Tintin Forums

In another thread ('Flight 714: type of bird'*), the existence and role of puns in the corpus has been debated...

The question is "How come some puns are 'rebus markers', and some aren't"?

If an armless Tintin really meant he is harmless*, then the terrorist (Soviets, 2nd plate, frame 2) would be as well, and any villain whose arm isn't seen would be too...

Thus the choice of the (h)armless Tintin's pun doesn't seem to be based on sensible internal data*, but to be arbitrary, contrary to the 'sympathique'* /'5-pattes' Snowy (original Soviets, 1st plate, frame 1+2), a very childish but still coherent pun, where both text & image match rather well rebuswise with a defined character...


* please search for related topics.

You still haven’t shown any evidence that the drawing shows five legs…

I’d also point out that Hergé indicates that Snowy doesn’t have five legs!!

If you look at the text in the first box it says “son sympathique”; if you can mangle sympathique into “cinq pattes” (actually “cinq pattes - eek!!”), you are missing the fact that the full pun is “sans cinq pattes - eek!!”… Without five legs/ paws/feet…

There is no pun; there are no five legs…

jock123
There is no pun; there are no five legs

Still all the people I asked around did see these 5 legs...

...and the original drawing by Herge in Farr's book, or better in 'Debuts d'Herge' by Goddin shows that Snowy's outline was clearly delineated by white painting added on the transparent papier, including the legs...

I can't prove this enhancement was done by Herge himself, nor that he is the author of the Soviets, though...

PS: if you really need to see the five childish 'HIC' uttered by Snowy, please look in King's Ottokar Sceptre original version, just after he leaves the Klow with a full belly...

Surely some would have been better than Herge to hint at an invisible rebus...

yamilah
the original drawing by Herge in Farr's book, or better in 'Debuts d'Herge' by Goddin shows that Snowy's outline was clearly delineated by white painting added on the transparent papier, including the legs...
Actually I saw this in the Chronologie where it is clear that quite a lot of areas have had white applied to them - the pipe of Tintin’s edior, for example, is drawn on a patch of white; it’s only a form of correction fluid.

The so-called “fifth leg” has not been filled in in the same way, or to the same extent as the rest of Snowy, if in fact it has been retouched at all. My interpretation is that the “leg” is in fact merely a line intended to show the edge of Tintin’s black sock on a dark back-ground,or something such as his suitcase sitting behind him.

Yet again you neglect to address the mediocre nature of your pun, and you don’t explain how yours stands up better than the one with the addition of “sans”…

PS: if you really need to see the five childish 'HIC' uttered by Snowy, please look in King's Ottokar Sceptre original version, just after he leaves the Klow with a full belly...
If I need to see what? And why?

jock123
Actually I saw this in the Chronologie (...) The so-called "fifth leg" has not been filled in in the same way, or to the same extent as the rest of Snowy, if in fact it has been retouched at all.

Interesting remark.
Could someone please scan the debated Soviets's frame shown in the 'Chronologie'?

Thanks in advance.

??????? snowy(milou) 5 legs , is this an otical ilution thing??????

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I’m really lost here.

Moderator: Combined two consecutive posts.

rue du labrador

I’m really lost here.

yamilah is refering to a discussion which went on here; he believes that by use of puns and images, Hergé hid a message in the Tintin books. He believes that the first page of Soviets shows Snowy with five legs, and that Hergé was making a pun on the word “sympathique” (in French), and “cinq pattes” (five legs/paws).

It has to be said that the pun as such is very weak, that the drawing is ambiguous at best, and that in spite of his best efforts, yamilah has had a hard time persuading the members of this and other forums on the internet of his thesis.

(Yamilah) believes that by use of puns and images, Herge hid a message in the Tintin books. He believes that the first page of Soviets shows Snowy with five legs, and that Herge was making a pun on the word "sympathique" (in French), and "cinq pattes" (five legs/paws).
It has to be said that the pun as such is very weak, that the drawing is ambiguous at best

Thanks for bringing up that 77 years old subject!
It seems Herge actually realized his mutant* Snowy would be seen as 'weak' by some sceptical readers, for my kids (who can't help counting 5 legs in Soviets's 3rd frame!) also found Tintin's dog can be a mutant* with 4 legs only!
This unpublished anatomical phenomena can be seen in some of the most sympathetic* albums, when Snowy runs, which might be of some help...

Then of course the best thing to do would be to take advice from animal rather than from human sciences. Thanks in advance to the interested vets!


in spite of his best efforts, yamilah has had a hard time persuading the members of this and other forums on the internet of his thesis.

Who knows? Maybe the most relevant brainstorming occurs privately, and the forums are given the bare living of it, in order not to spoil a game that can be played by anyone interested in rebus reading?



* please search for related threads.

yamilah

Maybe the most relevant brainstorming occurs privately, and the forums are given the bare living of it (...)

Just for the public record, I privately brainstormed your 'five legged/cinq pattes/sympathique' theory and came to the conclusion that Hergé might well have intended it, it's just that there is no other hard evidence to back it up. No offence yamilah, but to my mind all of the evidence you have presented thus far has been at best far-fetched and at worst extremely dubious.

(...) in order not to spoil a game that can be played by anyone interested in rebus reading?

I believe this "tracking game" to be something you have invented. In light of the fact that noone else on the forum has ever come forward in accepting your theory I'd lay bets that most would agree with that.

If you ever do find some real evidence for your rebus theory I'll happily accept it. Until then please feel free to try and convince everybody, it's just I doubt you'll have much luck!

I sure enjoy the deeper and more philosophical/esoteric aspects of Tintin as well as the straigforward slapstick comedy. But the whole thing with a tracking game, spatio-temporal faults, rebuses, indian language and what have you seems like finding nuclear power in an ice-cream, it is not there. Hergé obviously made some errors in the albums we all know that, and some where made because he didn't know better (mostly early albums) and some where just plain mistakes or oversights. With a corpus so full of details it is not strange that there was some minor errors. I think that the errors make the series more human, but they are not so many that they flaw the whole series.

No disrespect Yamilah but I don't get the points you are making, even though I try and your sentences are quite hard to read/understand every time. Could you please write in a less complicated manor?