The Comic Book - Tin-Tin , Blueberry & Hellboy

My father introduced me to comics as a young kid. French comics of course, because that was what he grew up on. One of the first I can remember reading and loving was The Adventures of Tin-Tin , created by Hergé. At a younger age this comic really appealed to me. Tin-Tin was a relatively average, intelligent young boy, a reporter, accompanied by his trusty terrier, Milou. His outfit is the same almost entirely throughout the comic, and has very memorable characteristics, like his hairdo and facial expressions. Tintin's iconic representation enhances this aspect. Scott McCloud has said that it "allows readers to mask themselves in a character and safely enter a sensually stimulating world."

 As a child I only enjoyed the adventures for the idea of adventure, but never really understood some of the underlying themes and messages within the stories/surrounding his adventures. Propaganda and publicity stunts were often promoted through the comics. I also never realized some of the more controversial themes like racial stereotypes, animal cruelty, colonialist, violent, and fascist portrayals of nonEuropeans. As we discussed in class, this was justified by Hergé as simply being a product of the bourgeois society that surrounded him. Despite all of these corrupt, underlying themes, I loved the simplicity of Tin-Tin and the positive morals and values he represented as a young hero.

 

Anyway, as I grew out of Tin-Tin, my father introduced me to a different kind of adventure comic. Also a french one, "Lieutenant Mike Blueberry" by Moebius. This was probably the last French comic I avidly read before being introduced to American Comics in the US. I loved the Blueberry stories and the more characters in American comics I have been introduced to the more respect I have for Blueberry as a 'hero'. He never expected reward or acknowledgment for his good deeds or his savings. Blueberry is an atypical western hero, not a wandering lawman who brings evil-doers to justice, nor a handsome cowboy who "rides into town, saves the ranch, becomes the new sheriff and marries the schoolmarm." In any situation, he sees what he thinks needs doing, and he does it. I loved this about him. I was so attracted to this character for this reason. 

I love how honest the back story for Blueberry is. He starts as a dedicated racist (being a product of his family), and is one day saved by an African American, making him a total enemy of discrimination and racism altogether. He fights against the confederates and protects the rights of the Native American people. He was like a western Hellboy for me. I also just really loved the change of artistic style. The complexity of Moebius' artwork and line drawings. His hatched inking style and western colors were so exciting at that age for me. It was like every Blueberry comic I read, felt like a western film, and I wouldn't put it down until I finished reading it. Then onto the next one. It wasn't until I discovered Hellboy in America that I had ever felt that way about a comic. (I will probably talk more about my love for Hellboy in a later post... trust me.)