Call for Papers: The Adventures of Tintin essay collection

Abstracts are now being accepted for inclusion in an anthology to be produced by UK comic scholars on “The Adventures of Tintin.” Proposed essay topics should creatively engage with the critical, philosophical, and social issues explored in the Tintin universe.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Tintin and Hergé
• Tintin and comic book history
• Tintin and detective fiction
• Tintin and the adventure story
• Tintin in translation
• Censorship of Tintin
• Tintin’s spinoffs
• Tintin in adaptations
• Tintin in films
• Tintin clubs
• Tintin and geography
• Tintin and travel
• Travel and colonialism
• Treatment of race in Tintin
• Snowy as sidekick
• Animal welfare
• EcoTintin
• Tintin and gender
• Tintin and masculinity; homosocial relations
• Tintin in criticism

Submission Guidelines:
1. Submission deadline for abstracts (100-500 words) and (one-page) CVs: 30 August, 2012
2. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: 15 December 2012.
3. Submission deadline for final papers: 1 February 2013

Kindly submit abstracts (as Word Document attachment) to BOTH Tyler Shores (tyler.shores@gmail.com) and Tom Ue (ue_tom@hotmail.com).

Tube Surfing: Comics Good for You, Superhero Homage in 2000AD... and Moore

Yes, we know we haven't done one of these for a while: juggling work for ROK Comics and Titan Books as well as a few other things is proving a welcome but all-consuming challenge most days of the week...

• Chris Weston reports on his new 2000AD Future Shock, "Whatever Happened to the Green Pedestrian Palm?", which appears in 2000AD's Christmas issue, Prog 2010, on sale 16 December 2009. "It is cearly inspired by the star of Seventies Public Information Films, The Green Cross Code Man, whose previous comic-strip exploits were handled by The Govenor himself, Mr. Dave Gibbons..." Expect some merry mickey taking of merchandise superheroes, including Mr. Muscle.

• Comics Are Good For You: but that's the message from Carol L. Tilley, a professor of library and information science at the University of Illinois, who insists that looking down upon graphic novels as being inept at benefiting the children is a mistake. She argues comic books are as valuable as any other form of literature to be a part of children's education. So ditch those books and break out the Beano now!

"A lot of the criticism of comics and comic books come from people who think that kids are just looking at the pictures and not putting them together with the words," Tilley said. "Some kids, yes. But you could easily make some of the same criticisms of picture books -- that kids are just looking at pictures, and not at the words." More on this story here on Science Daily.

• We're sorry to report the passing of Belgian Josette Baujot, who has died aged 88, was responsible for colouring Hergé's Tintin albums for more than a quarter of a century during the peak years of his popularity, and established the "colour code" that helped take Tintin far beyond Belgium and France to an international audience. Phil Davison pays tribute to the colourist in The Guardian here.

• Tweeters out there will be pleased to hear that the comics charity Draw the World Together is now on Twitter! Follow its work there

• Comics-related podcast Small Press Big Mouth dropped by CD24's table at BICS 2009, and bought a copy of the Jack in the Box graphic novel. There's an audio review on episode 11 of their podcast, and they've got some really nice things to say about the book and are "infectiously enthusiastic" about the comics scene in general, and you may find some rather cool recommendations (apart from Jack in the Box) if you're stuck for something to read!

• And finally... for those of you who are fans of Alan Moore but are not necessarily on the Alan Moore Yahoo! Group mailing list, Pádraig Ó Méalóid tells us there has recently been a YouTube channel set up to collect all of Alan's appearances that are on YouTube. "We're still adding things to it, so it's by no means complete and definitive," says Padraig, "but it's a good start, at the very least.

"One of the things I'd particularly draw your attention to is the most recent posting, under the name of Alan Moore Swamp Thing Interview. A wee while back I bought a video on eBay which turned out to be something he'd done for DC in about 1985, which I believe was for showing in comics shops and the like, where Alan talks very enthusiastically about his work on Swamp Thing, and about his forthcoming work on Watchmen. With the help of a few different people, I got this put up on YT, as I'm no good with technical stuff, and anyway it's a US video. It's kind of sad to see how enthused he is there, compared to how he feels now after how we was treated by DC."

In Review: Tripwire 2009 Annual... Simply Awesome!

Regular readers of downthetubes will recall that as a result of distributor Diamond's recently-introduced minimum order levels, this latest edition of ace comics and genre magazine Tripwire is not being distributed in the US. (See news story).

