TINTIN AND MILOU, THROUGH THE EDITIONS
The story of a hero
This may surprise the uninitiated, but our hero lived through different periods during which the format of his adventures changed to become the hero we know today.
The Little 20th Century: 1929 - 1934
The adventures of little Tintin, reporter of the "little XXth century", accompanied by Snowy were published for the first time on January 10, 1929. By playing on the codes of the press with a drawn report that replaced the article and the photograph, Hergé participated in the invention of the modern comic strip . By working for the "XXth century", he had access to all the articles sent from all over the world by great reporters. Inspired by these stories, he created Tintin and gave him the job of reporter, thus making him travel all over the world. The success of Tintin was dazzling from its first publication. With each weekly print run, they multiplied the print runs but they were systematically sold out. Abbé Wallez suggested to Hergé to publish albums with the adventures of the little reporter. The land of the Soviets in 1930, Tintin in the Congo in 1931 and Tintin in America in 1932.
The Evening Youth 1940 - 1941 & The Evening 1941 - 1944
After the publication of The Scepters of Ottokar, the war interrupted the adventures of Tintin. On his return to Brussels after the collapse of France, Hergé was then approached by several newspapers to publish the adventures of Tintin. He accepted the offer of the newspaper "Le Soir", the first national daily newspaper to launch a youth supplement. It was in this youth supplement that Tintin made his comeback during the war. However, due to the shortage of paper, the youth supplement was cancelled, and the adventures of Tintin were reduced to a 4-panel strip published daily in the newspaper "Le Soir".Tintin Journal 1946
After the war, Tintin magazine was created in 1946, in which Hergé finished the story of The Seven Crystal Balls . This was a personally trying time for Hergé.
Creation of Tintin magazine after the war
Casterman 1934 - 2024
After the Petit XXème editions, Hergé gradually improved his narrative system and invented the "Tintin family" under the Casterman editions. Thus Hergé was building his path and was going to create an album that would mark the history of comics : The Blue Lotus. It marked a turning point in the approach to Tintin in these journeys. For the first time, he was not only addressing children. At 29, he had just invented a new graphic style: the clear line. This style became a classic of comics, it was a universal language by image. After The Blue Lotus, Hergé accentuated the realistic vein of his stories. All the same, he kept the suspense of his Petit Vingtième publications. The publication of the albums was interrupted by the war, and the initial format of 120 pages could no longer be ensured for the adventures that came from the Mysterious Star. Casterman wanted to reduce the format by half, to 60 pages, and offered a color publication in exchange. Hergé created a system so that color would not overpower his clear line and thus respond to the problems of paper shortages. This format became the standard we know today.
