02 - ‘Tintin in the Congo’ (1931) || Radio Tintin

Above: Belgian missionary with Congolese children.

Below: Reading Le Petit Vingiteme in the Congo (issue unkown).

Maricq, Dominique. Herge and the Treasures of Tintin. Goodman, 2014.

While Hergé’s initial few stories were light on the meticulous research that would later come to mark the series, the Congolese ‘leopard man’ costume he discovered at the Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren instantly captured his imagination and was replicated faithfully in ‘Tintin in the Congo’.

The opening panel was changed in the 1946 edition to include contemprary characters Thompson and Thomson. Herge includes himself as the blonde journalist with a long nose.

Farr, Michael. Tintin: the Complete Companion. Egmont, 2011.

The revised edition replaces Tintin’s lesson on Belgium with one on mathematics. Snowy remains a snitch in both versions

Cover of Le Petit Vingiteme, May 29, 1930.

Maricq, Dominique. Herge and the Treasures of Tintin. Goodman, 2014.

Outisde the offices of Le Vingtieme Siecle, Tintin “returns” from the Congo. Herge is visible on the far side of the balcony.

Daubert, Michel, and Hergé . Tintin: the Art of Hergé. Abrams ComicArts, 2018.