Tintin Forums

In America, I grew up reading Tintin, Asterix, Spike and Suzy, and Lucky Luke books. Now living in Europe, I've read a lot of other European comic books from the 1950s to present, but none of them are really that good as Tintin? Why are Tintin books 100 times better than all the other European comics? Herge really had, and still has, no competition. Why? Are there really no other European graphic novelists that don't know how to balance story, characters, art, drama, humor, and re-reading factor as well as Herge did?

It's a big subject you've taken on there, toddly, and a little difficult to see how anyone can actually tackle it fairly, as you have already closed the argument, as it were, by discounting all other comics.

It isn't really possible to answer until everyone else has read every European comic-book ever, and also found them wanting.

It's true that the Tintin books are a winning combination of art and story telling, but it would be pointless, in my humble opinion to write off Asterix, Lucky Luke, The Trigan Empire, Corto Maltese, Largo Winch, The Blue Jackets, Zig and Puce, not to mention The Bash Street Kids, Judge Dredd, Billy the Cat, Zip Nolan, Steel Claw, Janus Stark, Charlie Peace, Captain Hurricaine, Robot Archie, Dan Dare and other U.K. comics (which are also European) and many many more, as a result...

Hmmm... I would say though that "Asterix" is just as good as "Tintin". Well, almost.
Some of the best "Lucky Luke" adventures are great as well.
And we shouldn't torget two more favorites of mine: "Gaston Lagaffe" and "Iznogoud".

I should believe it is everyone's personal decision. It is natural to proclaim that Tintin is the best European comic on a forum based on Tintin. But it would hardly be the case and would be challenged outright in Asterix, Lucky Luke and other forums based on European comics, if there exists any.

I would say that it's an impossible question. There's always going to be people who prefer, say, Alix or Barreli(?), and then they would have to be challenged by other non-fans too. Like Shivam302001 says, it's a matter of personal opinion.

To take the example further, I'll specialise and say that Alf Tupper (The Tough of the Track) was the best English comic ever made. Then, other fans of English comics would inevitably cry: "What about Marney the Fox, Von Hoffman's Invasion, Galaxus and the rest of them...they're far better!"

At their best, the first three were co-authored by Rene Goscinny.

Goscinny and Uderzo once pointed out that the difference between them and Herge was that Herge came up with a storyline which included gags, whereas they came up with gags which fitted into a storyline. Herge agreed with this view.


But another factor is how much analysis goes into the comics. Dozens of books have been written about Herge and Tintin while other comic creators may get the occasional biography once in a while.

When I go to France and visit major comics stores, there are always several books which analyse Tintin's world: books that look at how his adventures depicted science, the occult, world events, etc. You do not get that many about "Asterix", "Lucky Luke" or "Gaston" or other more obscure (for the English-speaking world) comics.

I have often thought that Tintin's original appeal in the 1930s was largely due to Herge depicting real-life events, like the oppression of the Russian people in "Soviets" (fake factories, fraudulent elections, seizure of grain, etc.), the foreign occupation of China in "Lotus" or the Chaco War (1932–1935) in "Broken Ear". Children would have enjoyed these stories which treated them as mature readers who could be informed about important contemporary issues. Other comics tended to focus just on adventures or slapstick comedy.

Even if the above issues were largely forgotten by the 1980s (when I started reading "Tintin") the fact that the books still kept a mature tone admits the comedy appealed to modern readers like me and might explain his continued popularity. "Broken Ear"'s tin-pot dictatorships and corrupt businessmen could fit into any era (even if it is clearly the 1930s).

Another factor was that at the time many comics were published with lengthy lines of text describing the action and the dialogue. This was at the request of parents and teachers who felt that comics as just pictures and speech balloons discouraged children from learning to read. Even in the late 1940s, there were artists like E. P. Jacobs or Laudy who stuck by this method which tended to slow the pace of the story. The fact that Herge used text balloons for short conversations and let the action speak for itself would have been welcomed by many.

I think that if what you like is humour, that kind of humour that makes you laugh a lot, Tintin is not the best cartoon. Tintin can usually produce some smiles; one laugh here and there.
But if you want a healthy combination of mild humour, adventure, mystery, credice non-superhuman characters, then Tintin might be the best option.
That's it! Tintin offers a balanced combination of many factors. You may find some comics that are funnier; some that have better mysteries; some whose main character is stronger or more powerful. But Tintin offers all that, albeit in smaller quantities, but it contains all those ingredients.