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I love Tintin! People in the US grew up with Marvel comic books. We grew up with Tintin, as did our parents before us. Can't wait to see what people do with it.
by thevillagechief 2y ago
I love Tintin! People in the US grew up with Marvel comic books. We grew up with Tintin, as did our parents before us. Can't wait to see what people do with it.
- lordgrenville 2y agoGreat news. The copyright owners of Tintin are very litigious [0]. I have some "Tintin in Vietnam" prints at home that are commonly sold in SE Asia [1]. Those street vendors will be happy to know that they're in the clear now. [0] See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39625647 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39625647 [1] eg https://old.reddit.com/r/TheAdventuresofTintin/comments/c0pvgn/tintin_in_vietnam/ https://old.reddit.com/r/TheAdventuresofTintin/comments/c0pv...
- magicalhippo 2y agoAs well as Tintin, I also got Spirou[1], and my personal favorite, Gaston[2]. Gaston was more short format, but the slapstick humor and absurd scenarios really resonated with me as a kid. They were translated to Norwegian and came in bound books. Still have them. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirou_%26_Fantasio https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirou_%26_Fantasio [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_(comics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_(comics)
- tekkk 2y agoWow, haven't seen those images in a long time. I can't recall where I read this Gaston comic—translated of course—but I have never laughed so much at comic strips in my life. I still remember that cigarette machine he built as well as alcoholmeter. Should have been made into cartoon series, but seeing how old it is I wonder if it was before its time. It really had an originality unlike anything I've read before or since.
- arp242 2y agoIt's The Office of the 50s-80s. Amazingly it wasn't translated into English until 2017, which is probably why it's lesser known outside of Europe. I assume this is because the translation rights/contracts with Mr. De Mesmaeker took a long time to get signed.
- pvaldes 2y agoIf you like cartoons and find a comic of Gaston somewhere in USA, just grab it. Is a gem.
- anthk 2y agoAs a Spaniard, Gaston and such were the main reference for the Bruguera School (Mortadelo y Filemón and such).
- pvaldes 2y agoMore than a reference. Ibañez, the creator of Mortadelo stole a lot from the creator of Gaston. He even created a character, Sacarino that was an obvious plagiarism (a mix of Gaston and Spirou). When pressed by deadlines the young Ibañez recycled entire vignettes and old histories redrawn with his own characters. He disliked the character but it grow so popular that couldn't stop drawing it. Finally Ibañez removed the character and apologized to the master Franquin for that.
- anthk 2y agoSacarino didn't end until the 80's. The point is Bruguera was highly exploitative with crazy deadlines and tons of short stories published, even from ghost writers. Ibañez was milked down. If he had a slower pace, yes, it could still create long story albums similar to the Franco-Belgian trend, but with its own detailed style. Such as the ones from El Sulfato Atómico and Valor y Al Toro, where you can see the obvious inspration from Gaston/Spirou, but you can also spot his own style on depicting the environment. Don't blame Ibañez, but the publisher.
- nom 2y agoOh man I remember Gaston, I found some books in the library as a kid and loved them. I distinctly remember his car, he once modified it to run on wood-gas.
- jhbadger 2y agoThey (and the Asterix books) were pretty common in language learning classes in the US. Obviously, primarily French as that was the original language, but because both series have been translated into nearly every European language (and beyond) they are also useful for others -- we read translated Tintin and Asterix in my German classes as well.
- nicolas_t 2y agoWhat's interesting is that some of the Asterix were even translated in local dialects. It's the only comic I've ever read in Plattdeutsch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_German https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_German). We also read it in a Latin class because some of the albums were translated in Latin (nice break between trying to translate texts from Cicero)
- throwaway48476 2y agoI'm from the US and I grew up with tintin and asterix.
- graemep 2y agoIf you are in the EU or the UK then copyright on Tintin will not expire for another 29 years. In the UK they apparently have a maximum 95 year term. EU law was harmonised by setting minimum (not not maximum for some reason) terms of life +70 for most things (I think recorded music is an exception).
- graemep 2y agoTypo, just spotted. Should read "In the US they apparently have a 95 year maximum term" In the EU they brought books that had expired copyright (e.g. in the Uk which used to be life +50) back into copyright. This also did not happen in the US when it extended copyright to life + 70).
- korkybuchek 2y ago[flagged]
- daedrdev 2y agowhat do you even mean by this? I can't understand what your take is.
- korkybuchek 2y agohttps://xkcd.com/305/ https://xkcd.com/305/
- ChrisClark 2y agoWhy do you immediately think of sexual things? We're talking about Tintin here...
- labster 2y agoIf Tintin in the Congo is the part entering the public domain, perhaps a yikes is in order?
