A Rare Tintin Page Raises Complicated Questions

Most comic book heroes sport fancy costumes and supernatural abilities, but one of the most beloved characters to be put to ink and paper is best known for his hairstyle: close-cropped red hair, worn in a quiff that miraculously never sags.

That, of course, is Tintin.

Created almost a century ago by the Belgian artist George Remi, better known as “Hergé,” Tintin’s adventures have taken the intrepid boy reporter and his companions from the jungles of South America to the surface of the moon and back -- all without ever appearing to be on deadline or even file a story. But these comics are more than just children’s stories: for many Europeans, where comics have long been considered fine art, Hergé’s work is foundational to the medium. Now, a pair of his original pages are on display at Gallery Danese/Corey in Manhattan, the first time they have been shown in the U.S.

“It's perfect,” said curator Phillippe Labaune. “It's color is perfect, the rhythm is perfect, it's perfectly executed.”

But the clarity of Hergé's final artwork belies a problematic past. The first place to publish the Tintin comics in 1929 was a right-wing Belgian newspaper that collaborated with the Nazis, and one of the earliest collections, “Tintin in the Congo,” was little more than a pro-colonialist screed that trafficked in the worst racist stereotypes of African people. Hergé also frequented in bigoted depictions of other people from around the world, including Native Americans and Jewish and Chinese people.

“When I read those comics as a child, all of those things washed over me,” said Krishnadev Calamur, who wrote about his experience as a longtime fan grappling with the comic’s racist history in a 2016 essay for The Atlantic. “You don't really pay attention to portrayal and depiction, it's about the hero solving crimes, having adventures.”

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