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[edit] Publishing history of Tintin

The first appearance of Tintin was in the tenth issue of the Petit Vingtieme, published on the 4th January, 1929. The adventure was entitled Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, and was serialised, two pages a week, for the next 16 months, the story eventually spanning 139 pages. Given that Hergé was also responsible for editing the supplement, he would generally only turn his attention to the strip on a Wednesday morning, recalling that "Petit Vingtieme came out on a Wednesday evening". Hergé noted that his work on the strip was rushed: "I didn't consider it real work, just a game."^[1]

Tintin's adventures became popular enough for the strip to be published in a French magazine, Coeurs Vaillants from 1930. However, the comic strip format Hergé had adopted, using speech balloons rather than explanatory text in captions, was largely unfamiliar to the French audience. This led the French publishers to add subtitles explaining the action, a practise Hergé stopped when he became aware of it.^[1] Hergé wanted the words to "come directly out of the character's mouths."^[2]

Initially the series was published in black and white, and all work was carried out on the strip by Hergé himself. Owing to the time constraints, the initial strip lacks Hergé's later skill in composition. Michael Farr notes the work "is at times crude, rudimentary, rushed; there is none of the polish and refinement which subsequent work methods brought."^[2]

Over time Hergé adapted the style of the stories, aiming the adventures at a more general audience rather than the younger audience he had initially targeted. Hergé compared this targeting as similar in make-up to a Neapolitan Cake: "a slice for the children, a slice for adolescents, another one for grown-ups and then a slice for the specialist".^[1]

The early direction of the series was heavily influenced by Abbé Wallez, who suggested Soviet Russia as the destination for the first adventure, and also over-ruled Hergé on the destination for the second. Whilst Hergé planned to send Tintin to the United States in order to examine the conflict the Native Americans faced, with modern America infringing upon their culture, Wallez declared that Tintin must visit the Congo next. ^[1]

Wallez had supplied Hergé with source material for Land of the Soviets, suggesting . When it came to Tintin in the Congo, Wallez wanted to educate the young readers of the strip on the enlightenment that Belgium's colonisation of the region could bring to the natives. Wallez also had strong feelings on how Europe should be presented. He believed that Europe needed to build strong ties in order to form an effective counterbalance to the United States and the British Empire, and Harry Thompson notes that "some of his theories rubbed off on Hergé, if subconsciously." Thompson cites as examples The shooting Star, which "features a pan-European party of scientists", Destination Moon, which sees the rocket lifting off "from Europe rather than America", and the many villains of American or British nationality throughout the series. This characterisation led to issues with Land of Black Gold, which British editors requested be rewritten to avoid an uncomplimentary depiction of British rule in post-war Palestine.^[1]

[edit] Notes and references