While not the only victim of distribution changes brought on by the recession and, we assume, an attempt by Diamond to focus on promoting releases from bigger companies on the assumption they are to be of higher quality than material published by small independents, in the case of Tripwire this decision was a mistake, because the editorial team led by Joel Meadows have really pulled out the stops with this Annual and delivered a jaw-dropping publication well deserving of purchase and wider (that is, US, availabilty).

The magazine's stunning "Samuel l. Jackson as Nick Fury" cover by Jeff Carlisle (prompted by an in-depth look at Marvel Comics and its 70th anniversary) is the first indication of the title's quality. Design throughout is also superb, with strong text carefully counter-balanced with no shortage of great visuals - both art and photographic. (I'd argue for a consistent three-column layout and same point size throughout in future issues, but this niggly editorial view shouldn't diminish the worth of this product).

Editorially, the annual offers an incredible range of features including an exclusive interview with award-winning genre master Guillermo Del Toro discussing his new novel The Strain as well as a few tidbits on Hellboy 3 and upcoming movie projects; a guide to the critically-acclaimed low budget British sci-fi movie Moon starring Sam Rockwell and directed by Duncan Jones; a Bongo Comics interview with Bill Morrison; an exclusive and beautifully illustrated interview with comics veteran Joe Kubert, a guide to the rise of Tintin and a look at European comics, a handy retrospective to 30 years of Alien films - handy, given news that director Ridley Scott is to return to the franchise; and much, much more, including an eclectic 'Stripwire' section that features comic strips from the likes of Roger Langridge, Declan Shalvey, David Hitchcock and others..

When the project was announced earlier in the year it was described as the best Tripwire yet, and I can only concur - and how. Anyone who argues print is dead should be shown this top-notch, high-quality magazine, to show not only how print still has its place in terms of promoting the comics industry, but also as a template for future magazine publishing in a more digital age.

This is a truly awesome edition of Tripwire - buy it now!

• The Tripwire Annual 2009 is available now from all right-minded and quality comic stores in the UK and online from: www.tripwire-magazine.com

• UK retailers can order Tripwire from Diamond UK, item number APR097907. US retailers should contact Tripwire direct about ordering copies for their stores. Do it now!

• Latest Tripwire news on the Tripwire Twitter feed

• Tripwire on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/31004024@N04

Tripwire's Wild Adventure

2009 is a banner year for the publishers of British comics and fantasy magazine Tripwire. Following hot on the heels of the success of its Superhero Special in March (reviewed here on downthtubes), they're now locked and loaded with the Tripwire Adventure Special.

84 pages of two-fisted features and reviews are topped off with a painted Solomon Kane cover by Mario Guevara launching the lead story on Kane, Conan and the Robert E. Howard properties at Dark Horse Comics, including with interviews with editor Philip Simon and writer Scott Allie.

The magazine also celebrates Belgian boy adventurer Tintin’s 80th birthday with a look back at the character’s history, the forthcoming movie and the artist Herge's influence on creators like Jason Lutes and Garen Ewing (plus there's a preview of the June opening of the Herge museum near Brussels).

Also interviewed is artist Joe Kubert to see what it’s like returning to his creation Tor after many years and talk with SF author Michael Moorcock about his early career and the influence of pulp pioneers like Edgar Rice Burroughs. Speaking of Tarzan, the magazine also explores the art of illustrator J. Allen St. John as well as other great Tarzan artists like Frank Frazetta and Roy Krenkel.

And of course, no adventure magazine worth its salt would be complete without an overview of the latest and greatest from Dynamite, publishers of The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Red Sonja and Buck Rogers.

Add profiles of pulp purveyors like Nostalgia Ventures, talks with Flesk Publications and their adventure artists Mark Schultz and Gary Gianni, graphic novel reviews of key genre comics, stir well and you have a full mix of great adventure content to set your pulse racing.

"This issue cements Tripwire's reputation as a top magazine covering genre media including comics, TV and film," says publisher Joel Meadows. "We reach deeper into topics than our competitors do because we have access others don't and we love the material so much!"

• The Adventure Special is Tripwire’s second quarterly issue of 2009 and can be found on page 310 of Diamond's Previews for April, Item Number APR09 1090 £4.95 UK/ $8.95 US 84pp, full colour

• Tripwire on the web: www.tripwire-magazine.com
• Joel's walls and bridges blog: joelm1-joelmead.blogspot.com
• Tripwire on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/31004024@N04

TinTin is 80

Happy birthday TinTin! 80 years ago this weekend (on 10 January 1929), Hergé's TinTin made his first appearance in Le Petit Vingtième, the weekly children's supplement of Le XXe Siècle.

