Recognition in the U.S., that is.
One idea I have as a dream job is as a Tintin scholar, and this would be the perfect time, he’s everywhere…
“Tintin in Tibet” was given to me by my father when I was about 11 years old, and I’ve been a fan of Hergé (née Georges Remi) ever since. Tintin’s adventures always involve international intrigue, solving obscure riddles, and outsmarting very cunning villains. According to Tom McCarthy in Tintin and the Secret of Literature, the twists of plot and characterization found in the Tintin stories are enough to lead us to a definition of Literature while having a lot of fun mining the depths of the psyche that created the stories. The seemingly light-hearted adventures starring Tintin and Haddock hide far darker, richer symbols and themes, many of which could not have been unknown to the author.
While I love the stories, it is probably the crisp, clean, ligne claire style that I enjoy most about these graphic novels (imitated to perfection by cartoonist Joost Swarte, among many others). As such an essential characteristic of the books, I’m interested to see how it is rendered in Spielberg’s motion-capture film series, the first of which is due to be released in 2009. Andy Serkis, best known as Golem in The Lord of the Rings films, is confirmed to play Haddock – just check out his gruff portrayal of record producer Martin Hannett in 24-Hour Party People (2002) of which my favorite line has to be (paraphrased): “I’m a genius, you’re all wankers, you’ll never see me again…you don’t deserve to see me again.”
Other Tintin links:
The Adventures of Tintin – Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin
Recent article about a pornographic Tintin comic entitled, “The Pink Lotus”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/arts/19arts-SPAINPULLSBO_BRF.html
Reading on the Subway. 