Tintin Forums

Moderator Note: This thread now combines two or more old threads.

Not sure if I put this in the right forum, it seemed like it fitted here more than anything else. I've never seen a copy of Tintin magazine, so had a few questions

What did they put in Tintin magazine apart from the two pages of Tintin's latest adventure? What happened between adventures?

Did they rerun old strips?

When Hergé had his breakdown and went off for a while, what did they put in the magazine?

I know they had Quick & Flupke and JZ&J, but did they have Tintin magazines with no Tintin in them?

Rik

Hello,

What did they put in Tintin magazine apart from the two pages of Tintin's latest adventure? What happened between adventures?

I'm not quite sure, but I think they had other comics, like Blake & Mortimer.

Did the rerun old strips?

Only the redrawn versions of Cigars and Black Island, that I'm aware of.

When Hergé had his breakdown and went off for a while, what did the put in the magazine?

Other comics, most likely.

I know they had Quick & Flupke, but did they have Tintin magazines with no Tintin in them?

Well, some issues would have no Tintin in them because either Hergé was away, or he was preparing for the next adventure. Remember the huge gap between Castiafore Emerald and Flight 714.

-Gustav

Tintin magazine was largely responsible for the success of many Belgian (and French!) comic strips that still enjoy popularity today. Other famous BD artists - such as E.P.Jacobs, Jacques Martin, Jacques van Melkebeke, Bob de Moor and Roger Leloup - really took off from the platform that the magazine provided.
Aside from Tintin, there were mostly strips by other artists, with a few pages of filler material such as competitions, letters, articles etc.

Two old Tintin stories were rerun (the original versions of The Blue Lotus and King Ottokar's Sceptre) and are of particular interest because they were specially coloured by the Studios Hergé.

I wish I could have been around to read it, when it came out.
Apparently you can get a collection of the original version of Le Temple du Soleil, the one published in the magazine, before Hergé made extensive cuts.

And it's well worth it too! It's really fascinating to see the story in its original landscape format, and with plenty of scenes later deleted or revised for the 62-page book version, plus information panels used to fill out some spreads.

Ed

Is it possible to get hold of any facsimile copies of the magazine anywhere?

I don't think any facsimiles have been produced, other than a facsimile of the coveted first issue, which has itself become very rare.
However, it was a popular magazine which sold well, and readers tended to keep, so original magazines are still quite easy to pick up at internet auctions, comic stalls in Belgium and France, etc.

Does anybody know anything about the Tintin Magazine that existed in French, Portuguese and Spanish. I know it was around in the late 1960s and early 70s but don't know how long it survived. The Spanish name was "Revista Tintin". It contained installments of Tintin books. That is where I first came across "Tintin in America", I believe.

It also had other cartoons as regular features. There was one in particular, called "Indeseado Desiderio" in Spanish about which I would like to know more.

I would appreciate any information that anyone might have.

"Le Journal de Tintin" was first published on the 26th of September, 1946, by Éditions du Lombard in Belgium. Not long after the publication of a French version, a Dutch one was produced too ("Kuifje") that had essentially the same contents as the French-language edition. This edition opened with the continuation of the story The Seven Crystal Balls, which Hergé chose to rename as Le Temple du Soleil (The Temple of the Sun). The story ran as horizontal strips over a double-spread, with an information box at the bottom of some strips teaching the reader about the Incas.

An edition destined for France was first published on the 28th of October 1948 - this was originally published in Belgium and sent to Paris, with a new numbering system. The hero of the launch of the Paris edition was General Leclerc, illustrated by Le Rallic. It took around three years to firmly establish the Paris edition of "Tintin", and was published 'in-house' by Georges Dargaud (a renowned comics publisher).

The success of the magazine was expanded upon by the inclusion of the "Tintin stamp", which allowed the purchaser to collect a number of these and exchange them for Tintin-related products. This ensured a stable market both in Belgium and France.

The magazine ran, in Belgium, until the 29th of November 1988, when it was replaced by "Tintin Reporter". In France, it ran until the 28th of December 1972, when it became "Tintin l'Hebdoptimiste".

Each new Tintin story was syndicated in the magazine, sometimes with breaks of a few months in-between to account for Hergé's ill-health and penchant for going missing without telling anyone. Other spin-off Tintin adventures were featured, including a picture story of the 1969 Belvision film Le Temple du Soleil, a comic-strip version of The Lake of Sharks (I think), and coloured versions of the 1930s black and white editions of The Blue Lotus and King Ottokar's Sceptre.

A number of renowned comic-strip authors also presented their work for the first time in the magazine - most notably E.P. Jacobs' "Blake & Mortimer", Jacques Martin's "Alix" series and Tibet's "Ric Hochet". The Dutch edition of the magazine also showcased the talent of Willy Vandersteen, who was already famous for his Suske en Wiske (Bob et Bobette) series.

Regarding the issues abroad, the French colonies in Northern Africa published regional "little brothers of 'Tintin' magazine", as Raymond Leblanc put it (the publisher of the series). Editions in Saigon, Greece, Turkey and Egypt were produced, and a little later on, Spain, Portugal and Germany too.


Phew ! I think I've covered most points there, hope that's of some help.

Nice article, Richard! I think that should go in the permenant archive, if there isn't anything like it there already.
Thanks for the handy potted history!