If you’re unfamiliar with The Adventures of Tintin, it is a series of comic or graphic novels created by the Belgian artist Herge (Georges Remi). Originally started as a newspaper strip, the comics were then collected into the series’ 24 books, spanning from 1929 to 1976. Although relatively unknown in America, the series were and still is very popular in Europe and Asia.
The books were certainly among the favorites of me and my childhood friends in Indonesia as we grew up in the late 70s and 80s. The first Tintin book I had was Tintin in Tibet. I distinctly remember my dad coming home one day when I was in first grade and giving me that book. The Indonesian publisher of the series at the time was Indira, and their bookshop was just one block away from my dad’s office. Over time Indira also published and introduced us to many more European comics and graphic novels such as Asterix & Obelix (French), The Smurfs , Lucky Luke (both Belgian), and a bunch of others whose names I can’t remember.
In retrospect, though, it appears that the Indonesian edition of Tintin series were translated from the English version (most likely British) rather than from the original French version. Because the characters I knew as a kid had the translated-into-English names (Tintin’s white dog Milou became Snowy, and Tintin’s half-deaf scientist friend Prof. Tryphon Tournesol became Prof. Cuthbert Calculus).
I wasn’t as big into what I then called the American-style comic books at the time (except for DC’s Captain Carrot). No offense to Americans, I was still a big fan of American cartoons – I liked the Walt Disney comics and the cartoons of The New Yorker very much – I just wasn’t a big fan of super hero comics. Here in the US we have the terms “comic books” and “graphic novels”, which confused me for a while. Back in Indonesia, if they were narratives told in a series of illustrated panels, they were “comic books” to us.
I also preferred the graphics of the European comics to those of super hero comics, and this in turn has influenced my drawings both as a kid and now as an adult. In general, my preference tends to lean toward a simpler, more “cartoonish” graphics that’s more similar to comic strips rather than most comic books. Apparently Herge was a pioneer of this drawing style. Called “ligne claire” or “clear lines”, it is distinguished by its use of strong, clean lines and its lack of hatching (tonal or shading effects).
Note the difference here: Those shades that define Captain America’s thigh muscle, that’s an example of hatching.
From Tintin in Tibet
(That is not to say Franco-Belgian comics do not use hatching at all. As you can see, this one, The Adventures of Tanguy and Laverdure, about 2 pilots in the French Air Force, also uses hatching)
To my understanding Indira no longer publishes the Tintin series in Indonesia. The publisher is now Gramedia, the largest publisher in the country. From what I have been able to read online, there are several differences between the old Indira editions and the newer Gramedia editions. Among them is the book size. The old Indira editions were larger, almost quarto size (maybe 9” x 12”?), folio-style (stapled in the middle) and had paperback cover. In contrast, the newer Gramedia editions are smaller in size, bound and printed on glossy paper with hardback covers. They also contain 3 books in one album. I deduct then that the newer Gramedia editions are more like current editions available in the US from Little, Brown & Company, where each book contain 3 complete series with hard covers and a smaller 9 x 6.5 book format. I also read that the Gramedia editions translated the original French names instead of using the English names (the dog Milou becomes Milo now).
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