With Steven Spielberg working on a Hollywood film of the comic book hero, and an article in The Timessuggesting the young Belgian journalist is gay causing outrage in France "They have walked on TinTin!" opined Figaro), and the continuing debate over alleged racism in his early adventures (the PC brigade never seem to acknowledging that stories written in past times reflected the mores of those times without intentional malice), it seems there's no likelihood interest in Herge's character and his adventures will die away anytime soon.

For all the media-hyped controversy, TinTin continues to sell in the region of two to three million comic books a year more than 30 years after creator Herge drew his final adventure. Original editions are now sold for up to 40,000 euros. The stories have been translated into over 50 languages -- his adventures began to be re-released in Welsh last year for the first time in 25 years, starting with Cigars of the Pharaoh (Mwg Drwg Y Pharo) and Flight 714 (Awyren 714 I Sydney) -- with fans worldwide enjoying the adventures of TinTin, Snowy (who has been with him since his still controversial first outing, TinTin in the Land of the Soviets), the cynical and grumpy Captain Haddock (first introduced in the Crab with the Golden Claws), Professor Calculus and other supporting characters such as incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson.

As much as his adventures are treasured and adored, especially in France, TinTin owes much to his real world British connnections for his success. Herge's widow is now married to British businessman Nick Rodwell who took charge of Moulinsart, the business which holds the rights to all TinTin character merchandising and which turns over some 16 million euros a year and is fiercely protective of their rights.

As for the new films, Dreamworks bought the rights to all 23 albums last year and it's hoped the first will be released on 22 May 2011, that date also being Herge's date of birth.

A Tintin Festival is to take place in the Belgian city of Namur this May and an appearance at the Europalia China exhibition, which starts in October, will mark the wholesome hero's 80th anniversary. A new TinTin museum is to open on 2 June.

"Tintin is not 80. He will always be fifteen and a half -- he doesn't age," said Stefan Steeman, a collector of Tintin memorabilia and president of the Les Amis d'Hergé (the Friends of Hergé).

Comics creators have been quick to pay tribute with their own interpretations offering birthday wishes, including Claude Dubois (creator of the BD Sylvain et Sylvette, left), Neill Cameron, Steve Holland, the cartoonist at the Est Républicain newspaper, Janique Robitalle, Tozo and many, many more.

We're more than happy to join in and wish TinTin and company all the very best!

Links
• The Official TinTin Website
• Les Amis d'Hergé (Frinds of Hergé) • Buy TinTin books from amazon.co.uk
• Links to more 80th Birthday articles on Objectif TinTin (in French)
• Captain Haddock Curses
The complete list of Haddock's swears words and curses in English on TinTinologist.org
• Details of TinTin Translations
While it's true many of TinTin’s early adventures offered a distinctly white European view on the world (as these scans indicate), Hergé slowly moderated his views down the years. His friendship with a Chinese student, for example, saw him abandon many of his pre-conceived notions about China before he created The Blue Lotus, and he even adapted some books as history changed to offer a more accurate portrayal of places. For example, in one adventure set in the Middel East, Scottish soldiers are replaced by Arabic military in later editions.
• How TinTin has been modified down the years (scans from the original versions of the stories)
• Images of some alternate visions of TinTin (post in French)
• TinTin Web Sites List on Free TinTin.net

What's TinTin called in different languages?
(sourced via deredactie.be)

• Tintin (Danish, English, French, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovakian, Swedish and more)
• Kuifje (Dutch)
• Tenten (Greek, Persian, Turkish)
• Tim (German)
• Tinni (Icelandic)
• Titinus (Latin)

Image at top of post: of TinTin's first appearance via Garen Ewing's blog. Tintin is © Hergé / Moulinsart 2009

Frost, Pegg for TinTin?

After what seems like months of no news on the project since it was first announced back in May last year, reports are appearing online suggesting Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have reportedly signed up to play the Thompson Twins in the new Tintin movie from Steven Speileberg and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson.

While Tin Tin himself has yet to be cast after Thomas Sangster dropped out of the movie, which will use motion capture to create a comic book feel to its look, Ain't It Cool News reports the Hot Fuzz stars will team up with Andy Serkis, who plays Captain Haddock.

The proposed trilogy of movies based on TinTin will be co-financed by Sony and Paramount after Universal opted out. The first film is scheduled for a 2010 release.

Firtst created in 1929 by Belgian artist Herge, Peter Jackson's special effects team Weta Digital will use 3-D animation to bring the junior reporter to life.

