Bob De Moor - 'Adventures of Uncle Zigomer, Snoe and Snolleke'.

Hi.

There are discussions in the forum about Bob De Moor and his contribution to the Tintin universe. There are also posts where De Moor's own creation 'Barelli' is discussed, but a search has found no mention of another popular series of his from the 1950's - 'The Adventures of Uncle Zigomer, Snoe and Snolleke'.

I feel they deserve a mention in here because it seems clear (from what I have seen of the collected albums) that the series was influenced and inspired by Hergé's work. There were 15 adventures between 1951 and 1956, and I find some of the titles intriguing - 'The Cigarillos of Queen Thia', 'The Black Dragon', 'The Squinting Silver Fox'.

These books are/were available in flemish, dutch, and french - but as far as I know, not in english. I've listed the albums on a webpage at the following address (you can see the album covers there):

The Adventures of Uncle Zigomer, Snoe and Snolleke

Are there any forum members who have this series? I'd be interested to hear your opinion of them. Thanks.

Your best bet is probably to read the invaluable research being done by the Bob De Moor Info site.
They are working with his family's support and blessing to study the work and life of a prolific figure in the BD world.
The Cigarillos of Queen Thia gets looked at here, if that is where you would like to start, but there is abundant data (including never before seen images) on many of Bob's projects, which I am sure will be of interest.

Derdup's link includes an extract from a book in this series in which the Western characters confront an Asian with such colourful remarks as: "prune face", "canari face" and "rice harvester"!

De Moor's PC appears to have been on the same level as Herge's during his "Congo" period.

mct16
Oh dear. I found that page using a Google image search and included it because I wanted to show an example from one of the colourized stories. Believe me when I say I was ignorant of the content, being neither a dutch nor a french speaker.

I believe the page is from the 1954 adventure titled The Yellow Spy.

Political correctness has a place in modern society, and I feel in many cases it can be a good thing if it encourages people to reexamine their attitudes and prejudices.

I feel a little conflicted because I still think the page in question is a fine piece of 'ligne claire' art. I guess I need to decide whether to leave it as-is, or replace it with a different example. PC running rampant?

derdup
Don't worry about it, please. I was just making a passing remark. I was not really being serious. Your webpage is very good and the extract in question does help make a lovely comparison between de Moor's style and Herge's.

As someone with a passion for history, I've never been one who wants to suppress the past for the sake of "political correctness". If westerners did view Asians in such a way in the 1950s then that is the way it was - provided it is not the way now.

It is important to know how people felt as well as what they did.

Besides, based on this page, most of these insults are directed to what appears to be the villain of the plot.

Oncle Zigomar reminds me a bit of Jolyon Wagg, being small, middle-aged, moustached men with oval-shaped noses.

A number of the covers in the above link were redrawn over the years - there's a selection of them on this site. Le Trésor du Brigand and La Grande Pagaille are especially Tintinesque - or rather, Jo Zette & Jocko. The covers look more detailed than the interiors of the books, from the extracts on the Bédétheque site.

De Moor was incredibly skilled in adapting and changing his style, from his work with Hergé or completing EP Jacobs' last Blake and Mortimer volume, or even within the same series - Barelli undergoes stylistic changes between books as well as evolving naturally.

In addition to the site Jock mentioned above - which is an absolute treasure trove of rare artwork plus exemplary commentary - the book Bob de Moor - 40 ans de bande dessinée - 35 ans aux côtés d'Hergé is worth seeking out. It contains interviews with Bob and his collaborators, artwork drawn from all his series, and a lengthy section on his work with Hergé, featuring amongst other things publicity material, sketches for The Black Island and The Red Sea Sharks, and his work on the animated films for Belvision.

mct16 ~~> I just wanted to add that I think the forum is the perfect place to make any 'passing remarks' as you call them, and you were quite right to share your observations here. I'll probably leave my Bob De Moor page as it is, and trust that any readers viewing that Yellow Spy page (with its questionable dialogue) will see it for what it is - an echo of the past, but not the future.

jock123 ~~> Thank you for sharing the link to the B.D. Moor research web site. Lots to read there, with the added bonus of it being an english web site! -- a lucky break for the english speakers among us.

The more I see of these Uncle Zigomer books, the more determined I am to get hold of a few. Of course I will struggle with the french (or dutch), but I have a burning desire to know what on earth 'The Enchanted Sand Carpet' is all about, for example :-}