Tintin comics celebrate 65 years

The first issue of the Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist Georges Rémi between 1907 and 1983, who wrote under the pen name of Hergé, is 65 years old today.

The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in more than 80 languages and more than 350 million copies of the books sold to date.

Its popularity around the world has been attributed to its “universal appeal” and its ability to transcend “time, language and culture”.

The series first appeared in French in Le Petit Vingtième, a children’s supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le XXe Siècle on January 10, 1929. The success of the series saw the serialised strips collected into a series of 24 albums, spun into a successful magazine, and adapted for film, radio, television and theatre.

Set during a largely realistic 20th century, the hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided in his adventures from the beginning by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy). Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash, cynical and grumpy Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson.

Mr Hergé himself features in several of the comics as a background character, as do his assistants in some instances.

The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Mr Hergé’s signature style. Its well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: Swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers and science fiction. The stories within the Tintin series always feature slapstick humour, accompanied in later albums by satire, and political and cultural commentary.