Tintin Meets Thomson, Thompson, and Captain Haddock

In the adventures of the Belgian boy reporter Tintin, recounted in a series of brilliantly drawn comic albums spanning half the twentieth century, Tintin does not so much initiate an action as simply reacting to whatever fate or his creator Hergé may heap upon him.

Besides Tintin's dog Snowy, Hergé gives him a circle of companions who reappear in various stories to bring distinct personalities and humor to the tales of Tintin. Hergé was associated with the Boy Scouts throughout his life, and in some ways, Tintin is a squeaky clean perennial Scout, with a Scout's bag of tricks. Need a propeller for an airplane? No problem, Tintin whittles one... and then flies the plane. Got a sick elephant? No problem, Tintin finds a remedy, just to kill time, learns the elephant language... and makes his own trumpet so that he can communicate with elephants in their own medium.

Of course, such a paragon can soon grow boring. That is the reason that flawless Western heroes, such as Gene Autry, needed a sidekick, Pat Buttram in Autry's case, to provide a bit of humor and sometimes down-to-earth wisdom. In Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Crab with the Golden Claws (which I wrote about here), Hergé gave Tintin three companions, sidekicks of a sort, who can hold their own with any humorous characterizations in literature.

Tintin meets Thomson and Thompson

In Cigars of the Pharaoh Hergé introduces two bumbling detectives, known in the original French as Dupont and Dupond (which would be pronounced the same) and in English translation as Thompson with a p and Thomson without a p ("as in psychology," as they sometimes say.) Although seen in one of the redrawn versions of Tintin in the Congo, the second Tintin book (more), they are not introduced as characters until this, the fourth.

They pursue Tintin, accusing him of smuggling, but they save Tintin from a firing squad and Snowy from sacrifice. (If you have never read a Tintin adventure, doesn't that last sentence tempt you?) By their appearance in the ninth book, The Crab with the Golden Claws, they collaborate with Tintin on a case.

In the animated versions of Tintin (which you can watch online free - more), the two detectives with their bumbling and stumbling, get a lot of time, because they contribute slapstick humor to the stories. That is a humor Tintin could not pull off, and we really do not want him to.

In the Jackson/Spielberg films, Nick Frost (more) and Simon Pegg (more) will play the two detectives, who in the original books or albums are identical, except for the shape of their mustaches. By the way, as the Tintin adventures have been translated into different languages, translators have adjusted their names to the language. In Spanish, they are Hernandez and Fernandez, in Icelandic, Skapti and Skakti (more).

Tintin meets Captain Haddock

The most enduring and endearing of the all of Tintin's friends is Captain Haddock, a character that Charles Dickens or Mark Twain would be proud to claim. When he is introduced in The Crab with the Golden Claws, he is a ship captain with such alcoholism that he has no idea of the criminal activity in his ship. At the end of the book, as he is recovering, he passes out after accidentally drinking a glass... of water.

As the series of adventures progresses, Haddock becomes truly noble, offering to sacrifice himself for the life of his friend Tintin in Tintin in Tibet (a celebration of friendship that was Hergé's favorite Tintin adventure.

Haddock goes on to be elected President of the Society of Sober Sailors (although he never completely loses his taste for whiskey), find a family treasure, and settle in at his family home, Marlinspike Hall (Moulinsart in the original). Although I referred to Dickens and Mark Twain, the more appropriate author to associate with Captain Haddock is Miguel de Cervantes, creator of Don Quixote. Haddock, like Sancho Panza, the down-to-earth servant, balances the idealistic Tintin, who like Quixote, often seems to have his head in the clouds.

The contrast is the basis for much of the humor in the books and surely was the appeal to their creator Hergé, who could be more creative not only with the Captain's speech but also with his appearance. That speech, of course, is not only the most memorable aspect of Captain Haddock but also of all the Tintin adventures.

Hergé gave Captain Haddock a distinctive vocabulary of insults and curses that were not really curses. In English, he hurls such insults as ectoplasm and troglodyte, and he vents his rage with such expressions as Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles! The intrepid folks at Tintinologist.org have compiled a list of 199 of his exclamations (here). You have not really lived until the Captain has called you a Diplodocus!

Andy Serkis (more) is on board (you should pardon the expression) to play the Captain in the upcoming Spielberg/Jackson Tintin film. If I were an actor (but I'm not - untangle the verbs here), I would play the role just for the fun of it. Messrs. Jackson and Spielberg, if you are trying to cut costs...

Looking backward, looking forward with Tintin and Snowy

Tintin and Snowy continue to adventure together, but with the introduction of Captain Haddock, a boy reporter's best friend is no longer his dog but his sea captain. Snowy eases into a sort of retirement, enjoying a nip of whiskey, like Captain Haddock, and finally settling into an uneasy friendship (but he would not want anyone to know) with the Marlinspike cat.

You can find my ongoing blog about Tintin here. You can also "Keep Up with Tintin News, Books, and Films" here.