If there is one Belgian comic-book hero who has truly conquered the world, it must be Tintin. Every year three million Tintin books are sold throughout the world. The adventures of this young reporter and his dog have been translated into fifty-eight languages and films have been made of 21 of the books.

George Remi (1907 - 1983), alias Hergé, drew the first outline of Tintin on 10 January 1929. He based his comic-book hero on the greatest reporters of his time. Hergé was to become the pioneer of the "ninth art" in Europe, which was still in its infancy at the time. Unlike his American colleagues he managed to use just a few well-placed lines to suggest the presence of many more. This drawing style was later called "the clear line".

Hergé was a perfectionist. From his immense collection of newspaper photographs, prints and cuttings, he drew inspiration from a Maya temple, a warplane, a hat-stand, a ruthless arms trafficker, the dictator of a banana republic, a Tibetan monastery and more.  Due to his painstaking methods, "only" 22 Tintin books were published, 11 of them in a studio context.

Tintin was also the name of a weekly comic, which replaced "Le Petit Vingtième" in 1948. As artistic director of the magazine, Hergé gave opportunities to unknown artists like Laudy, Jacobs and Cuvelier. In 1988, five years after Hergé's death, the magazine went out of circulation.

Hergé's influence on the world of comic books is still absolutely huge. In recent years at least one book, reference work or biography on Hergé or Tintin has rolled off the presses every year. A book has even been published about his heirs' publishing policy. They were the driving force behind the making of the television films that were broadcast in more than 50 countries. In 2002 a musical about Tintin even appeared.

Would you like to find out more about Tintin? Pay a visit to the comic museum (which has included Tintin's obstinate curl into its logo): Belgisch Centrum van het Beeldverhaal, Zandstraat 20, 1000 Brussels.