(Les Aventures de Tintin), (Bande dessinée) drawn and written by the Belgian writer-artist Georges Remi a.k.a. Hergé, is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. According to BBC magazine, over 200 million copies of the comic books have been sold to date, with translations into over 58 languages.

The hero of the series is a young reporter and traveller named Tintin, aided by his faithful dog Snowy (originally named "Milou" in French), Captain Haddock and a variety of colourful supporting characters.

The comic book series has long been admired for its clean yet expressive drawings executed in Hergé's signature ligne claire style, their engaging plots and the painstaking research done while creating the later stories. They straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy; mysteries; political thrillers; and science fiction. All the titles in the Tintin series include plenty of slapstick humour, offset in later albums by dashes of sophisticated satire and political/cultural commentary.

Tintin lives in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium and the birthplace of Hergé. This is evidenced most notably in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets where the text states that Tintin arrives in Brussels as he returns home after his adventure, and in Tintin in Tibet, where the letter sent to Tintin by his friend Chang is addressed to Brussels. There are other more subtle hints in some of the other books, such as recognisable locations, car numberplates, etc. However, after Prisoners of the Sun, Tintin moves into Marlinspike Hall, whose geographical location is debatable. It is to be noted though that Marlinspike's original name is Moulinsart, the -sart ending being typical of the Walloon Brabant region - we are still probably in Belgium.

A perennial question concerning Tintin is his age: it is far from clear whether he is a teenage rookie reporter, or a senior journalist in his thirties. While his manner of dress suggests the former, the high-profile stories he covers (not to mention his apparently bottomless expense account) strongly imply the latter. The matter has never been resolved, however Tintin is described as an 'adolescent' in the character description within the special DVD features, and is referred to as 'kid' several times within the television shows.


All Main Characters
Tintin
Tintin and Snowy(Tintin et Milou)
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Tintin and Snowy(Tintin et Milou)

Main article: Tintin and Snowy

Tintin is a young Belgian reporter (as well as an accomplished fighter pilot) who becomes involved in dangerous cases in which he takes heroic action to save the day. Almost every adventure features Tintin hard at work at his investigative reporting, but he is rarely seen actually turning in a story. He is a young man of more or less neutral attitudes and is less colourful than the supporting cast.

The unusual physical appearance of Tintin was apparently inspired, at least in part, by Hergé's youngest brother Paul Remi, a career soldier.[1] Hergé later became estranged from his brother and depicted him as the villainous Colonel Sponsz in The Calculus Affair. Tintin and Sponsz, although physically very different, have quite similar hair spikes.
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Captain Archibald Haddock (Capitaine Archibald Haddock)
Captain Haddock (Capitaine Haddock)
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Captain Haddock (Capitaine Haddock)

Main article: Captain Haddock

Captain Haddock, a seafaring captain of disputed ancestry (he may have English, French or Belgian origin), is Tintin's best friend, and was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Haddock was initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character, but later he became more respectable, genuinely heroic and a socialite when he finds a treasure from his ancestor Sir Francis Haddock in the episode named The Secret of the Unicorn. The Captain's coarse humanity and sarcasm act as a counterpoint to Tintin's often implausible heroism; he is always quick with a dry comment whenever the boy reporter gets too idealistic. Captain Haddock lives in his luxurious mansion called Marlinspike Hall.

Haddock uses a range of colourful insults and curses to express his feelings, such as "blistering barnacles", "thundering typhoons", "troglodytes", "bashi-bazouk", "kleptomaniac", "anacoluthon", and "pockmark", but no words that are actually considered swear words. Haddock is a hard drinker, especially of whisky of the fictitious Loch Lomond brand, and his bouts of drunkenness are often used for comic effect. See also: List of exclamations used by Captain Haddock

Haddock's surname was derived from a conversation that Hergé had with his wife, in which she mentioned that the haddock was a "sad English fish". Hergé chose this name accordingly. Haddock remained without a first name until the last completed story, Tintin and the Picaros (1976), when the name Archibald was suggested.


Professor Cuthbert Calculus (Professeur Tryphon Tournesol)
Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol)
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Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol)

Main article: Professor Calculus

Professor Cuthbert Calculus is a distracted, hard-of-hearing professor, who invented many objects used in the series, such as a one-person shark-shaped submarine, the Moon rocket, and an ultrasound weapon. Calculus seeks to benefit mankind by inventions such as a pill that cures alcoholism by making alcohol taste horrible to the patient.

Calculus's deafness is a frequent source of humour, as he repeats back what he thinks he has heard, usually in the most unlikely words possible: "attachez votre ceinture" (fasten your belt) is repeated as "une tache de peinture?" (a paint stain). He does not admit to being near-deaf and insists that he is merely 'hard of hearing' in just one ear. The two "Moon" books notably depart from this pattern, when Calculus is fitted with a hearing aid. For the duration of the album he has near-perfect hearing, making this a more serious character (as long as the word "goat" is not uttered in his presence). However, in later adventures Calculus loses his hearing aid and goes back to being his old eccentric, deaf self. Calculus is a fervent believer in dowsing, and carries a pendulum for that purpose.

Calculus first appeared in Red Rackham's Treasure, and was the end result of Hergé's long quest to find the archetypal mad scientist or absent-minded professor: for instance, Dr. Sarcophagus in Cigars of the Pharaoh, and Prof. Alembick in King Ottokar's Sceptre.

NOTE: A literal translation of his French name would be Tryphonius Sunflower or Tryphonius Litmus Paper.


Snowy (Milou)
A severely inebriated Snowy (Milou).
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A severely inebriated Snowy (Milou).

Main article: Tintin and Snowy

Snowy, an exceptionally white terrier, is Tintin's four-legged companion, who travels everywhere with him. The bond between the dog and Tintin is deeper than life, and they have saved each other from perilous situations many times.

Like Captain Haddock, Snowy is fond of whisky of the Loch Lomond brand, and his occasional bouts of drinking tend to get him into trouble, as does his raging arachnophobia. The French name of Snowy, "Milou", has nothing to do with snow or the color white. It is an oblique reference to Hergé's girlfriend from his youth Marie-Louise Van Cutsem, whose nickname was Milou.


Thomson and Thompson (Dupond et Dupont)
Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond)
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Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond)

Main article: Thomson and Thompson

Thomson and Thompson are two bumbling detectives who, although unrelated, look like twins with the only discernible difference being the shape of their moustaches.[2] They provide much of the comic relief throughout the series, as they are afflicted with chronic spoonerism. They are thoroughly incompetent, and always bent on arresting the wrong character, but in spite of this their superiors always charge them with surprisingly complex missions, such as ensuring security for the Syldavian space project. When they get into a terrible mess (like falling over) they come up with lazy excuses such as 'Well I was following you' to make themselves seem less buffoonish.

The detectives usually wear bowler hats and carry walking sticks, except when abroad, when they insist on wearing the "national costume" of the country they are visiting so as to blend into the local population, but in general only manage to find some ridiculous folkloric attire that makes them stand out even more.

The detectives were in part based on Hergé's father and uncle, identical twins who wore matching bowlers.

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TinTin.com

nice post ym !!!!

Well i like all the movies of TinTin....
Even the cartoon of TinTin adverntures was superb