Les Aventures de Tintin

In my continuing quest to discover the reason for writers disenchantment with Dr Banner I turn to this guy. If anyone could solve the mystery it'd be Tintin.

The story of Tintin says a lot about the world of comics. Tintin is a megastar in mainland Europe, a cult hero in Britain, and a nobody in America.

The truth is that Tintin is a peculiarly European creation, he can be, and has been, modified to be of any nationality, or none, he is a true 'international' (although I've always hated people who describe themselves as such). Tintin is also not confined by borders nor is he imbued with any superpowers, rather an inquisitive mind and a good helping of luck. Tintin is the essence of the everyman, and the antithesis of everything American comics stand for.

America, and American comics, have always been obsessed with the superman, Tintin never really stood a chance. It's still incredibly puzzling to any European that Tintin isn't loved in America, never mind almost entirely unread, but it is understandable. Also, returning to the idea of borders, the heroes of the DC and Marvel universes are generally confined to quite strict borders, Gotham, New York, Canadian woods. Sometimes, in fairness, those borders have a cylindrical nature, so for instance Coastal City... and space, Westchester... and space. In general though the confines of the superheroes are in complete opposition to how Tintin is portrayed.

One final point is what Tintin says about these shores, Britain, as I said he is a cult hero here, not as overwhelmingly popular as on mainland Europe but still loved. The answer is that Britain sits somewhere between the two great continents, smugly aloof, picking and choosing what we will from both cultures. The everyman is loved, the Superhero is loved, and we have no real interest in picking between the two.

My conclusion, I would say, is that if the Hulk had been a European creation the book would probably be entitled 'Dr. Banner' (he probably wouldn't have been a Bruce either, though David would work), but in the American comic book world if Tintin didn't stand a chance then probably neither did Banner.

Let's not be overly pessimistic though, I've noticed more and more humanisation of characters in comic books over the last few years, and more and more real world events slowly creeping in. So perhaps in the near future Tintin and Bruce Banner will be able to skip through the pages of American comics together.... too much? I thought so.