Comic Book Resources

Straight for the art: Tintin sketchbook

O'Malley's Tintin

One of the highlights for me at this year's SPX was having Top Shelf's Leigh Walton show me his impressive Tintin-themed sketchbook featuring art by folks like Bryan Lee O'Malley, Jeff Lemire, Kate Beaton, Jeffrey Brown and many others. Thankfully, Walton has put up a Flickr set of the sketchbook, so that all from near and far can revel in it. Great snakes, what fun!

Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes

Marvel

Publishing | Kim Masters casts a spotlight on Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter, who stands to make about $1.5 billion in the Disney-Marvel deal: "Perlmutter is a man of mystery in Hollywood and beyond — go ahead, try to find a picture of him. He’s so committed to keeping things secretive that a studio source says Perlmutter attended the premiere of Iron Man disguised in glasses and a moustache — though it’s unclear how anyone would have recognized him if he’d just come as himself. In Monday’s conference call with investors about the deal, Perlmutter’s voice was never heard." [The Daily Beast]

Publishing | This announcement, made over the weekend, was nearly lost amid the Disney-Marvel mayhem: Japanese publishing giants Shogakkan and Shueisha, co-owners of Viz Media, have purchased two European distributors of anime for an undisclosed amount. Paris-based Kaze and Berlin-based Anime Virtual will be merged into Viz Media Europe in September. [Variety]

Publishing | The shutdown of anime distributor and manga publisher A.D. Vision appears to be complete, as the company announces the last assets of its ADV Films division have been transferred to other companies. [Anime News Network]

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Great snakes, it's a papercraft Tintin!

Watch out for that Loch Lochmond

Have some free time on your hands today? Why not download and try putting together this swell papercraft version of Herge's Tintin. It would look great on your shelf. Myself, I'm waiting for the Bianca Castafiore version. (via the Ephemerist, once again. Photo courtesy of Cleber Machado)

Straight for the art | Tintin subway murals

Tintin mural

Yet another reason to visit Belgium before you die.

Straight for the art | Tintin + Fantastic Four mash-up

from Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures #1

" ... it's what happens when Paul Tobin has 2 extra pages in Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures #1 and asks me if I want to do a short homage to Herge."

And Dustin Weaver does a fantastic homage to Herge. Paul Tobin shows a few more panels on his blog.

Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures #1 is due in stores June 24.

I ain't got time to bleed, Snowy

From "Tintin vs. Predator," by Jesse Hamm

Cartoonist Jesse Hamm presents Tintin vs. Predator, the matchup you secretly wished would happen.

Trace the globe-trotting adventures of the world's most famous boy reporter

From "Travels of a Boy Reporter"

I'm not as knowledgeable as I'd like about all things Herge, but that doesn't prevent me from thoroughly being impressed by Chris Tregenza's "Travels of a Boy Reporter," which maps all of Tintin's adventures around the globe. A mouse-click leads you to information about the locations -- both real and fictional -- and the adventures in which they appeared.

(via The Ephemerist)

Tintin and the $1.3 million luxury sub

Red Rackham's Treasure

Professor Calculus' shark-shaped minisub from The Adventures of Tintin has become a reality -- albeit a pricey one.

The Deep Flight Super Falcon, designed by Graham Hawkes, possesses two sets of wings and two tail fins that allows it to do barrel rolls with dolphins while traveling at speeds of up to 6 knots.

The base price, CNN reports, is $1.3 million. Another model, with open cockpits, is available for $350,000.

Calculus' shark-shaped submarine first appeared in 1943 in The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure, by Herge. In the story, the eccentric scientist offers the use of his invention so that Tintin and Captain Haddock won't be harassed by sharks while searching for a sunken ship.

Calculus' submersible also plays a role in the 1927 animated film Tintin and the Lake of Sharks and its comic-book adaptation, which Hawkes cites in the CNN article.

Today is Tintin's 80th birthday

Tintin and Snowy

I plan on celebrating by buying a white Scottie dog, befriending an inebriated sea captain and thwarting a string of drug smugglers and slave traders. All the while being pursued by two identical policemen. Then I'll read this BBC article.

Ironically, when it comes to Tintin the person, it is perhaps his very internationality that is his undoing. Euro-characters who do well in the States - James Bond, but also those portrayed by Hugh Grant and Gerard Depardieu - often play on national stereotypes and foible-laden sophistication. Herge, however, went out of his way to deny Tintin any specific Belgicite, underlining rather his international features.

And then I'll go to Tibet.

Tintin in Tibet