Michael Ewing dropped me a line about his new Ligne Claire web-comic called Hugo & Co. Only the first half-dozen episodes are available and the comic is still settling in to its stride but it shows great promise.

Start reading at episode one

Georges ‘Herge’ Remi 1934

Source: Haantje. Note, the original blog is in Dutch and I’m relying on Google Translate for the translation.

Jamie Bell (Tintin) is currently filming The Eagle Of The Ninth in Scotland. The film is about a Roman legion that went missing in 2AD. Currently there is a dispute because local builders are being snubbed in favour of Hungarian builders. And where is all this taking place? On the shores of Loch Lomond, source of Captain Haddock’s favourite tipple UPDATE: See comments below.

Gad Elmaleh, the Moroccan actor and performer, who is appearing in Tintin:Secret of the Unicorn as Omar Ben Salaad, talks about Tintin and Spielberg.

I have to confess that my French is almost non-existent so I have no idea what he is saying. So here is a sample of Gad Elmaleh in English.

By way of a Tintin reference, I stumbled on to one of the best ideas for blog in a long, long time.

The Highland Literacy Reading Blog is a blog about books, which is great but nothing special. Except that this blog is written by children of the Highland region of Scotland and is run the by Highland education department. Children all over the highlands of Scotland can read a book and then, with the help of a teacher, write a review and publish it for friends, family and the world to see.

Not only does this encourage children to read books but it also encourages them write and think about the books. Exactly the sort of activities we want, we need, children to be doing. It is also a great way for children to discover new books they might like. Something that is becoming increasingly hard as libraries and independent book stores continue to close.

The blog is supported by Borders book store in Inverness which is a shrewd investment by the company. They offer book tokens for the best reviews and a 10% off coupon.

The range of books reviewed is excellent. From the Horrible History series through Tintin and on to The Diary of Anne Frank. The reviews themselves are excellent because they miss out all the rubbish an adult would put in the review and instead focus on what is important. Such as this review of Fledge Star by Titania Woods.

I didn’t really like this book because I am not into fairies. People who like fairies and mythical creatures would like this book more than I did. It was easy to understand, it was set in a tree which some people might quite like. I’m glad I read this book because I can now recommend it to other people.

And here is the review for The Crab with a Golden Claw.

It is  very funny.  The captain always gets drunk:) It is  never boring I always enjoyed reading it.  I have read 5 before TinTin is sooooo funny. At the start  snowy (his dog) is trying to get something to eat.  Snowy gets a tin with A CRAB WITH GOLDEN CLAWS and almost gets cut.      i think it is one on the best TinTin books  in the series.  10 OUT OF 10.

I think every school district should have a web site like the Highland Literacy Reading Blog. Congratulations to everyone involved in setting it up and keeping it going.

Yahoo France is reporting that the first images from the Tintin film will be released at the International Festival of Comics between the 28th and 31st of January 2010. No further details are available.

Source: Le ” Tintin ” de Spielberg à Angoulême !, Visual de Tintim será revelado em janeiro

Between the 30th September and the 6th October TintinMovie.org (i.e. me, Chris) will be visiting the fine country of Belgium with my partner. We will be visiting a lot of Tintin related sites including the Comic Museum in Brussels, Cinquantenaire Museum (home to the statue that inspired The Broken Ear), the flea market from the start of The Secret of the Unicorn and few non-Tintin related places such as Waterloo.

Of course we will be visiting the Herge Museum and we invite everyone to join us.

Our plan is to visit the museum on Saturday 3rd October, probably around 11am. If any fellow Tintin fans would like to visit the museum with us, we would be delighted to meet you. Afterwards, we will be visiting bars either in Louvain-La-Neuve or back in Brussels.

I will post more details in a couple of soon but if would like to join us on our visit, please comment below. If anyone outside Belgium wants to join us, this map of our Brussels trip may be of help.

This week it was a Congolese accountant suing Moulinsart over the racist images in Tintin in the Congo. Last week it was Brooklyn Library’s decision to lock the book up. Before that is was the British Commission for Racial Equality who attacked the book.

With a high profile film on the way, Moulinsart must be wondering what to do about this never ending stream of bad publicity. There is a very real danger that Herge’s name and reputation will become tarnished by this 80 year old comic but their options are limited and none of them are ideal.

Publish and be Dammed

Ignoring the fuss and sticking to the line that Tintin Au Congo is a work of a young writer living in a very different time is certainly the most honest and intellectually sound idea but it all to easily could look like they are condoning racism.

The investors in the movie will be nervous about how this will play in America. At the moment, Tintin is almost unknown so no one really cares but in 18 months time, it will be a different story. Images of black protestors outside of cinemas would critically damage the film in the race conscious USA. With a reported $130 million invested we can be sure that the studios executives will be on the phone to the head of Moulinsart, Nick Rodwell, demanding that something is done.

Bury It

The simplest option is for Moulinsart to make an announcement saying that the book is out-dated and to stop publishing the book, removing all traces of it from their product line. Rather like the victim of a Stalinist purge, Tintin Au Congo will be airbrushed out of the official history, leaving behind an idealised image of Herge and his creation for public consumption. Certainly, real Tintin fans would know about the book and rumours would circulate in the general public but the charges of racism would be effectively blunted.

To an extent this has been done already, with its withdrawal from the US market but in order silence the critics, they need to withdraw it all languages and all editions, including the facsimile editions. This approach is the easiest option and will cost the company relatively little in lost sales.

The Sacred Cow

Herge left strict instructions that no one else should write or draw Tintin after his death and Moulinsart have devoutly stuck to this. The temptation of the millions a new Tintin book could make has been suppressed by the overwhelming desire to protect Herge’s legacy and honour his life work. But can this commitment stand up to the pressure of public opinion and the demands of studio executives? Would Moulinsart release a modified, updated version of Tintin in the Congo?

This would be a major step for Moulinsart and one that may open the floodgates to new Tintin material but it would have a number of advantages. It tackles the accusation of racism without creating the skeleton in the closet that simply burying the book might create. It would be profitable as well as millions of Tintin fans buy the new edition and it generates a huge amount of positive publicity.

No Right Answer

Each of these potential solutions create their own problems and picking between them is no easy task but it seem unlikely that doing nothing is a viable option. A constant stream of Tintin is Racist headlines will damage Herge’s reputation and the prospects for the film.

Personally I think they should publish and be dammed. Herge’ life story is complex but overall it is a positive one. Trying to hide or deny Europe’s colonial and racist past helps nobody in the long run. Tintin exemplified the boy scout idea of being honest and doing the right thing. Let’s be honest about Tintin’s past.

A new photo of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson on the set of Tintin.

Photo from Estrenos deCine.