him as his idealistic self. For him that was someone with good morals and energy. For me its a willingness to push forward an find your own family in those you love. Both are true. Nobody can fully misinterpret Tintin because he is what you make of him.

Tintin fans are the core

Regardless of public domain, fans have been making their own Tintin adventures since the beginning practically. There are plenty of old pastiches through the decades and even now @professorcalculusstanaccount makes compelling stories with fresh interpretations. Bigger hands may get on the brand but Tintin like all media lives through its fans. Without the people sharing their love and support, there would be nothing. That's not to say there won't be tasteless cash grabs, but it would be a small price for freedom.

Copyright is too tight!

By far the biggest benefit of Tintin becoming public domain would be Moulinsart/Tintinimaginatio being forced to chill out. If you're a follower of the fandom, you've most likely noticed the company hammering down on random small things including the cease and desist toward artist Adam Murphy and, in the past, taking down a twitter banner that contained a Tintin speech bubble not even containing the original text. These people are protective in the context of "preserving" Herge's work by locking it away including entire pieces of media being completely missing from public eye. There's also been no new original books since 1984. Herge never wanted this for the company. Oppression of our freedom to express and create out of love for his creation to keep it alive goes against everything Herge intended Tintin to be.

But regardless Tintin doesn't become public domain until 2053

[cryptid-phoenix]

Do you plan on making your comics into a physical book and selling them? When they’re finished

I will never sell or monetise any aspect of my Tintin fanwork! Moulinsart, who currently own Tintin, are very litigious.

Adam Murphy, a Tintin fanartist who drew various crossover art depicting Tintin has been hit with a cease and desist, simply for creating fanart.

Go send him some love and support here!

I really appreciate the interest in a physical copy though, thank you for reaching out. I do what I do simply because I want my stories to exist.

It's frustrating that a company that isn't even putting out any new stories is so possessive over IP, fanwork is a significant thing that is keeping Tintin relevant today. He persists despite Moulinsart.

[cryptid-phoenix]

The Adventures of Tintin - "The Shooting Star" (1942)

Page 42, Frames 01 + 02

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haddock: Not a sign…It’s all over…He’s drowned…It’s too dreadful, I can’t believe it…My poor Zorrino. Tintin has gone. We shall never see him again

tintin:

[cryptid-phoenix]

My ass anytime someone wants me to exist during my sleepy time

The Adventures of Tintin - "The Shooting Star" (1942)

Page 09, Frame 07

[cryptid-phoenix]

[Slamming fists on the table]

THIS

IS

MY

SHIT

RRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH💕💖✨💕💖✨💕💖✨💕💖✨

Although Zorrino did not spend so much time with Tintin and Haddock, I like to imagine they are close! 🥹

The first drawing is based on the Tintin musical when Haddock places his hat on Zorrino… UGH MY HEART!

And the second one is based on the Spiderverse meme hahah. I like to think that since Zorrino is described as “having guts” by Haddock, he would be a great candidate for a mini Tintin in training (for better or for worse.)

Even if it was temporary, they were somewhat a little family and I just love that so much.

And bonus Haddotin and Zorrino (headcanon that he loves their affection.)

[cryptid-phoenix]

WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT WANT

GUUUUYS

MUG WITH LOTS OF LITL TINTINS

I just decided to draw all the Tintin outfits that were found in the comics, and then I thought, "WHY NOT MAKE A MUG WITH THEM" AND HERE IT IS

(💀but for some reason the print turned out with a shade of green, but I still like what I have💃💃💃)

[cryptid-phoenix]

Gave very similar vibes to Tintin's info containing 3 different military ranks in 3 different countries

Calamity Jane you concern yet intrigue me....

[cryptid-phoenix]

♡ Milou says all LGBT+ lovelies are valid!!! ♡

[cryptid-phoenix]

If Tintin were a merman/sea creature he'd be a dolphin. Iconic, timeless, everyone loves them, unpredictable, dangerous, capable of so many atrocities.

[cryptid-phoenix]

The Adventures of Tintin - "The Black Island" (1943)

Page 11, Frame 05