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Aboard the Scheherazade

@aboardthescheherazade / aboardthescheherazade.tumblr.com

Tintin sideblog run by Vaye/Lapan (follows back from @naradreamscape). General PG-13 content warning; asks are always open
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aboardthescheherazade
Anonymous asked:

is it true that they removed mentions of tintin journaling/actually mentioning his job/etc when they redrew some of the older tintin comics? i swear i remember seeing examples of that once but i have no clue where to find them again

aboardthescheherazade answered:

I definitely know which post you're talking about, but I can't find it either. I'll try to compile what I remember and/or know about offhand...

For the most part, the most references to Tintin being a reporter come early on in what are considered the "newsprint editions" of the comics. The first nine albums were serialized in Le Petit Vingtieme and Le Soir Jeunesse, and these pages were later re-collected and coloured (and occasionally cut down/rewritten) for what are now known as the "Casterman editions".

Tintin being a reporter is all over Land of the Soviets, and it's introduced as early as page 1. It's the silliest album, but it's also the only album thoroughly revolving around Tintin going on a reporting assignment.

(Soviets pg. 4. By God, look at that guard in the upper right. He looks like the RESPECT! butler)

Tintin is still a reporter in Congo, but it's scaled far back in the redrawn Casterman edition. In the latter, it's kept to one mention in the very first panel, which was also turned into the first appearance of Dupont and Dupond:

(Congo pgs. 1)

Meanwhile, the newsprint edition has a scene where newspaper agents try to scout Tintin as a reporter, I guess because his stories are just that good. He ultimately declines, claiming Petit Vingtieme is paying him way more than what they offer.

(Congo pg. 17)

Now, I'd had a theory that the series just became too plot-focused to keep pausing for references to Tintin's writing, but Reddit user XenophonOfAthens made a good point about Herge being forced to pause discussion of the press and current events after the nazis shut down Le Vingtieme, thus moving Hergé and many of the same staff to the nazi-overseen Le Soir and Le Soir Jeunesse. Tintin had been introduced as Le Petit Vingtieme's boy reporter who child readers could follow along with, but now with a new (heavily monitored) publication, mentions of the "boy reporter" slowly phased out.

One of the more significant edits to Tintin's reporting comes in Cigars of the Pharaoh. Sheik Patrash Pasha originally says he's followed Tintin's adventures for "several years" and presents a then-new Vingtieme publishing of Tintin in America.

In the colour edition, he instead presents Destination Moon. This album was in production at the time of the redraws, and it was one of the first albums to be published outside of Europe...but now Tintin's reaction is especially visceral, since that album involves him going to the moon with two people he hasn't met yet.

(Cigars B&W pg. 39, Casterman pg. 15. I also gave the Sheik's servant in the latter a quick edit because it was somehow worse than the 1933 version)

The last reference to Tintin's reporting for a long while was in The Broken Ear. We are now in the Soir era:

(Broken Ear pgs. 2)

This line never made it past the newsprint version. Tintin hears the news about the museum theft, and originally, he remarks that it'll make for a nice report...but in the reprint, he's just declaring that he'll go to the museum. I feel like the wording in the original could have referred to something specific about the comic's run in Le Soir Jeunesse, but it also could have been removed under the assumption that the reader would be going into this book knowing Tintin is a reporter. He does have a notepad with him through the rest of the page, but without that context, he just seems like a busybody.

I feel like there were a lot more references to his reporting in Le Journal Tintin, which is where the comic moved its publication to. This adds credence to the possibility that readers would be picking up these books knowing Tintin was a reporter, thus it being less of a focus within each album's plot. There do seem to be little hints throughout the albums about Tintin being a reporter...one of these is a moment in Explorers on the Moon where Tintin describes the moon's surface to ground control, and as a writer myself, this to me feels like him gathering his words for a future story:

(Explorers pg. 24)

However, Tintin's reporting is brought up in an album one more time, decades later, in Picaros. Tintin is referred to as a reporter on televised news, so this is at least some confirmation that he does submit journalist work, at least off-camera or between albums:

(pg. 47)

In short, Tintin's reporting started to fade off suspiciously during an era where nazis were breathing down Hergé's neck, then got a little lost in translation, and then ultimately came back.

My theory for Tintin's reporting slowly becoming less important in the albums happened either due to 1. Hergé and co. becoming more interested in writing about other things, 2. the series being moved to a vanity publication that discussed Tintin being a reporter outside of the canon comics, or 3. it got phased out during the Le Soir era because Hergé's supervisors didn't want to promote a gonzo journalist as a hero during a time with heavy political censorship and turmoil. It's completely up in the air.

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personnage-neutre

The post you're looking for may be mine, here! It's much less thorough, though...

