Thursday, November 20, 2008

Tintin The Belgium Boy Detective Explained

Tintin the Belgium boy detective is going to be put on the big screen and introduced to a wider audience the question to ask is who is Tintin? Tintin is a young Belgian reporter who through heroic action solves mysteries that are presented at the start of each comic book. Tintin was first introduced to the world in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. Tintin was first introduced to the world in a Belgium paper in 1929-1930 by his creator George Remi.

Tintin and the Land of the Soviets was a political satire that poked fun at the Soviets claims to having a thriving economy and found an audience due to many people’s unease with the Soviet Empire. Remi himself had distrust for the Soviet Empire.

The Tintin comic series have an almost formulaic feel about it. The common thread of most Tintin albums is Tintin having to solve a mystery but also having to put together a story for his paper.

A great example of how a Tintin album works is Tintin and the Black Island. In The Black Island Tinitn sees a plane make an emergency landing and goes to try and help. Tintin goes to the pilots aid but it only results in the pilot trying to shoot him. Tintin then recovers in hospitable where he finds out that a similar plane crashed in a field in Sussex from the detectives Thompson and Thompson.

The logical step for Tintin is to now solve the mystery for himself. The adventure thus starts leading Tintin to be accused of assault and theft of a fellow passenger on a train journey and later kidnapped and forced to jump off a cliff (saved by his dog snowy before he is made too). Tintin follows the logical path which leads to an Island off Scotland where mysterious tales of a beast that is said to kill humans resides. Tintin discovers the Island to be the hideout of forgers and cleverly captures them and holds them till the police arrive.

Tintin is always able to solve the mysteries that are put before him although some are set over two books such as Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. The odd tings about Tintin being a news reporter is that the reader will very rarely see him hand in an article but always solve the mystery in front of him. The end of the comic strips often sees him receiving a hero’s reception along with Captain Haddock and Snowy.

Tintin is a heroic young man but lacks the color of many of the other characters that appear in the comic books. Herge created a chararcter in Tintin with neutral attitudes which makes him easier to understand.

On the release of the first Tintin movie in 2010 of a Tintin move trilogy should see Tintin becoming even more popular. The Tintin movie will be directed by Steven Spielberg andto find out more please visit the website Le Tintin Movie.

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