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

This fantastic reworking of the Herge Museum comes from the famous Dutch Tintin blog of Popokabaka, arguably one of the biggest tintin collectors in Europe. He writes daily about fraud on tintin auctions and his weird life as a collector. Having no Dutch I’m using Google Translator to read the blog.

Many thanks to Raymond for bringing this to my attentions.

Continuning our occasional series of Ligne Claire (Clear Line) and other comics that might interest you, may I present Dresden Codak.

A product of the clearly bizarre mind of artist, Aaron Diaz, the strip is an exploration of physics, psychology, art, philosophy and a whole lot more. It is strange, confusing and challenging. This is not a comic where you will find a clear, easy to follow narrative. I’m just get a small fraction of the references and allusions in it but I love it. The artwork regularly switches in style but whatever the style used, the artwork is fantastic.

So Dresden Codak – challenging and not to everyone’s taste but no less brilliant because of it.

Last Sunday, an auction of Tintin and Herge memorabilia smashed national and international records. The highlights of the auction were a handful of original pages drawn by the man himself. All the pages are reproduced below, taken from the auction catalog. If you are interested in Tintin memrobilia then I advise you to have a look through the catalog but these drawings are the real gems.

My favourite are the pages from Flight 714, particularly the sketch pages. In the image of Tintin with his hands behind his back we can see how fine an artist Herge was. Also, the strange figure in the bottom left hand corner. It is an odd mix of styles, half realistic, half modern art. The pages from The Castafiore Emerald are great examples of how Herge refined the story as he drew. Look how the sequence and point of view of the images changes between the original and the inked work.

Many thanks to MetaBunker for finding these.

If Herge made communist propaganda, it would look like this.

The text says “The Central people’s government constitutes the only legitimate government of all”.

Source: Vibrant Chinese Propaganda Art – Part 1: Revolution, Revolution, Revolution

Following on from Tintin and Lichtenstein we have another connection between Herge and the world of modern art.

On the left is Georges ‘Herge’ Remi and on the right is Andy Warhol, the man behind pop art and some of the most groundbreaking art of his generation. The photo comes from a brief 2006 article ( Tintin: one of the 20th century’s great heroes ) from the Guardian.

Roy Lichtenstein, one of the great artists of the 20th century, was famous for his cartoony style. His bright colours and overblown, comic book art made his art highly distinctive but also accessible. Like many in the Pop Art movement, he explored the difference between art and crowd pleasing illustration. By taking existing comic book images and reproducing them, complete with Benday Dots, on a large scale, he challenges preconceptions about what is art.

It is not surprising that Liechtenstein should cross paths with Tintin. The bold lines and strong colours of Herge are a natural fit to Liechenstein’s own work. So when his long-time friend, Frederic Tuten, said he was writing a book using the character of Tintin re-imagined as an full grown adult, the artist supplied two pieces of art featuring Tintin.

“Tintin Reading” was used as the cover to Tintin in the New World and shows Tintin reading newspaper as an assassin’s dagger whistles past. In the back ground can be seen a depiction of Henri Matisse’s “Dance (I)“. This reference to Matisse is far from accidental. Matisse use of colour, particularly as part of Fauvism was highly influencal on artist throught out the 20th centry, including Lictenstein.

The second work for the book is entitled “Interior with Painting of Tintin. This looks like an early sketch for the cover work. The scene is almost identical except that Tintin has moved from the foreground and become a painting replacing Matisse’s Dance (i).

Herge’s legacy of boy’s own adventures and bold, colourful artwork lives on in Rainbow Orchid. Originally a web comic, the story is now being produced in three volumes by Egmont, but you can read all the full story online (start here).

Set in the 1920s or 30s, it follows Julius Chancer, in a convoluted plot to find the legendary Rainbow Orchid. Along the way the plot twists and turns, introducing a wide range of characters who both help and hinder the hero on his quest. Garen Ewing, the writer and artist, has produced a fantastic work in the Ligne Claire style. The colours are perfect for the web, bright & bold, and yet he still captures details and nuances, especially in the detailed backgrounds. I cannot wait to see how this translates in to print.

The book will be out on the 4th August and can be pre-ordered from Amazon UK. Hopefully there will be a US release later.

Definitely a comic for fans of Tintin. Blake & Mortimer was one of the first stories to appear in the Tintin Magazine after World War II and its style and adventure based story-lines have a lot in common with Herge’s work. This is not surprising as Edgar P. Jacobs, the creator was Belgian and met Herge whilst creating scenery for a stage adaptation of Cigars of the Pharaoh. The two became friends and Jacobs was hired to help Herge reformat his early work into a book friendly format.

The page above is taken from The Yellow “M” (La Marque Jaune). Set in a carefully and accurate depiction of London, complete with pea-souper fog.

Thanks to raphaelclancy on Twitter for reminding me of Blake & Mortimer.

Continuing our occasional series of posts on current artists using Herge’ Ligne Claire technique, my I present Jonny Crossbones.

Read it from the beginning. Thanks to Twitter user a_band for this link.