me like Franco-Belgian comics

[Kevin]

This is an incidental/triviality which is why I'm posting it way over here and not on the diavlog... the comics person in me looked at the art print behind Michael Young in the new Bob & Michael Young diavlog about Lebanon & Syria and said 'zing... I know that font.... it's the Tintin font. What is that???'

It turns out it is Blake and Mortimer, _La Marque Jaune_ by Edgar Jacobs. I haven't read it because I am a monolingual dope from the USA and don't understand French. If I understood French, I could read a lot more of the great comics, mostly not translated yet, by the circle of assistants who worked with Herge on the later Tintins, such as Edgar Jacobs and Bob De Moor. Michael Young, you have good taste in prints... Now back to your regularly scheduled Middle East diavlog gravitas and fostering peace through conversation.

[Florian]

Originally Posted by Kevin

This is an incidental/triviality which is why I'm posting it way over here and not on the diavlog... the comics person in me looked at the art print behind Michael Young in the new Bob & Michael Young diavlog about Lebanon & Syria and said 'zing... I know that font.... it's the Tintin font. What is that???'

It turns out it is Blake and Mortimer, _La Marque Jaune_ by Edgar Jacobs. I haven't read it because I am a monolingual dope from the USA and don't understand French. If I understood French, I could read a lot more of the great comics, mostly not translated yet, by the circle of assistants who worked with Herge on the later Tintins, such as Edgar Jacobs and Bob De Moor. Michael Young, you have good taste in prints... Now back to your regularly scheduled Middle East diavlog gravitas and fostering peace through conversation.

Spielberg's Tintin et la licorne has already been released in Europe ahead of its release in the US, rather unusually. Big success so far, but I wonder if it will be a success in the US. Almost every French-speaking child reads the Tintin comics, but the humor is very dated, not to say politically incorrect or even worse.

For example in Tintin en Amérique (1932):

Bank Employee: "Ce matin, lorsque je suis arrivé à la banque, comme d’habitude, j’ai trouvé le patron dans cet état, et le coffre-fort ouvert… J’ai donné l’alarme. On a immédiatement pendu sept nègres, mais le coupable s’est enfui…

When I arrived at the bank as usual this morning, I found the boss in this state (dead), and the safe broken into. I sounded the alarm. Immediately, seven negroes were hanged, and the culprit fled....

Radio : "Voici les évènements de la journée d’hier, d’après le professeur W.R. Law, directeur de l’Office des statistiques : 24 banques ont fermé leurs guichets : 24 banquiers ont été arrêtés. On a kidnappé 35 bébés… 44 nègres ont été lynchés. 150 gallons d’eau de Javel champagnisée ont été saisis par la police : le Coroner et 29 policiers sont à l’hôpital…

Here are the events of yesterday, according to Professor W.R. law, director of the office of statistics: 24 banks were shut down, 24 bankers were arrested, 35 babies kidknapped....44 negroes lynched. 150 gallons of bleach turned into champagne were seized by the police: the coroner and 29 policemen were hospitalized.

[miceelf]

Originally Posted by Florian

Spielberg's Tintin et la licorne has already been released in Europe ahead of its release in the US, rather unusually. Big success so far, but I wonder if it will be a success in the US. Almost every French-speaking child reads the Tintin comics, but the humor is very dated, not to say politically incorrect or even worse.

I grew up on Asterix and Tintin.
Agree with the above assessment.

[Ocean]

Originally Posted by miceelf

I grew up on Asterix and Tintin.
Agree with the above assessment.

Heh. My uncle had an original collection of Tintin comic books in French, of course. I used to read them as a kid, when I was bored while visiting my aunt and uncle. I don't know what I understood of the text since at that age I hadn't learned any French yet. But I definitely loved the graphics and my favorite Milou.

I wonder where those books went. Such a long time ago!

[stephanie]

Originally Posted by miceelf

I grew up on Asterix and Tintin.

I loved Asterix, but don't recall Tintin, so it's possible I was never exposed. I keep meaning to check it out and see if it bringing back any memories.

[kezboard]

On a kidnappé 35 bébés…

Is this word seriously used in French, or did Herge just use an English word in a French sentence for extra color?

[Florian]

Originally Posted by kezboard

Is this word seriously used in French, or did Herge just use an English word in a French sentence for extra color?

"Kidnapper" is now a French verb. Kidnappeur, a noun. I think they may have come into French around the time Hergé was writing Tintin en Amérique. Unnecessarily..... because you can say "enlever un enfant." Mozart's opera is called in French: L'Enlèvement du serail.

[opposable_crumbs]

Originally Posted by Kevin

This is an incidental/triviality which is why I'm posting it way over here and not on the diavlog... the comics person in me looked at the art print behind Michael Young in the new Bob & Michael Young diavlog about Lebanon & Syria and said 'zing... I know that font.... it's the Tintin font. What is that???'

I never realised quite how political Herge's work was until a recent documentary on the comics, which visited the the old Soviet States with books in hand.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15439963

Speaking of artists getting mixed up in politics, Frank Miller's been getting a lot of heat for the comments on his blog regarding OWS.

[Kevin]

Thanks for the BBC link.

I agree with Florian's critique about the early ones. So it's one of those works where you like it from having grown up with it, but at the same time you are aware of the offensive and dated parts of it.

Frank Miller. I'm not surprised this is where he would be on OWS. I like certain things about him - he loves the medium. Dark Horse published a book-length conversation between him and Will Eisner, _Eisner/Miller_ and I loved that. But he has always had this harshness - sadistic characters, a reverence for not just capturing the Joker or whoever, but making them suffer. I'm not too surprised there are right-wingers in comics.... Steve Ditko loves the medium too.

A few posts back, he has a drawing of a giant dinosaur eating a member of Al-Qaeda. And a commenter calls him on his absolutism. "how many innocent civilians do ya think your buddy's gonna eat after he's filled up on terrorists, genius?"