- screye 2y agoSame here. I grew up on Asterix & Tintin comics. Some of the most idyllic parts of my childhood. The smell of old books, dusty libraries, and having to pick 1 book per month from what seemed like endless shelves of these comics.
- elevaet 2y agoI learned more (dubious) Roman history from Asterix than all other sources combined
- andrepd 2y agoHighly unlikely you learned any history from Astérix ahaha x) But I did learn about plenty of European and French regional stereotypes!
- irrational 2y agoI did learn the Romans had been in what became France, a fact I didn’t know beforehand.
- elevaet 2y agoHah fair enough, point taken!
- netdevphoenix 2y agowhy 1 book per month? seems overly strict
- diggan 2y agoAs someone who grew up on a small island with 700 people on it, with one tiny library that I could borrow unlimited amount of comic books from (a lot of Tintin and Asterix :) ), that does sound strange.
- irrational 2y ago
- javiramos 2y ago[flagged]
- littlestymaar 2y agoIt is indeed, and not just Tintin in Congo, but as you say its racists elements come from the historical background the author was working on and not because Hergé was trying to promote racist views (except for Tintin in Congo BTW, because it was ordered by a very conservative editor as a propaganda work, like Hergé's first book Tintin chez les Soviets).
- coldtea 2y ago>Recently though, a friend of mine highlighted many of its racist elements stemming from its colonial context That's part of what makes art good: it reflects its time, warts and all, it's not just something pandering to the current sensibilities.
- brookst 2y agoAre you saying it is good that older art pandered to its era’s sensibilities, but it is bad that current art panders to ours? It seems to follow that the bad pandering today becomes good pandering after some amount of time? It is a classic challenge with art: whether to view it in the context of its time or as self contained and removed from its context. Dunno if either view is better; they serve different purposes. But I do think it’s notable that art from the same era, created by people with similar backgrounds, can vary widely in how much it parrots what we consider to be “warts” from the era. Compare Jan Eyre and North and South: authors with similar social contexts, yet one perpetuates racist/colonial stereotypes and doesn’t question Victorian ideas about class, and one is much more modern in its view of gender and class. I’m not sure I would say that part of what makes Jan Eyre good is its unquestioning colonialism. It’s a great book, no doubt, but its prejudices are a weakness, not a strength.
- coldtea 2y ago>Are you saying it is good that older art pandered to its era’s sensibilities, but it is bad that current art panders to ours? Art can be good whether it panders to sensibilities or not. There are many more factors involved than that. For art involving social critique it's best to not pander, but not all art is like that. But once it's created, it should be left to reflect its era, its creator, and the actual semtiments he had and wanted to express. Not retrofitted with later moral posturings. >Compare Jan Eyre and North and South: authors with similar social contexts, yet one perpetuates racist/colonial stereotypes and doesn’t question Victorian ideas about class, and one is much more modern in its view of gender and class. They are not redducible to one another though, as they cover different aspects of life, from different angles and viewpoints. We should preserve Bronte's viewpoint though, not erase it or reject it, or keep the plot and change it's views and morals to our taste.
- 1123581321 2y agoAmerican here; our kids pore over their Tintin books. I suspect we’re part of a trend; unsure how large. I vaguely knew about Tintin growing up but never had the opportunity to read more than a few pages, and no friend ever brought them up.
- aetherson 2y agoMy wife and I both read them in our childhoods, and we bought them dor our kids a couple years ago and they really enjoyed them.
- agnishom 2y agoI love Tintin too. But I recently asked two different French individuals about Tintin, and they are not a fan -- they think Tintin is racist.
- coldtea 2y agoThey just repeated like parrots the stereotypes of today, instead of those of Herge's time.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- pvaldes 2y agoTintin is not a French comic, is from Belgium. And the first two comics are controversial, but also a product of that age. Blue Lotus also depicts a terrible image of Japanese. Asterix is more consistent, complex and rewarding for adults. A part of Asterix has dated also because the endless cameos of real people popular in that years don't mean so much for new generations. Other European comic in the big leagues is the Spanish Mortadelo and Filemon. If Tintin is adventure and Asterix is clever wordplay, Mortadelo embraces directly sadistic fun in its wild own way. If you don't know them still, see the film "Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission implausible" for a good glimpse of that world. You'll thank me later.
- kombookcha 2y agoMy pitch to American readers is that Mortadelo & Filemon is like raunchy Spy VS Spy with Tom & Jerry characteristics. In fact, if you liked the old British TV sitcom Bottom, you'll likely enjoy M&F.
- pvaldes 2y agoVery good definition. Definitely Tom-and-Jerry-esque mixed with blue collar scroundrel overtones. I would expect to have more new Tintin comics as result, but probably will be at most a good falsification (Don't made me make talk about the new "Lord of the rings" film).