"Herge's characters have been reborn as living beings, expressing emotion and a soul which goes far beyond anything we've seen to date with computer animated characters," Spielberg, a longtime TinTin fan, told Variety last year, which revealed WETA had created a 20 minute test to prove the project could work. "We want Tintin's adventures to have the reality of a live-action film, and yet Peter and I felt that shooting them in a traditional live-action format would simply not honour the distinctive look of the characters and world that Herge created."

The TinTin series is estimated to have sold 200 million copies and been translated into over 50 languages, and has a huge following in the UK.

Last year, Moulinsart, who maintain Herge's most famous 'brand', courted controversy and outrage by cracking down on fan TinTin sites (see news story).

• View TinTin books on amazon.co.uk

Crunch Time for TinTin Fans

Fans of Tin Tin, be warned: if you run a a fan site devoted to the Belgian cartoon hero, you could end up receiving a cease and desist letter, similar to the kind of litigious heavy handedness meted out by Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox against Star Trek, The Simpsons and The X-Files lovers in the past.

As we reported at the end of August, the protectors of Herge's estate Moulinsart recently seems to have decided that, with all their copyrights and trademarks, their investments still aren’t protected well enough and so sent a cease and desist letter to French laungauge site Objectif Tintin, arguably the best informed and most enjoyable source of Tintin-related information on the web.

Forbidden Planet International contributor Wim Lockefeer reports that Moulinsart (who own the rights to Hergé’s legacy) took offence to OT using Tintin characters in their header images and even dared to mentioned events not authorised by Tin' Tin's official keepers. (For more information, you can read the letter, in French, here and re-read Didier Pasamonik’s take on this all at Actua BD).

Refusing to be bullied by Moulinsart, Wim reports that the fans behind OT have decided to close the site down as of 15 September 2008 rather than cede editorial control Wim warns that other sites, such as Cult Of Tintin, might be next in line for Moulinsart's strong arm tactics which are sure to shock and infuriate fans of the world's most popular Belgian comics character.

The heavy handed actions of the US companies who rightfully sought to protect their properties but did it in such a way as to alienate and damage their fanbase (in some cases, irretreivably), would, you would have thought, be an object lesson in how not to engage with your audience. Sadly, it is a lesson Moulinsart (and, indeed, some British comics companies and copyright owners) have yet to learn.

Tube Surfing: 5 September 2008

• There's an excellent interview with David O'Connell, the writer and artist behind science fiction comic Tozo, over at Garen Ewing's website.

David's art is very much in the tradition of ligne claire (clear line) artists such as Belgium's Herge (of Tin Tin fame) and France's Jacque Tardi. In the interview, Garen, himself a talented cartoonist, talks to David about ligne claire, world-building and the Dutch comics scene (David lived in Amsterdam for a while):

"The Dutch domestic comic scene is unsurprisingly small but very healthy," says David in the interview. "They have fun with what they do and are more interested in the 'artform' of comics than in the 'business', or at least, that's my perception.

"I've found that idea very important to hold on to: if you go looking for some kind of material gratification through comics, whether it's in terms of cash or number of blog comments then you'll end up miserable."

Garen Ewing is the man behind the rather fantastic Rainbow Orchid. He's also got a forthcoming strip, Charlie Jefferson and the Tomb of Nazaleod, in new children's comic The DFC. You can see a preview of this strip here. David's Tozo strip can be found here.

(This interview sourced via the brill Forbidden Planet blog)

• Oliver East of Bugpowder makes us aware of the new issue of Colouring Outside the Lines, which features an interview with British indie cartoonist, Lizz Lunney.

According to its myspace site, Colouring Outside the Lines is "...a zine featuring interviews with contemporary female artists; illuminating various corners of current female artistic and creative activity."

Lizz Lunney's minimalist style and occasional anthropomorphic stylings should appeal to fans of cartoonists such as Ralph Kidson and Lewis Trondheim.

Anyway, sounds like a cool zine. Please check it out.

• Speaking of Oliver East, his blog is well worth a read, especially for its stream of consciousness musings on India, the creative process and fellow cartoonist Stuart Kolakovic's superb rugs!

• Richard Bruton draws our attention to cartoonist Hunt Emerson's recently revitalised website, Large Cow.

I'll let Richard do the plug for this one:

"Hunt Emerson's website Large Cow is proving to be a black hole of time stealing delight. I was directed there via Pete to have a look at the Owl & The Pussy Cat three page strip from the Beano and I find myself looking around for the best part of an hour..."

If we're mentioning Richard, we should also give a shout-out to his excellent blog, Fictions, which often contains lots of comics-related goodies, including the Propoganda reviews that are cross-posted at the aforementioned Forbidden Planet blog.

