The best-known reporter of the 20th century
With his angelic airs, a little blond boy was to revolutionize this burgeoning universe. Under the pen of Georges Remi, who became Hergé through the clever inversion of his initials, Tintin's little-known ancestor was Totor, patrol leader of the Hannetons, a character the cartoonist had created in 1926 for the newspaper Le Boy-scout and who, in the process, became Belgian.
At the same time, he worked as a photo reporter and illustrator for Le Vingtième Siècle. Satisfied with his work, the terrible Abbé Wallez, then editor-in-chief, put him in charge of the weekly supplement, Le Petit Vingtième, and commissioned him to produce a comic strip to denounce the evils of communism to young people. This is how Tintin experienced his first adventure in the Land of the Soviets, in 1929, when Hergé would probably have preferred him to evolve in his favorite territory, America. Nevertheless, Hergé's hero, whose puffball is the only thing that seems to rebel, and his faithful four-legged companion, the chatty fox terrier Snowy, have plenty of time to catch up. Their peregrinations are a hit, and the little journalist travels the world in all directions, from the Congo (where Abbé Wallez has decidedly strong political opinions) to San Theodoros, an imaginary country in South America, half a century later. Twenty-three albums, a final episode, Tintin et l'Alph-art, left unfinished following the author's death in 1983, but also a periodical, launched by Hergé and Raymond Leblanc of Editions du Lombard in 1946, in riposte to the outrageous success of another title: Le Journal de Spirou (Dupuis). Spirou, the mischievous reporter who shares Tintin's taste for adventure.
Hergé founds the newspaper Tintin
A certain sense of parody, too, far removed from the ligne claire so representative of the Brussels school, initiated by Hergé, for whom "it's always noon". Realism and legibility are reinforced by the black lines separating the colors, which are never affected by shadows or possible light sources. It's easy to understand that sobriety is the order of the day for the artists who join Le Journal de Tintin.
The first issue appeared on September 26, 1946, and featured Edgar P. Jacobs, father of Blake and Mortimer, a long-time friend of Hergé who had previously published in Bravo! The Brussels-based cartoonist depicts two Britons, one of whom works for the secret service, the other a nuclear physicist, and together they fight against an intractable criminal, Olrik. It's a particularly realistic comic strip, even if it sometimes veers into the world of science fiction, which has led to it being banned in France when its violence seems unsuitable for children. The adventures of the two friends could have come to an end with the death of their creator in 1987, but 13 years later, Bob de Moor took over the unfinished work, and the episodes continue today under different pens. Edgar P. Jacobs drew his characters from two men: Blake from Jacques Laudy, one of the magazine's founders and author of La Légende des quatre fils Aymon, and Mortimer from Jacques Van Melkebebe, the first editor-in-chief, who was soon forced to resign after being convicted of collaboration during the war.
In 1948, again for Tintin, Frenchman Jacques Martin drew his inspiration from Roman antiquity, illustrating it with Alix, a character who quickly became popular. A few years later, he brought Lefranc to life, in a much more contemporary setting. As for Paul Cuvelier, he continues to develop the young Breton orphan Corentin in the heart of the 18th century.
Rivalry is no longer an issue
In 1955, following a dispute with Dupuis, Franquin left Spirou to join Tintin, which came at just the right time for the magazine, which was keen to refresh its line. Modeste and Pompon fulfilled their role, but Franquin reconciled with his original publisher and soon found himself overwhelmed. He enlisted the help of scriptwriters, notably Greg, the future creator of Achille Talon, and René Goscinny, who needs no introduction, before deciding in 1959 to entrust the care of the lovers to Dino Attanasio, so that he could return to fully occupying himself with one of his characters in need of a shake-up, Gaston Lagaffe, whose arrival at the newspaper in 1957 had been anything but discreet.
Renewal is also the order of the day at Tintin, which is home to two Frenchmen. Jean Graton, who launched Michel Vaillant in 1957, and Tibet, who left Mickey's newspaper and adapted his Aventures de Chick Bill to the clear line, before inventing a hero with a punning name, Ric Hochet. For Tintin, the 1960s saw a return to humor, with Zig et Puce, Cubitus and Taka-Takata; the 1970s saw a return to realism, with appearances by the elusive Corto Maltese and the adventures of Michaël Logan, André Beautemps' aviator. To the more fantastical Thorgal, initially scripted by Jean Van Hamme, who went on to give voice to XIII and Largo Winch. However, the following decade saw sales decline, and Le Journal de Tintin was forced to cease publication in November 1988. By contrast, Le Journal de Spirou continued to appear, offering a weekly showcase for new and iconic heroes from the Franco-Belgian school of comics.
Murals as a tribute
In the early 1990s, the idea was born of embellishing a few unsightly gables and walls in the center of Brussels, the city's self-proclaimed "comic strip capital". It was also a way of paying tribute to the many comic strip artists born or raised in Brussels.
Inaugurated in July 1991, the "Broussaille" wall covers some 45 m². The mural is located between Rue Marché au Charbon and Plattesteen. Today, there are some sixty frescoes throughout the capital (mainly in the Pentagon, but also beyond). The "Art Mural" collective has been creating 2 or 3 frescoes a year since 1993. The frescoes have become such a fixture on the walls of Brussels that when one of them needs to be covered (due to a building project), it is usually moved to another blank surface. Such is the case with the Marque Jaune fresco, a reference to Blake and Mortimer, repainted in the Marolles district. Among the emblematic Brussels comic strip characters covering the streets of the capital are Ric Hochet, Yoko Tsuno, XIII, Thorgal, Titeuf and Quick and Flupke, the Brussels ketjes also created by Hergé. Not forgetting Tintin, of course. In addition to his fresco on rue de l'Étuve (very close to Manneken Pis), his head, flanked by that of his faithful Snowy, can be seen from afar at the top of the Le Lombard building on Place Bara. Parcoursbd.brussels offers 3 routes to discover them.
The Musée de la Bande Dessinée, housed since 1989 in an Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta and built in 1909, has an international scope. Both a permanent exhibition on the history of the 9th art and an incredible comic strip documentation center, it also organizes meetings with authors, comic strip courses and guided tours.