Also, if you don't mind me adding on - The Broken Ear was serialized in the Petit Vingtième (1935-1937), not Le Soir. Its first album version (1937) keeps the original dialogue. However, the second album version, in colors, was in fact published during the Occupation (1943), and that's when the reference is replaced. Obviously, the albums still had to make it past Nazi censors to be published (and not all of them did), but the Le Soir wasn't involved. And, quite frankly, given everything I've read about how Hergé handled the occupation (with, at the absolute best, extreme naivete), the idea that he dropped the reference because of it seems almost too savvy for him. After all, The Shooting Star, written and published at the same time, still describes him as being a reporter there "to represent the press." I'd be more inclined to think that it's for plot reasons - just to cover up the fact that he never ends up writing that article, or, like Jo and Zette's parents, because he didn't want to keep shoehorning it in.

As for the Journal Tintin, "Tintin" did write in it, but in honestly more of an editor role. The closest I can think of to "him" reporting is an informational column that ran briefly with Temple of the Sun, or the announcement of 714, which implies that Tintin delivers his stories to Hergé to be written.

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aboardthescheherazade

I don't mind you adding on at all - thank you so much for the input! I'm especially glad to see this further historical context and interpretation.

#reblog#resources#tintin
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Anonymous asked:

is it true that they removed mentions of tintin journaling/actually mentioning his job/etc when they redrew some of the older tintin comics? i swear i remember seeing examples of that once but i have no clue where to find them again

I definitely know which post you're talking about, but I can't find it either. I'll try to compile what I remember and/or know about offhand...

For the most part, the most references to Tintin being a reporter come early on in what are considered the "newsprint editions" of the comics. The first nine albums were serialized in Le Petit Vingtieme and Le Soir Jeunesse, and these pages were later re-collected and coloured (and occasionally cut down/rewritten) for what are now known as the "Casterman editions".

Tintin being a reporter is all over Land of the Soviets, and it's introduced as early as page 1. It's the silliest album, but it's also the only album thoroughly revolving around Tintin going on a reporting assignment.

(Soviets pg. 4. By God, look at that guard in the upper right. He looks like the RESPECT! butler)

Tintin is still a reporter in Congo, but it's scaled far back in the redrawn Casterman edition. In the latter, it's kept to one mention in the very first panel, which was also turned into the first appearance of Dupont and Dupond:

(Congo pgs. 1)

Meanwhile, the newsprint edition has a scene where newspaper agents try to scout Tintin as a reporter, I guess because his stories are just that good. He ultimately declines, claiming Petit Vingtieme is paying him way more than what they offer.

(Congo pg. 17)

Now, I'd had a theory that the series just became too plot-focused to keep pausing for references to Tintin's writing, but Reddit user XenophonOfAthens made a good point about Herge being forced to pause discussion of the press and current events after the nazis shut down Le Vingtieme, thus moving Hergé and many of the same staff to the nazi-overseen Le Soir and Le Soir Jeunesse. Tintin had been introduced as Le Petit Vingtieme's boy reporter who child readers could follow along with, but now with a new (heavily monitored) publication, mentions of the "boy reporter" slowly phased out.

One of the more significant edits to Tintin's reporting comes in Cigars of the Pharaoh. Sheik Patrash Pasha originally says he's followed Tintin's adventures for "several years" and presents a then-new Vingtieme publishing of Tintin in America.

In the colour edition, he instead presents Destination Moon. This album was in production at the time of the redraws, and it was one of the first albums to be published outside of Europe...but now Tintin's reaction is especially visceral, since that album involves him going to the moon with two people he hasn't met yet.

(Cigars B&W pg. 39, Casterman pg. 15. I also gave the Sheik's servant in the latter a quick edit because it was somehow worse than the 1933 version)

The last reference to Tintin's reporting for a long while was in The Broken Ear. We are now in the Soir era:

(Broken Ear pgs. 2)

This line never made it past the newsprint version. Tintin hears the news about the museum theft, and originally, he remarks that it'll make for a nice report...but in the reprint, he's just declaring that he'll go to the museum. I feel like the wording in the original could have referred to something specific about the comic's run in Le Soir Jeunesse, but it also could have been removed under the assumption that the reader would be going into this book knowing Tintin is a reporter. He does have a notepad with him through the rest of the page, but without that context, he just seems like a busybody.

I feel like there were a lot more references to his reporting in Le Journal Tintin, which is where the comic moved its publication to. This adds credence to the possibility that readers would be picking up these books knowing Tintin was a reporter, thus it being less of a focus within each album's plot. There do seem to be little hints throughout the albums about Tintin being a reporter...one of these is a moment in Explorers on the Moon where Tintin describes the moon's surface to ground control, and as a writer myself, this to me feels like him gathering his words for a future story:

(Explorers pg. 24)

However, Tintin's reporting is brought up in an album one more time, decades later, in Picaros. Tintin is referred to as a reporter on televised news, so this is at least some confirmation that he does submit journalist work, at least off-camera or between albums:

(pg. 47)

In short, Tintin's reporting started to fade off suspiciously during an era where nazis were breathing down Hergé's neck, then got a little lost in translation, and then ultimately came back.

