Controlled by an extremely rigid beneficiary, who opposes any recovery, Tintin has had no new adventures since 1976. The reporter imagined in 1929 by Hergé, however, knows a second life in smuggling. Surprise appearances in comics, fanarts, memes, entertainment… Tintin has never been so present.
“There is a transgression of the highest quality,” confirms Albert Algoud, an eminent tintinologist, to BFMTV. “Although the new generations are less numerous to launch tintingenerates many satirical, political, dreamlike diversions because it touches the collective imagination, whether you are left, right or libertarian”.
“Maybe prohibition makes it even more inspiring and appealing,” says designer Blutch, whose latest album, Unrealizable (2024 editions), is full of references to tintin. Contemporary comics in particular take malicious pleasure in distracting this closely guarded character.
“A brilliant investment”
Model of the Minister Alexandre Taillard de Vorms in quay d’orsayTintin was reincarnated as NitNit, a kind of double punk and nihilist in Toxic by Charles Burns. More recently, Catherine Meurisse represented herself as Tintin in the drawings he made for his installation at the Academy of Fine Arts.
inthe door of the universe From Goossens, published in May, the hero, an old-fashioned humorist in search of the latest joke, meets two deeply unsympathetic people, the reporter Haddock and Captain Tintin. “It’s a brilliant investment,” enthuses Albert Algoud. “I’m jealous of the find. They even joke about the trial!”
“I intend to go back, when I very well could have really put Tintin,” smiles Goossens. “What I couldn’t have done was use the rocket with the red and white tiles, the exact characters without transforming them, with dialogue that could have been in a Hergé album.”
“Tintin really served me as my bible”
Within Unrealizablereleased in November, Blutch draws heavily on the structure of tintin in america. “Tintin is present on all the floors of Unrealizable. broken ear It also really served as my bible, if only because of the colors, which are a combination of pinks, blues and greys.”
Last April, an unofficial spin-off of tintin signed Sarah Belmas, Allan Thomas Scott, the sea bandit (Sépia editions), tells the story of Allan, Haddock’s second seen in The crab with the golden claws. In parody comics big dickie (Glénat), published in September, the Belgian Pieter de Poortere mocks the reporter’s tip.
By Philippe de Broca (the man from river) to Bruno Podalydes (only god sees me), the cinema has also often used Tintin. this wednesday comes out the green scent, a police comedy where Vincent Lacoste wears the same outfit as the reporter. “I wanted to shoot Vincent Lacoste in golf pants,” says director Nicolas Pariser. The film’s title is also a reference to a comic tribute to Hergé from 1983.
“It’s easy to kidnap”
This attraction is mainly due to Hergé’s clear line, that synthetic feature that gives him all his mystery. “With few details, you can tell a lot,” confirms Pieter de Poortere. “Hergé has to handle a funny drawing,” adds Goossens. “He’s easier to deflect than Pratt or Franquin.”
“That is the fantastic thing about Tintin,” adds the account of Tintinades, known on social networks for his delirious Tintin fun. “He’s extremely soft and therefore easy to deflect. As soon as you get him to say horrible things, put him in a topical context or in slightly crazy situations, it works well.”
For the illustrator Hads, making fanarts is also a way to exorcise the pain of not having more new adventures: “Revisiting Tintin is not for me a way of appropriating him, but a way of creating new content and borrowing these characters to imagine them”. what they would be doing today, as if the adventures never stopped.”
“There is this desire to give a second life to a classic that is really, really rooted in its time and hasn’t really had a revival beyond the Spielberg movie,” explains the illustrator. Anais Flognyincluding one of the fanarts imagining Tintin and Haddock as film noir heroes, has been liked more than 17,000 times on Twitter.
