The Adventures of Tintin (French: Les Aventures de Tintin) is a series of comic albums created by Belgian artist Georges Remi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, with translations published in more than 50 languages and more than 200 million copies of the books sold to date. The series first appeared in French in Le Petit Vingtième, a children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le XXe Siècle on 10 January 1929. The success of the series saw the serialised strips published in Belgium's leading newspaper Le Soir and spun into a successful Tintin magazine. Then in 1950, Hergé created Studios Hergé, which produced the canon series of twenty-four albums. The Adventures of Tintin have been adapted for radio, television, theatre, and film. Set during a largely realistic 20th century, the hero of the series is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided in his adventures by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy (Milou in French). Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash and cynical Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus (Professeur Tournesol) and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson (Dupont et Dupond). Hergé himself features in several of the comics as a background character, as do his assistants in some instances. The comic strip series has long been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in Hergé's signature ligne claire style. Its engaging, well-researchedplots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories within the Tintin series always feature slapstick humour, offset in later albums by dashes of sophisticated satire and political/cultural commentary. 1. Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1929–1930, 11. The Secret of the Unicorn (1942–1943, 1943) 1930) 12. Red Rackham's Treasure (1943, 1944) 2. Tintin in the Congo (1930–1931, 1931, 1946) 13. The Seven Crystal Balls (1943–1946, 1948) 3. Tintin in America (1931–1932, 1932, 1945) 14. Prisoners of the Sun (1946–1948, 1949) 4. Cigars of the Pharaoh (1932–1934, 1934, 15. Land of Black Gold (1948–1950, 1950, 1971) 1955) 16. Destination Moon (1950–1953, 1953) 5. The Blue Lotus (1934–1935, 1936, 1946) 17. Explorers on the Moon (1950–1953, 1954) 6. The Broken Ear (1935–1937, 1937, 1943) 18. The Calculus Affair (1954–1956, 1956) 7. The Black Island (1937–1938, 1938, 1943, 19. The Red Sea Sharks (1956–1958, 1958) 1966) 20. Tintin in Tibet (1958–1959, 1960) 8. King Ottokar's Sceptre (1938–1939, 1939, 21. The Castafiore Emerald (1961–1962, 1963) 1947) 22. Flight 714 (1966–1967, 1968) 9. The Crab with the Golden Claws (1940–1941, 23. Tintin and the Picaros (1975–1976, 1976) 1941, 1943) 24. Tintin and Alph-Art (1986, 2004) Unfinished 10. The Shooting Star (1941–1942, 1942) work, published posthumously © Copyright Rocque French, 2007-2013. All rights reserved. Tintin and Snowy Tintin is a young Belgian reporter who becomes involved in dangerous cases in which he takes heroic action to save the day. Almost every adventure features Tintin hard at work in his investigative journalism, but seldom is he seen actually turning in a story. He is a young man of neutral attitudes and boy scout ideals; in this respect, he represents the everyman. Readers and critics have described Tintin as a well-rounded yet open-ended, intelligent and imaginative character, noting that his rather neutral personality—sometimes labelled as bland—permits a balanced reflection of the evil, folly and foolhardiness which surrounds him. His boy-scout ideals, which represent Hergé's own, are never compromised by the character, and his status allows the reader to assume his position within the story, rather than merely following the adventures of a strong protagonist.[17] Tintin's iconic representation enhances this aspect, with Scott McCloud noting that it "allows readers to mask themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world."[18] Snowy (Milou in the original version), a white fox terrier, is Tintin's four-legged companion. The bond between Snowy and Tintin is very deep as they have saved each other from perilous situations many times. Snowy frequently "speaks" to the reader through his thoughts (often displaying a dry sense of humour), which are supposedly not heard by the human characters in the story. Snowy has nearly let Tintin down on occasion, particularly when distracted by a bone. Like Captain Haddock, he is fond of Loch Lomond brand Scotch whisky, and his occasional bouts of drinking tend to get him into trouble, as does his arachnophobia. Captain Haddock Captain Archibald Haddock, a seafaring captain of disputed ancestry (he may be of Belgian, French, or Scottish origin), is Tintin's best friend, who was introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws. Haddock was initially depicted as a weak and alcoholic character, but later became more respectable. He evolves to become genuinely heroic and even a socialite after he finds a treasure captured by his ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock. The Captain's coarse humanity and sarcasm act as a counterpoint to Tintin's often implausible heroism; he is always quick with a dry comment whenever the boy reporter seems too idealistic. Captain Haddock lives in the luxurious mansion Marlinspike Hall. Haddock uses a range of colourful insults and curses to express his feelings, such as "billions of blue blistering barnacles" (sometimes just "blistering barnacles", "billions of blistering barnacles", or "blue blistering barnacles"), "ten thousand thundering typhoons" (sometimes just "thundering typhoons"), "troglodyte", "bashi-bazouk", "visigoths", "kleptomaniac", "ectoplasm", "sea gherkin", "anacoluthon", "pockmark", "nincompoop", "abominable snowman", "nitwits", "scoundrels", "steam rollers", "parasites", "vegetarians", "floundering oath", "carpet seller","blundering Bazookas", "Popinjay", "bragger", "pinheads", "miserable slugs", "ectomorph", "maniacs", "freshwater swabs", "miserable molecule of mildew", and "Fuzzy Wuzzy", but nothing that is actually considered a swear word. Haddock is a hard drinker, particularly fond of rum and of Loch Lomond scotch whisky; his bouts of drunkenness are often used for comic effect. Captain Haddock remained without a first name until the last completed story, Tintin and the Picaros. © Copyright Rocque French, 2007-2013. All rights reserved..