My theory for Tintin's reporting slowly becoming less important in the albums happened either due to 1. Hergé and co. becoming more interested in writing about other things, 2. the series being moved to a vanity publication that discussed Tintin being a reporter outside of the canon comics, or 3. it got phased out during the Le Soir era because Hergé's supervisors didn't want to promote a gonzo journalist as a hero during a time with heavy political censorship and turmoil. It's completely up in the air.

#asks#my writing#tintin#resources#this post got WAY out of hand but I hope it helps
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The Tintin Timeline

So the Tintin canon continuity is, uh, a mess. It's a "floating timeline" specifically, which is a literary term for when serialized media takes place during the present of whenever it's being worked on. However, nobody seems to have taken a look at the exact timeline within the canon, and exactly how long the stories take place within Tintin's life. All of the following data is approximate, with most of it taken from the setting boxes (i.e. "Two days later") and by studying how many nights pass within each story.

A quick note: Certain spans of time in the book are designated with vague quantifiers, such as “several” or “a few”. However, 7 days is always designated with “a week”. I explain my estimation where necessary, but I usually see the former spans as being within 3-5 days. Again, these are all approximations and I am not claiming any sort of canon declaration; these are presented for entertainment purposes.

  1. Land of the Soviets: 9 days
  2. Congo: 22 days (Tintin spends at least 17 days in the Congo, while his journey there on the boat is said to take “several days”. Given the mode of transport and the distance, I have estimated it as being about 5 days.)
  3. America: approx. 3 weeks (20-23 days)
  4. Cigars: approx. 2 weeks (15-18 days)
  5. Blue Lotus: approx. 4 weeks (25-30 days)
  6. The Broken Ear: approx. 6 weeks (39-42 days)
  7. Black Island: 7 days
  8. Ottokar: approx. 2 weeks (14-15 days)
  9. Crab: approx. 2 weeks (13-14 days)
  10. Shooting Star: approx. 5 weeks (the main story elapses over 20 days; the last page has a scene “some weeks” later, which I interpreted as a fortnight)
  11. Unicorn: approx. 10 days
  12. Rackham: approx. 48 days (The main story seems to elapse over 45 days, and the last page seems to happen some days later)
  13. Seven Crystal Balls: 9 days
  14. Prisoners of the Sun: at least 41 (there are three unaccounted-for periods, when 1. Tintin’s group is climbing the mountains [“days go by” until “one morning”, which I interpreted as being at least 3 days], 2. when they trek through the jungle [”the days go by”, again 3 days], and 3. at the end of the book [”several days later”, interpreted as 6 days])
  15. Black Gold: approx. 27 days (13 days + “some weeks” estimated as a fortnight. The ensuing album opens with Haddock and Tintin returning home, where they hear Calculus has been gone since three weeks before)
  16. Destination Moon: approx. 144 days (This one has the larges jumps in time. The first 36 pages happen over 41 days, then “some months” pass, estimated at 3)
  17. Explorers: 10 days
  18. Calculus Affair: 11 days
  19. Red Sea Sharks: 30 days
  20. Tibet: 33 days
  21. Castafiore Emerald: at least 21 days (there are 18 accounted-for days, and then a period indicated just with “The days go by”. Given how most time lapses in the book are spans of 3 days, this period was at least three days long as well)
  22. Flight 714 to Sydney: 1 day + 7 days (main story; pages 60-62 take place about a week later)
  23. Picaros: 15 days

Total: The events of the The Adventures of Tintin take place over approximately 613 days.

But is it a linear timeline? We have no word on how much time passes between each album, but we’ll add at least one week between each one - except for America/Cigars/Lotus, Destination/Explorers, Crystal/Prisoners, and Unicorn/Rackham - just to give each album’s settings enough time to transition into a new story. This gives us an additional 17 weeks (17 x 7 days). With all of this calculated together, the series happens over the course of approximately 2 years, 2 days...at least, according to a bored fan who likes to count (ง ื▿ ื)ว

#My writing#hc#tintin
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"Tintin's age is never specified in canon, so he could be deep into adulthood--" Woe, canon text designator be upon thee

Crab With The Golden Claws pg. 33

(EDIT: A few panels after these, Delcourt does offer alcohol to Tintin and Haddock. Since this is a French Foreign Legion base, we can assume it is following France's laws; their drinking age was historically 16 years old, until 2009.)

#like I hate to be a stickler but some of these things are inescapable in the source text#the 1991 series is completely up in the air but Tintin is blatantly intended as a minor in the original comic series#tintin#resources
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