Prompt: Illustration in the style of Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi, Known by His Pen Name Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi, was surely known by his pen name Hergé. He was a Belgian cartoonist and creator of The Adventures of Tintin. Tintin is considered one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. Hergé was born to a lower-middle-class family in Etterbeek, Brussels, in 1907.
Hergé began his career by contributing illustrations to Scouting magazines. In his youth Remi created his first comic series. This series was called The Adventures of Totor. He illustrated it for Le Boy-Scout Belge in 1926. Hergé went on to create Tintin in 1929 for the conservative Catholic newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle. After the German occupation of Belgium in 1940, Hergé continued his work for the Nazi-controlled newspaper, Le Soir.
Hergé and the Newspaper's Staff
After the Allied liberation of Belgium in 1944, Hergé and the newspaper's staff were accused of being German collaborators. However, no charges were brought against him. He continued to produce new Adventures of Tintin stories, and in 1950 he established Studios Hergé to aid him in his ongoing projects. Hergé's works have been widely acclaimed for their clarity of draughtsmanship and meticulous, well-researched plots. He is widely celebrated in Belgium, and a Hergé Museum was established in Louvain-la-Neuve in 2009.
Scoutmaster Encouraged Hergé's Artistic Ability
Aged 12, Remi joined the Boy Scout brigade attached to Saint-Boniface School. He became the troop leader of the Squirrel Patrol. The Squirrel Patrol leader earned the name "Curious Fox" from freinds. His experiences with Scouting would have a significant influence on the rest of his life, sparking his love of camping and the natural world. His Scoutmaster encouraged his artistic ability, and published one of Remi's drawings in the newsletter of the Saint-Boniface Scouts. Alongside his stand-alone illustrations, Hergé began production of a comic strip for Le Boy-Scout Belge, Les Aventures de Totor (The Adventures of Totor), which continued intermittent publication until 1929.
After Art School he created Illustrations in the style of Hergé
After graduating from secondary school in 1925, Hergé enrolled in the École Saint-Luc art school. After finding the teaching boring, he left class after one lesson. Remi hoped for a job as an illustrator alongside an older cartoonist, Pierre Ickx, but instead got a job in the paper's subscriptions department.
Job as a Photographic Reporter and Cartoonist
In August 1927, Hergé met the editor of Le Vingtième Siècle, the Abbé Norbert Wallez. He was a very vocal fascist who agreed to give him a job as a photographic reporter and cartoonist for the newspaper. Hergé always remained grateful for this job. For this new venture, Hergé illustrated L'Extraordinaire Aventure de Flup, Nénesse, Poussette et Cochonnet (The Extraordinary Adventure of Flup, Nénesse, Poussette and Cochonnet). This was a comic strip authored by one of the paper's sport columnists. This comic told the story of two boys, one of their little sisters, and her inflatable rubber pig.