Tintin Vs. Predator Mashup

Periscope features a funny parody by Jesse Hamm involving a mashup between Tintin and Predator. The power of its humor comes from being the antithesis of everything that is Tintin while looking exactly like Herge’s beloved comics.

 

Herge & Magritte — Belgian Heroes Finally Honored

TIME.com posts an excellent article by Leo Cendrowicz about Herge and Magritte, two Belgian artists who now have museums dedicated to them.

Georges Remi, better known as Herge, is the creator of boy reporter Tintin and his pal Snowy. A museum showcasing his life and creations recently opened in Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.

Situated in Louvain-La-Neuve, a new town some 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Brussels, the Hergé Museum is a stunning piece of architecture. The displays focus not only on Tintin, but also the many other comic-strip characters Hergé created, and the myriad influences on his work.

Mr. Cendrowicz also discusses the new Magritte Museum in Brussels. Magritte, perhaps best know for his work “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” (This is not a pipe), was admired by Herge, but didn’t return the good will.

Hergé admired Magritte, and even bought one of his paintings. Magritte, however, saw Tintin as too colonial, Catholic and conservative. In the 1930s, Hergé drew the cover for a political pamphlet for Léon Degrelle, leader of the Belgian fascists; at the same time, Magritte designed a caricature of Degrelle looking into a mirror and seeing an image of Adolf Hitler looking back at him.

 

Opening of Herge Museum Public Relations Disaster

The opening of Belgium’s new Herge museum in Louvain-La-Neuve turned into a public relations disaster Monday when journalists discovered they weren’t welcome.

Virtually no photography or filming was allowed inside the museum, representatives of Moulinsart refused interviews and only one agent from the museum was able to speak any language other than French. You can see what few pictures were allowed here, including one which appears to be journalists leaving in disgust. You should also check out this video which says it all whether you speak French or not.

 

Belgian Museum Honors Georges Remi, Creator of Tintin

A new museum in Belgium honors Georges Remi, a.k.a. Herge, the creator of Tintin.

Tintin is nowhere more popular than his home country of Belgium, and beginning next month Tintin and other creations of Georges Remi will be on display in a new museum. Although the boy reporter, his dog Snowy, Captain Haddock and friends will feature prominently; the museum also covers the life of Herge and his other artistic endeavors, such as advertising work.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

 

 

The Sexual Orientation of World’s Most Famous Boy Reporter

I’ve been following this story with a mild interest for a few days. Matthew Parris, a columnist for The Times, has made the rather dubious claim that Tintin — world’s most famous boy reporter — is a homosexual.

Tintin, created by Belgian artist Herge (Georges Remi), first appeared on January 10, 1929, in Tintin au pays de Soviets in the pages of Le Petit Vingtieme, the weekly childrens’ supplement of Le Vingtieme Siecle. The indefatigable reporter and his dog, Snowy, appeared in another 22 graphic albums, making up The Adventures of Tintin.

Supporting characters, such as the foulmouthed Captain Haddock and the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson, were added as the adventures went along. Tintin changed in appearance over the years, but his quick wit and courageous spirit remained the same.

In Of course Tintin’s gay. Ask Snowy.[sic] Parris cites, as evidence for his claim, Tintin’s involvement in the Boy Scouts and association with the Catholic Church. I imagine these organizations would be surprised to find that association with them is evidence of homosexuality.

Parris also claims that spies are gay, and the boy reporter must be a spy because he never had an article published during his adventures. A casual knowledge of Tintin’s history proves this to be incorrect. He had many pieces published over his career.

He goes on to say Tintin must be a homosexual because he lives with Captain Haddock at Marlinspike. It’s the same tired argument we hear about Batman and Robin ever so often.

Parris doesn’t stop with the hero. He also attempts to out Thomson and Thompson for their inseparable nature and tendency to dress in costume. Thomson and Thompson are identical twins with different names (a bit of Herge’s delightful humor). They dress in costume because they’re undercover detectives.

It seems that Parris’ claims are somewhat tongue in cheek, but  I’m not laughing. And neither are many other fans of the comic series. His article has resulted in a backlash among the media and on the net.

You can learn more about Tintin at Tintinologist.org.

Dreamworks has bought the rights to all 23 Tintin albums, and Spielberg is working on the first film of a planned trilogy to be released May 22, 2011 — the anniversary of Herge’s birth. (Details sketchy.)