Editing Hergé (section)

=== Establishing ''Tintin'' magazine: 1946–1949 ===

[[File:Journal de Tintin Le Temple du Soleil.jpg|thumb|upright|300px|The first issue of ''[[Tintin (magazine)|Tintin]]'' magazine included an image based upon ''Prisoners of the Sun''.]]

Sinave devised the idea of naming their new magazine ''[[Tintin (magazine)|Tintin]]'', believing that this would attract a wide audience.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=165}} The Dutch-language edition produced for release in Belgium's Flemish north was titled ''Kuifje'' after the character's Dutch-language name.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=124|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=173}} Adopting the slogan of "The Newspaper for the Young Aged 7 to 77",{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=124}} the magazine also used a logo featuring the Tintin character himself.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=122}} The [[Capital (economics)|capital]] for the project had been put up by those involved: as executive director, Leblanc provided 50%, while its managing director Georges Lallemand provided 40% and Hergé, its artistic director, provided 10%.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=120}} Hergé assembled a group of associates to aid him, including Van Melkebeke, Jacobs, Paul Cuvelier, and Jacques Laudy.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=120–121|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=171}} Van Melkebeke was initially appointed editor-in-chief, although he was arrested for having worked for the collaborationist ''Le Nouveau journal'' shortly after, with his involvement in the project thus being kept secret so as to avoid further controversy.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=118–119|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=172, 175}} Van Melkebeke continued to provide work for the magazine under pseudonyms, although this ceased during his imprisonment from December 1947 to October 1949.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=175–176, 186}}

The first issue of ''Tintin'' magazine was published on 26 September 1946.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=120|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=173}} Hergé was assigned to produce a two-page spread each week, and began by concluding ''The Seven Crystal Balls'' before embarking on its successor story, ''[[Prisoners of the Sun]]''.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=124}} Alongside Hergé's ''Adventures of Tintin'', the magazine also included Laudy's ''The Legend of the Four Aymon Brothers'' and Jacobs' ''[[The Secret of the Swordfish]]'', the first in his new ''[[Blake and Mortimer]]'' series.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=122}} While the magazine was in competition with a number of rivals, most notably ''[[Spirou (magazine)|Spirou]]'', famous for serialising the ''[[Lucky Luke]]'' and ''[[Buck Danny]]'' comics,{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=121}} it proved an immediate success, with 60,000 copies being sold in three days of its release.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=122}} Its publication resulted in a massive boost to Hergé's book sales too.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=124}}

In 1947, [[The Crab with the Golden Claws (film)|a Belgian film adaptation]] of ''The Crab with the Golden Claws'' was produced, and believing that cinematic adaptations were a good way to proceed, Hergé contacted [[Walt Disney Studios (division)|Disney Studios]] in the United States; they declined his offer to adapt ''The Adventures of Tintin'' for the silver screen.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=133|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=187–189}} In May 1947, the artistic collaboration between Hergé and Jacobs ended after an argument. Hergé had been jealous of the immediate success of Jacobs' ''Blake and Mortimer'' series, and had turned down Jacobs' request that he be credited as co-creator of the new ''Adventures of Tintin''.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=126–127|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=176–177}} That same month, Hergé broke from his manager, Thiery, after discovering that the latter had been siphoning off money for himself.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=179}}

Many Belgians were highly critical of the magazine due to its connections with Hergé, who was still deemed a collaborator and traitor by many; ''Le Soir'' and ''La Cité'' publicly criticised the decision without referring to him by name while ''Le Quotidien'' and ''[[Communist Party of Belgium|Le Drapeau Rouge]]'' specifically singled him out for denunciation.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|pp=122–123}} Hergé believed that the children's author [[Jeanne Cappe]] was behind many of these accusations, and threatened her with a lawsuit.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|pp=130–131}} Unhappy with life in Belgium, Hergé made plans to emigrate to Argentina, a nation that was welcoming many Europeans who had supported the defeated Axis powers and which had a thriving comic book scene. Ultimately, he changed his mind, for reasons that have remained unknown; it is possible that he was unable to secure any promise of work in the South American country.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=131, 134|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=190–193}}

{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=left|quote=I've just discovered ... that Tintin is no longer me, and that though he continued to live it is through a sort of artificial respiration that I must keep up constantly, and that is exhausting me more and more.|source=Hergé, in a letter to his wife, 1947{{Sfnm|1a1=Peeters|1y=2012|1p=183}}}}

In May, Hergé and Germaine holidayed near to [[Gland, Switzerland|Gland]] on [[Lake Geneva]], Switzerland, where they were accompanied by a friend of theirs, a young woman named Rosane. During the holiday, Hergé and Rosane embarked on an [[extra-marital affair]]. He felt guilty, and returned to Brussels in June.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=193}} Privately, he expressed the view that he had been led to commit such an act, which he viewed as immoral, through the influence of "amoral friends" with whom he was associating.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=194}} Hoping to reignite the passion and stability of his marriage, he arranged to return to Switzerland with Germaine soon after; here they argued and embarked on a temporary separation.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=194}} Remaining in Switzerland, he visited [[King Leopold III]], who was then holidaying in [[Pregny-Chambésy|Prégny]],{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=198}} before briefly returning to Brussels in July.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=201}} Back in Switzerland, he embarked on an affair with a married woman, although again informed Germaine before setting off to spend time in the [[Ardennes]].{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=201–202}} In August, the couple sought to reunite by holidaying together in [[Brittany]], but there they broke up again and Hergé returned to his lover in Switzerland.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=202–203}} In September, he finally returned to Brussels,{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=203}} but he then spent time with his close friend [[Marcel Dehaye]] in a retreat at the [[Scourmont Abbey|Abbey of Notre-Dame-de-Scourmont]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=127–129|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=204–205}} That month, he revived ''Land of Black Gold''&nbsp;– the ''Adventure of Tintin'' that had been interrupted by the German invasion of 1940&nbsp;– and began serialising it in ''Tintin'' magazine.{{Sfn|Lofficier|Lofficier|2002|p=59}} However, the story was again interrupted, this time for 12 weeks as Hergé took a further unannounced holiday to Gland, greatly annoying many of his colleagues.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=210–214}}

Although they retained respect for each other, Hergé's repeated absences had created a tense situation between himself and Leblanc.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=214}} After a lengthy search, Leblanc had found a publisher willing to produce an edition of ''Tintin'' magazine in France: Georges Dargaud's [[Le Lombard]], which began production of a French edition in October 1948.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=131|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=203}} However, Hergé was unhappy that Leblanc had appointed André Frenez as Van Melkebeke's replacement as editor-in-chief, describing Frenez as "a cold functionary".{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=142}} Hergé was stubborn and uncompromising as the magazine's artistic director, known for strongly criticising the work of old friends like Pierre Ickx if he felt that they did not meet his exacting standards.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=139}} He was particularly critical of the work of two of the newly hired staff at ''Tintin'' and ''Kuifje'', [[Jacques Martin (comics)|Jacques Martin]] and [[Willy Vandersteen]], encouraging them to change their artistic style to better reflect his own preferences.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=215}} To Leblanc, he expressed the concern that most of those working at ''Tintin'' were better illustrators than storytellers.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=169|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=237}} He also opined that ''Tintin'' was not keeping up with the times and what he perceived as the increased maturity of children, encouraging the magazine to better reflect current events and scientific developments.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=235–237}}