And finally... Peter Murphy has just posted an interview with comics legend Alan Moore over at the Blog of Revelations. It's pretty good stuff, with some classic Moore-isms and interesting anecdotes:

"So I got the second draft of the [film] script [for V for Vendetta] where I think to justify the special effects budget, they decided that having Britain taken over by fascists was just not exciting enough, and they’d used the fact that I mentioned a limited nuclear war to say, ‘Right, there’s mutants everywhere!’ So instead of it being fascist policemen that are patrolling the benighted streets of this enslaved London of the future, it’s half-goat mutant policemen. You’ve got these people that are policemen down to the waist and have goats’ legs. And as I said at the time, if you wanted to do a film about goat policemen, then why the f**k didn’t you just buy the option to Rupert Bear?!!"

Tube Surfing: 30 August 2008

• A quick reminder about Jonathan Cape,, The Observer and Comica's Graphic Short Story Competition of which the winner will receive a tasty grand and their story across two pages of The Observer. Follow this link for more info and to download an entry form. Manchester Comic Collective artist suggest that to inspire you here are some of the MCC's entries for last year's Prize, which MCCer Stuart Kolakovic won runner up.

• A couple of weeks ago Garen Ewing promised he'd get some high resolution prints featuring his wonderful A-Z of favourite characters, and they can now be found as thumbnails on his web site's A-Z page. "Please feel free to download them for your own private use," he says. They are not for re-publishing, and definitely not for commercial usage.
Meanhile, Jonathon Dalton's A-Z is going great guns... he's currently up to T; and now there's 'Mitz's inevitable A-Z of comic and cartoon Villains', which is currently up to G... a bit harder to think of villains, so go over and help them out there too... Other artists are also doing their own A-Zs including Clive Jennings and others.

• The next episode from the fan film series Star Trek Phase II, of "Blood and Fire, Part 1", an AIDS allegory by David Gerrold that was considered two controversial 20 years ago, should hit the net by the end of October. To give you a taste, the Phase II team just released the action-packed opening teaser with some truly stunning SFX (including the new opening credits). Check out the video on the trekmovie web site.
The story opens with the Enterprise pursued and damaged by repeated Klingon attacks. The crew must then respond to the distress call from a Federation research ship. In a matter of hours the ship and crew will be consumed by a nearby star -- but before that, the crew of the Enterprise will be consumed by a mysterious horror that threatens both ships as the Klingons watch and wait..
Producer and star James Cawley says that following release of Part 1 of "Blood and Fire" by October 31st, Part 2 will follow a few months after. That will be followed later in 2009 by "Enemy: Starfleet" which will feature original series actress Barbara Luna and the just-revealed refitted Enterprise.

• (via SF in the News): Talking of space battles, the idea of space marines, fighters who are able to deploy from space onto the earth in mere hours, has been around since 1939, when Robert Heinlein coined the term. But now, SF in the News reports the idea is moving slowly forward. According to an article in Wired, the Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion (SUSTAIN) idea is the subject of a National Security Space Office conference.

• (via Forbidden Planet International): The BBC reports the sad news that famous comedy producer Geoffrey Perkins has been killed after being involved in a traffic accident. Perkins, aged only 55, was involved in a vast number of British TV and radio comedies, including some of my personal favourites such as I’m Sorry I Haven’t Got a Clue, Father Ted, Spitting Image and also the radio version of Douglas Adams classic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

• (also via FPI): As a TinTin film edges closer to realization, it would seem the protectors of Herge's estate, Moulinsart has found a new enemy: the fan. A decade after Paramount tried (and failed) to remove any and all Star Trek material from unlicensed websites, and Fox’s Monty Burns-like lawyers tried the same with fan sites celebrating The X-Files and Simpsons, succeeding only in alienating their own hardcore audience, Moulinsart has decided that, with all their copyrights and trademarks, their investments still aren’t protected well enough and so sent a cease and desist letter to French laungauge site Objectif Tintin, arguably the best informed and most enjoyable source of Tintin-related information on the web. Needless to say, the site owner is fighting back against an action which has been described as amounting to nothing more than censorship.

• (via Daily Cartoonist and Gizmodo): And finally for this brief round up which admittedly has again included some non cpmic news but hey, live with it, some fun at the expense of Apple's Steve Jobs, as realized in this affectionate homage to Bill Waterson's Calvin and Hobbes. I don't know if Bill Watterson would like this version by MAD's Jacob Lambert (writer) and Gary Hallgren (artist)., in which Hobbes morphs from philosophical tiger to killer CEO, but I like it. More via Gizmodo.