“Being able to bring other influences such as the aesthetic codes of shojo manga from the 80s/90s, known for being very naively romantic, allows me to explore an opposite facet of the very soft image that Tintin gives to his personality. : He? feel loving emotions?”, adds shocked the artistWhat does Hergé like? “the clarity of the line, the ranges of colors and the compositions of the pages”.
marked by the Spirou by Émile Bravo, Anaïs Flogny would dream of offering the same treatment to Tintin “in order to be able to talk about the racism present on records”: “It would be great to be able to adapt these stories so that they adhere to a more current tone of discourse.” “What Glénat did with Mickey is a good example of what we could do with Tintin,” adds Pieter de Poortere. “We might find a new audience that way…”
Internet, the new Eldorado of Tintin
This new audience, these days, is mostly on the internet. On AI sites like Krea, tintinophiles will be able to find abstract versions of Tintin. On Twitter and Instagram, it is not uncommon to find female versions from Tintin and Haddock, from Tintin bodybuilders, from Tintin kawaii shape Where comic style and in fake blankets for imaginary adventures.
an account like @tinbroforever immerses Tintin in melancholic worlds inspired by the cinema of the 80s, the world of David Lynch and video games. GTA Vice City. The character often appears from behind, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses. As if he was trying not to be recognized, surely by Moulinsart.
“These diversions show how rich Tintin is,” Albert Algoud insists. “A poor work could not awaken the imagination so much! Tintin will have another life than during the life of its author. The durability of this work depends on other emotions.”
queer representation
On social networks, Tintin can also finally take over in broad daylight. Although the theories about the homosexuality of the character have been circulating for years, these have become realities on social networks thanks to many artists. Objective: to offer, through a character considered dated, a more inclusive vision of the world.
“Tintin is a well-known intergenerational icon, and in a context where the liberation of lyrics for the inclusion of queer communities is becoming larger and more heard, using a character (which at first glance could be thought of as heterosexual according to our heteronormative biases) It is a strong image to disturb our preconceived ideas”, insists Choco.
For Yaoi with Paris in 2022, a fair specializing in homofiction, this artist passionate about popular culture has thus imagined an illustration that revisits Tintin with the codes of shonen aï, romance manga between men. He “he wanted to present a powerful new image related to the theme of the show and in which I could have fun.”
“While our world still has a long way to go to get rid of homophobia and prejudice, I think it’s great that fans use fanart to show queer representation between characters who respect, love and support each other,” he adds. Hads, known for his drawings imagining Tintin and Haddock as a couple.
Find pleasure with Tintin
Passionate about the world of Hergé, this prolific illustrator is deeply connected with these characters to whom he wishes to offer a peaceful life through his drawings: “They deserve to be happy.” Haddock deserves to have someone in his life who sees him for the amazing, intelligent, kind and creative man that he really is.”
Hads also sees in Hergé a tutelary figure whose work saved him at a difficult time in his life: “Making Tintin fanarts helped me relax and find pleasure in drawing. I found solace in these characters. They give me space to breathe in a moment.” particularly stressful.” world.”
“Don’t worry about a giveaway on Twitter”
Should these artists fear Moulinsart? “As long as it’s fanart and it’s not commercialized, it’s usually good,” Anaïs Flogny hopes. “There will be no worries about a drawing on Twitter.” “I don’t benefit from these fanarts as these characters don’t belong to me,” Hads adds, before adding:
“When I studied Hergé’s style and tried to imitate him, I even added mistakes on purpose to show that I wasn’t trying to make mistakes. tintinbut simply a tribute”.
Protected by the right to parody, Tintinades is confident, but he will not hesitate to delete his account if Moulinsart’s lawyers contact him. “At the moment they are not asking me for anything, so I think there is no problem on their part.”
“It is enough that Hergé’s heirs have power over a structure, such as the Angoulême festival, to be able to prevent things,” Goossens specifies.
Blutch recently produced an illustration of the Dupondts as part of a portfolio for the 50th anniversary of the Angoulême festival. “My drawing was rejected by the FIBD, because they feared Moulinsart’s wrath”, he reveals. “It saddens me that it is so difficult,” slides Pieter de Poortere. “Somehow it kills the creativity of the authors.” “I’m not sure that Hergé himself is that strict,” concludes Hads. “I think he would even be amused to see his characters inspire designers.”
Source: BFM TV
