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Comment by Al-Khwarizmi

6 days ago

Nice post about Tintin, one of my top childhood influences. I have a new edition of all the albums (much better than mine) unopened and ready for when my kid grows enough. The TV show wasn't so good IMHO - of course the narrative was great because it came from the comics, but animation quality was just so-so, or at least that's how I remember it.

If you liked Tintin and long for more comics of the same kind, I recommend you to try Blake and Mortimer. They're different (e.g. with a more serious and wordy style, hardly any comical gags, but also with more fantastic elements). But they are the closest I know, and in some aspects even better (I personally prefer them although I'm aware it's due to very subjective factors, most people would still rank Tintin higher overall and Blake and Mortimer don't have such a universal acclaim).

The only thing I dislike about the post is the gratuitous rant on AI at the end. It is great news that Tintin joins the public domain. Especially great because it's one of these cases where the owners have been especially abusive, chasing fan efforts done as a labor of love, lest they harm their sales of overpriced merchandising.

Why exactly should be worry about people generating AI images of Tintin? What is the harm done? We know what the original albums are, they will probably be preserved as long as there is human civilization (despite copyright, not thanks to it), and we can freely decide if we also want to read/watch/see derivative works (and which) or not. I just don't see the problem at all.

What also comes to mind is Yoko Tsuno [1]. I'm not sure how well known this is in the US. The creator Roger Leloup was supporting Hegré on the technical drawings. For people who like the 'ligne claire' style, definitely check it out. The science fiction aspect of it might appeal to the audience on HN.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Tsuno

  • I would second this. There is archeology, space travel, time travel... Loads of fun. I'm still trying to get a hold of all the titles.

    Oh, and evil AI! Right in the first album. Had totally forgotten about that.

  • I was massively into Tintin as a kid in Ireland and when I met my Belgian wife she introduced me to this and I loved it. I was hoping I'd find it mentioned in here already!

  • If we're going to recommend comics I'm gonna pitch The Red Knight. I have some of the old monochrome prints and they're an absolute blast.

  • Had never heard of it (in spite of being European, not from the US) and it looks like my cup of tea, so definitely will check it out.