This curious piece of art is from Lankee.com, a collage artist.

No. 305

Things are very quiet over the festive period for Tintin and his friends so there are only a couple of titbits of Tintin related news for you.

• Man changes name to Mr Tintin Captain Haddock Confused Brewer - Bizarre name change rates on the rise
• Tintin versus Batman - an unlicensed parody from the 1990s.

Tintin’s 80th Birthday is on January 10th. What are you doing to celebrate?

The Economist has a great article trying to explain Tintin to Americans.

IT IS one of Europe’s more startling laws. In 1949 France banned children’s books and comic strips from presenting cowardice in a “favourable” light, on pain of up to a year in prison for errant publishers. It was equally forbidden to make laziness or lying seem attractive. The law created an oversight committee to watch for positive depictions of these ills, along with crime, theft, hatred, debauchery and acts “liable to undermine morality” among the young.

A very European hero

A reworking of the classic cover to Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. The Ephemerist has the full story.

Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg’s long-time producer, has confirmed that shooting will start in February and that it will be a trilogy. Spielberg will still direct the first and Jackson the second. The third film will be directed by either Spielberg or Jackson but no time frame has been given for the second or third films.

This is great news after the productions recent financial problems and suggestions that only two films were to be made.

The Tintin Blog brings us news that a Canadian School Board is considering banning Tintin because its ethnic stereotypes. This is just a continuation of people missing the social and culture context of the Herge’s work. What is worse is that the school board is even trying to stop local shops selling the book.

Read the full story: Canadian School Board Considers Banning Tintin

The Guardian ran a piece on Ten of the Best Pirates. Not only does it feature Sir Francis Haddock, Captain Haddock’s ancestor, but the list also includes another of my favourite books from childhood, Swallows & Amazons.

Yes, the locations for the Tintin Movie have been revealed!

But it is not the Spielberg / Jackson CGI movie but the original live action film, Tintin and the Blue Oranages. Dedicated Tintin fan Carsten has found many of the locations in the film and photographed them for a then and now comparison.

(Original Tintinoligist post)

Only a couple of crumbs of Tintin news this week.

Tintin book targetted over native stereotypes by a school board in Peterborough (America). Whilst I admire their aim to counter stereotypical images of native americans, they seem to miss the point. Tintin in America is racist as were a lot of his early books but Herge was a product of his time and most importantly recognised he was wrong. In later books he went out of his way to show a more sympathetic view of native cultures. Books like Tintin in America should be available to children along with adults who are able to explain the books context.

Simon Pegg once more denies a link to the Tintin movies: Simon Pegg denies Tintin rumours.