Tintin was originally published in La Petit Vingtieme, which under Herge’s (The author of Tintin) direction moved further right from the traditional conservative outlook into a borderline rexist (Belgian fascism) line and began explicitly endorsing political antisemitism and international fascism. Tintin himself was envisioned as a representative of the revitalized youth that we so often see form the basis for fascist and nationalist movements (See: “Young X” movements), likewise Tintin in the Soviets was an explicit anti-soviet work, and Tintin in the Congo was meant to be supportive of Belgian colonialism in the Congo. After the war Herge was named in the “Gallery of traitors” as a collaborator for his work in Le Soir which continued work under German occupation and German censorship/editorial direction.
So the origin of Tintin are bad.
But Herge’s actual involvement with the nazis was slim, when the war began he was writing about how bad the Japanese invasion of China was in collaboration with a Chinese friend (The Blue Lotus is still so fucking racist) and during the war he was mostly concerned with writing stuff like The Crab with the Golden Claws and The Shooting Star, both of which only incidentally has terrible politics (Herge based the planes in The Shooting Star on nazi planes), and remaking Tintin in the Congo (Bad, terrible, awful, racist, bad bad bad)
Herge’s support of the nazis mostly came in the form of people buying Le Soir to read Tintin, and Le Soir being a nazi rag.
But Herge’s actual involvement with the nazis was slim, when the war began he was writing about how bad the Japanese invasion of China was in collaboration with a Chinese friend (The Blue Lotus is still so fucking racist)
There’s a bit in the Blue Lotus where Tintin trys to access the Shanghai international settlement (a chunk of Shanghai basically occupied by US and UK troops during the Century of Humiltation) and British troops try to stop him, they cut it from the 90s cartoon and just had Japanese soldiers, because suggesting that Anglos were once also trying to colonize China was considered poor taste at the End of History. It’s so racist still. But he also locked in and put everyone on blast.
(They also cut so much of Tintin in America. Lynch mobs. Mistreatment of First Nations. It’s like the shortest arc).
Herge’s actual involvement with the nazis was slim, when the war began he was writing about how bad the Japanese invasion of China was in collaboration with a Chinese friend
I mean there was a literal Nazi Ambassador who saved Chinese lives in Nanking, not sure how one precludes the other.
Tintin was originally published in La Petit Vingtieme, which under Herge’s (The author of Tintin) direction moved further right from the traditional conservative outlook into a borderline rexist (Belgian fascism) line and began explicitly endorsing political antisemitism and international fascism. Tintin himself was envisioned as a representative of the revitalized youth that we so often see form the basis for fascist and nationalist movements (See: “Young X” movements), likewise Tintin in the Soviets was an explicit anti-soviet work, and Tintin in the Congo was meant to be supportive of Belgian colonialism in the Congo. After the war Herge was named in the “Gallery of traitors” as a collaborator for his work in Le Soir which continued work under German occupation and German censorship/editorial direction. So the origin of Tintin are bad.
But Herge’s actual involvement with the nazis was slim, when the war began he was writing about how bad the Japanese invasion of China was in collaboration with a Chinese friend (The Blue Lotus is still so fucking racist) and during the war he was mostly concerned with writing stuff like The Crab with the Golden Claws and The Shooting Star, both of which only incidentally has terrible politics (Herge based the planes in The Shooting Star on nazi planes), and remaking Tintin in the Congo (Bad, terrible, awful, racist, bad bad bad)
Herge’s support of the nazis mostly came in the form of people buying Le Soir to read Tintin, and Le Soir being a nazi rag.
There’s a bit in the Blue Lotus where Tintin trys to access the Shanghai international settlement (a chunk of Shanghai basically occupied by US and UK troops during the Century of Humiltation) and British troops try to stop him, they cut it from the 90s cartoon and just had Japanese soldiers, because suggesting that Anglos were once also trying to colonize China was considered poor taste at the End of History. It’s so racist still. But he also locked in and put everyone on blast.
(They also cut so much of Tintin in America. Lynch mobs. Mistreatment of First Nations. It’s like the shortest arc).
I mean there was a literal Nazi Ambassador who saved Chinese lives in Nanking, not sure how one precludes the other.