All this month: Tin-tin!

   (I know, I know, I need to get back to more academic posts. I will soon, I promise).
   ... on the heels of yesterday's post, and given that this is the 10th month in the 10th year (10-10; or “Tin-tin”), I can't help but take a moment and to celebrate the work of the Belgian artist Georges Prosper Rémi (1907–1983); known by his nom de plume: Hergé (which, by way of a French pronunciation are his initials backwards: RG).
   As a student of the applied arts, and an illustrator myself, I tend to shy away from comics. They seem such an abused format, generally speaking. The new graphic novels of the last decade or so have shown some refreshment to that end, however.
   Be that as it may, for my money only Windsor McKay, of Little Nemo fame, and Hergé‘s Les Aventures de Tintin, (before these new graphic novels), elevated the comic art to something thoughtful, provoking and inspiring.
   Hergé’s style, to my way of thinking, is extraordinary. It remains fresh to this day. It has a simplicity, elegance and economy, and yet in no way seems trivialized. Along with his trusty dog Snowy, Tin-tin saved the world on a regular basis; giving a straightforward vent for a standard fantasy for all boys around the world. Take pause, please; consider for a moment what a contribution that actually is. Hergé researched his stories first, often basing them on real-life events, and I don't know that anyone has given young men as much since! So, in the process, young boys also became exposed to how the world really worked, its politics and intrigue, and at the very least it's exotic geography.
   Tin-tin and Snowy have been immortalized beyond the two dozen comic books into movies, radio, theatrical performances, whole shops and the merchandise to fill them, etc. Tin-tin has a website (http://www.tintin.com/en/), and Hergé has a museum (http://www.museeherge.com/). This is fitting. Hergé never took on an embrace of the corporate model, or he may have eclipsed Disney.
   Now, having said all that, promise me this: throw it all away and spend at least as much time being literally refreshed and invigorated, finding and allowing Hergé’s Tin-tin artwork to flood your senses. When people do, the world is a better place. And hey, it is, after all, 10.10 !