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Spirou: Is he "the closest thing" to Tintin?

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Cedric
Member
#1 · Posted: 18 Jul 2017 20:31
Hi, I am Belgian and I am shocked how many people talk about Asterix on this Tintin forum.

Tintin is pretty much my life: it's my main interest; but I also know that Spirou is in fact the other Belgian comic most like Tintin.

Asterix is nothing like Tintin or Spirou.

The closest thing to Tintin is the other Belgian reporter/ adventurer: Spirou!
jock123
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 18 Jul 2017 23:05
It was interesting that you chose to spell "Tintin" as "Tin Tin" when making your case about how popular he is...! ;-) (Don't worry, we've corrected the spelling so that your message will show up when people search the site...)

The main reason that you'll see people talk more about Asterix than Spirou is that Asterix as a series of books has been far more successful outside of French/ Flemish speaking countries; Spirou remains largely unknown on a global scale.

It also depends on what you think of in terms of being "like" something else - Tintin and Spirou may both have mystery-type adventures, but Spirou and Asterix are visually more similar (although still different), more "cartoony" than the meticulous "clear-line" of Hergé.

In fact this may be one of the reasons Spirou hasn't taken off outside of parts of Europe: he may not ultimately have a unique feature to hang his books on.
Cedric
Member
#3 · Posted: 18 Jul 2017 23:49
Yea I wasn't thinking about spelling when typing. One of my first times posting on here ;).

Anyway getting to my point, I am happy to join this forum - Tintin and Spirou are my favorite comic characters ever! :)

Spirou is very unique and basically a second Tintin - if it wasn't for Tintin we wouldn't have Spirou!
To me Jijé is a second Hergé.
Spirou and Tintin are very awesome Belgian comics.
While the type of art style may be different, Spirou is basically like if Tintin was to use that art style!
But like if I am going to talk about similar comics to Tintin, I am not going to say Asterix - I would say Spirou. The two Reporters! :)

Spirou is also closer to Tintin in content, and Spirou looks like Tintin! :D.
They got very similar video games on the Gameboy, with the same logo!

Moderator Note: Welcome, and thanks for your support and enthusiasm! We would ask that you do pay attention to your spelling, as it does help! :-)
prairiegrass
Member
#4 · Posted: 28 Jul 2017 05:52
How does Franquin's Gaston Lagaffe fit in to the comparison? I don't speak French well, so I've never properly read it. But I also recently read that, after 60 years or so an English version is about to be published. They are calling him "Gomer Goof." I'm excited about that!
mct16
Member
#5 · Posted: 29 Jul 2017 19:42
Gaston is more of a gag series about the pranks and blunders of an office boy. Each gag only covers a page, a bit like a Sunday page comic in a newspaper. Thus "Gaston" is not really a series about travel and adventure like "Tintin" or "Asterix" and Gaston is more of a lazy, accident-prone, childish, bungling idiot than the heroic, daring and adventurous characters of the other series.
jock123
Moderator
#6 · Posted: 29 Jul 2017 23:56
prairiegrass:
after 60 years or so an English version is about to be published.

There actually were earlier translations in English - that's why the new books are using the "Gomer Goof" name, as it's the one already established in the language by Fantagraphics.
Eivind
Member
#7 · Posted: 3 Dec 2017 11:45
Spirou is my favourite comic of all times, above both Tintin and Asterix.
For some reason, the series have not been published much in English.
My mother tongue is Norwegian, and in Norway all the albums in the main series, plus some in the additional "one shot" series (Le Spirou de...), have been published.
There are indeed many similarities.
Both series have eccentric inventors.
There are also similarities between Fantasio and Haddock.
Both Tintin and Spirou are reporters.
They both have a small animal. While Tintin has a dog, Spirou has a squirrel (!).
ObelixFan
Member
#8 · Posted: 16 Mar 2018 19:48
In my opinion, Asterix is much more like Tintin than Spirou.

Asterix and Tintin go on more traditional-style adventures than Spirou.
Spirou can always change while Tintin and Asterix always stay the same.
Tintin and Asterix have more similar characters, and they are also are somewhat the opposite of Spirou and Dupuis by French comics in my opinion.
Also Asterix and Tintin reference each other, like when the Thom(p)sons appear in Asterix in Belgium. Even on Spirou's 75th Anniversary when Spirou is with his friends, like the Smurfs and Marsupilami, there is a parody picture of Tintin and Asterix with U.S. comic characters outside of Champignac.
mct16
Member
#9 · Posted: 17 Mar 2018 20:40
A Spirou adventure was published in 2008 called "Le journal d'un ingénu" ("Diary of an Naive Man"). It is set in the 1930s and includes a scene where Spirou joins a group of boys to play football. Rather than his usual groom outfit, he is dressed in a yellow shirt and plus-four-like trousers. As a result the other boys tease him, calling him "Tintin". One of them even says: "My father says Tintin's a fascist!" (Not untrue given that he was at the time published in a paper edited by a fascist priest.)
advnarayan
Member
#10 · Posted: 17 Apr 2018 04:17
I believe Goscinny- Uderzo's creation Luc Junior is more closer to Tintin. He too is a globetrotting reporter and got a faithful canine companion. Pity the series has never found its English avatar (as yet) Has anybody else felt so

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