Tintin Forums

Last chance to see the exhibition, as it finishes on Sunday! I guess it would be a good idea to hang around the dustbins behind the museum on Monday, as no doubt they’ll be throwing out all those old drawings, crab-meat tins and what-not...! I mean, who’d want that stuff? ;-)

Yes, shame as it was a good exhibition. It would be nice if "Tintin et le ville" or "Tintin Au Pérou" (which is in Holland soon I believe) came over to London... but I sincerely doubt it.

I wonder if the "at sea" exhibition is sailing to any other harbours?

I totally agree - it is to be hoped that the high-profile that this one received has opened the eyes of other UK institutions to the potential of using Tintin as a focus for events.

I was surprised that the “Tibet” one didn’t make it here - it was a first-class Tintin exhibition, and working on behalf of various agencies to highlight the plight of modern-day Tibetans, so it had a purpose beyond that of displaying the Hergé stuff.

Anyway, my girlfriend and I are planning to go for a last look round at the weekend…

Won't be able to make another look round it this weekend, but I'd like to add my praise to the excellent exhibit.

To be honest I can definitely see another Tintin show reaching the UK in the future, since most museums were made free these exhibits bring in much needed funds.

Rik

Well, not being privvy to the books, we can only assume whether it made enough money to call it a fund raising success or not. That’s still to be amnnounced. What it did show was a serious British institution making a serious effort to mount a serious exhibition around Tintin - and kudos to them for that.

I did go around it again today, and there were still little things I hadn’t noticed the last time: for example, I am sure that someone asked some time ago (I’ve searched for the post, but I can’t find it) when Hergé first visited London. Well, I don’t know that it was the first time, but there was a very nice photo of Hergé on a boat on the Thames by the Embankment, taken in 1948. The comment said that he liked to come over as he enjoyed the place, and also that as he was unknown here it gave him an anonymity he no longer had in Brussels.

Going back to commercial success, the shop was reduced to French language editions only for books (no exhibition book!), a variety of unpopular sizes of tee-shirts, and almost the entire stock of over-priced Pixis, LeBlon figures and rockets which were there twelve weeks ago... I mean, £40 for a curious ceramic cereal bowl and a sort of tile with a hole in it, which I think was either a designer egg-cup or a souvenir paint-pallette...! They also had a metre high model of Captain Haddock, which cost nearly £1300, but they had knocked £50 as an end of exhibition incentive... I bought some fridge magnets and another poster.

Roll on the next event!

This was a great event, a really enjoyable day out and I very much hope to see something devoted to Tintin again soon. Perhaps we'll see something of a similar nature when Spielberg's films start to surface - or even (a longer shot) if the Tintin musical is ever resurrected and gets outside of Belgium and France.

By the way, I believe Hergé's first visit to the UK (and London) to have been April 2nd-7th 1937, just as the original serialisation of "The Black Island" was beginning.

Ed

This exhibition sounds great! I was wanting to buy the book but I want to know if it is any good.

Thanks!

The book is very good, and contains many images and ideas from the exhibition; it is a both a lovely souvenir of the event, and a readable, well-researched, piece of Tintin non-fiction (in English!). If you enjoyed the “Companion”, I’m sure you will like the “Tintin at Sea” book too.

I notice that the poster is available on-line from Tintin.com.

Personally, I thought the Tintin At Sea book was of a poor standard. Some good pictures, but generally as dull as ditchwater, with barely enough material to cover over the fact that the whole premise (the Tintin/sea connection is tenuous at best) was exceedingly thin. Of a similar quality, in fact, to The Tintin Companion, which was as tedious a book as you could ever hope not to read about the subject.

That's strange I can see the Tintin at Sea book not being that good but I thought the Tintin: A Complete Companion was great! What's your beef with it?