Editing Hergé (section)

=== Founding ''Tintin'' and ''Quick & Flupke'': 1929–1932 ===

Beginning a series of newspaper supplements in late 1928, Wallez founded a supplement for children, ''[[Le Petit Vingtième]]'' (''The Little Twentieth''), which subsequently appeared in ''Le Vingtième Siècle'' every Thursday.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=31–32}} Carrying strong Catholic and fascist messages, many of its passages were explicitly [[Antisemitism|anti-semitic]].{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=38}} For this new venture, Hergé illustrated ''L'Extraordinaire Aventure de Flup, Nénesse, Poussette et Cochonnet'' (''The Extraordinary Adventure of Flup, Nénesse, Poussette and Cochonnet''), a comic strip authored by one of the paper's sport columnists, which told the story of two boys, one of their little sisters, and her inflatable rubber pig.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=16|2a1=Farr|2y=2001|2p=12|3a1=Peeters|3y=2012|3p=32}} Hergé was unsatisfied, and eager to write and draw a comic strip of his own. He was fascinated by new techniques in the medium&nbsp;– such as the systematic use of speech bubbles&nbsp;– found in such US comics as [[George McManus]]' ''[[Bringing Up Father]]'', [[George Herriman]]'s ''[[Krazy Kat]]'' and [[Rudolph Dirks]]'s ''[[The Katzenjammer Kids]]'', copies of which had been sent to him from Mexico by the paper's reporter [[Léon Degrelle]], stationed there to report on the [[Cristero War]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=17|2a1=Farr|2y=2001|2p=18|3a1=Lofficier|3a2=Lofficier|3y=2002|3p=18}}

[[File:Le Petit Vingtieme, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets.jpg|thumb|left|The front page of the edition of 1 May 1930 of {{Lang|fr|Le Petit Vingtième}}, declaring "{{Lang|fr|Tintin Revient!}}" ("Tintin Returns!") from his adventure in the Soviet Union.{{Sfn|Goddin|2008|p=67}}]]

Hergé developed a character named [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]] as a Belgian boy reporter who could travel the world with his [[fox terrier]], [[Snowy (character)|Snowy]]&nbsp;– "Milou" in the original French&nbsp;– basing him in large part on his earlier character of Totor and also on his own brother, Paul.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=19|2a1=Thompson|2y=1991|2p=25|3a1=Peeters|3y=2012|3p=34}} Degrelle later falsely claimed that Tintin had been based on him, while he and Hergé fell out when Degrelle used one of his designs without permission; they settled out-of-court.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=45–46|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=59–60}} Although Hergé wanted to send his character to the United States, Wallez instead ordered him to set his adventure in the [[Soviet Union]], acting as a work of anti-socialist propaganda for children. The result, ''[[Tintin in the Land of the Soviets]]'', began serialisation in ''Le Petit Vingtième'' on 10 January 1929, and ran until 8 May 1930.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=22–23|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=34–37}} Popular in Francophone Belgium, Wallez organized a publicity stunt{{Clarify|date=February 2019}} at the Gare de Nord station, following which he organized the publication of the story in book form.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=39–41}} The popularity of the story led to an increase in sales, and so Wallez granted Hergé two assistants, Eugène Van Nyverseel and Paul "Jam" Jamin.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=32–34|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=42–43}}

In January 1930, Hergé introduced ''[[Quick & Flupke]]'' (''Quick et Flupke''), a new comic strip about two street kids from Brussels, in the pages of ''Le Petit Vingtième''.{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2008|1p=95|2a1=Assouline|2y=2009|2pp=23–24|3a1=Peeters|3y=2012|3pp=44–45}} At Wallez's direction, in June he began serialisation of the second Tintin adventure, ''[[Tintin in the Congo]]'', designed to encourage colonial sentiment towards the [[Belgian Congo]]. Authored in a paternalistic style that depicted the Congolese as childlike idiots, in later decades it would be accused of racism; however, at the time it was un-controversial and popular, with further publicity stunts held to increase sales.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=26–29|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=45–47}} For the third adventure, ''[[Tintin in America]]'', serialised from September 1931 to October 1932, Hergé finally got to deal with a scenario of his own choice, although he used the work to push an anti-capitalist, anti-consumerist agenda in keeping with the paper's ultra-conservative ideology.{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1pp=46–50|2a1=Assouline|2y=2009|2pp=30–32}} Although the ''Adventures of Tintin'' had been serialised in the French Catholic ''[[Cœurs Vaillants]]'' ("Brave Hearts") since 1930, he was soon receiving syndication requests from Swiss and Portuguese newspapers too.{{Sfn|Assouline|2009|p=35}} Though wealthier than most Belgians at his age, and despite increasing success, he remained an unfazed "conservative young man" dedicated to his work.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=44|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=43, 48}}

Hergé sought work elsewhere too, creating ''[[Minor comics by Hergé#The Amiable Mr. Mops|The Lovable Mr. Mops]]'' cartoon for the [[Le Bon Marché|Bon Marché]] department store,{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1p=49|2a1=Assouline|2y=2009|2p=25}} and ''[[Minor comics by Hergé#The Adventures of Tim the Squirrel out West|The Adventures of Tim the Squirrel Out West]]'' for the rival L'Innovation department store.{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1p=46|2a1=Goddin|2y=2008|2p=89}}