12 - Hergé, Le Soir, and the Second World War || Radio Tintin

Cover for the August 17th issue of Le Petit Vingtiéme, teasing Tintin’s next adventure. The Land of Black Gold would begin, but never complete, serialization in the publication.

The original Land of Black Gold had Tintin kidnapped by the Irgun, the real-life Jewish paramilitary group operating in Palestine at the time. Current editions of the story drop all references to the Irgun, while the story instead takes place in a fictional Arabian country.

Sketch of a soldier, created by Hergé to pass the time while mobilized.

The September 28, 1939 cover of Le Petit Vingtiéme.
With Hergé momentarily demobilized, Tintin’s adventure can continue… for now.

The December 28 1939 cover of Le Petit Vingtiéme has Hergé characters Quick and Flupke releasing a dove of peace amongst soldiers of the British, French and Belgian armies. It would not be enough.

The final page to be published in Le Petit Vingtiéme before the paper was effectively shut by the occupying German authorities. Hergé would not return to the story for another ten years.