Editing Hergé (section)

=== German occupation and ''Le Soir'': 1939–1945 ===

{{Quote box|width=246px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote=It is certain that [[Raymond De Becker]] sympathized with the [[National Socialist]] system, and on this point he was in agreement with [[Henri de Man]]. I admit that I believed myself that the future of the West could depend on the [[New Order (Nazism)|New Order]]. For many people democracy had proven deceptive, and the New Order brought fresh hope. In Catholic circles such views were widely held. Given everything that happened, it was naturally a terrible error to have believed even for an instant in the New Order.|source=Hergé, 1973{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=117–118}}}}
As the [[Belgian Army]] clashed with the invading Germans, Hergé and his wife fled by car to France along with tens of thousands of other Belgians, first staying in [[Paris]] and then heading south to [[Puy-de-Dôme]], where they remained for six weeks.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=66|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=111–112}} On 28 May, [[King Leopold III of the Belgians]] [[German occupation of Belgium during World War II|surrendered the country to the German army]] to prevent further killing; a move that Hergé supported. He followed the king's request that all of those Belgians who had fled the country return, arriving back in Brussels on 30 June.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=67|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=112–113}} There, he found that his house had been occupied as an office for the German army's ''[[Propaganda in Nazi Germany|Propagandastaffel]]'', and also faced financial trouble, as he owed back taxes yet was unable to access his financial reserves.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=68|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=113–114}} All Belgian publications were now under the control of the German occupying force, who refused {{Lang|fr|Le Petit Vingtième}} permission to continue publication.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=68–69|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=114}} Instead, Hergé was offered employment as a cartoonist for {{Lang|fr|[[Le Pays Réel]]}} by its editor, the [[Rexist Party|Rexist]] [[Victor Matthys]], but Hergé perceived {{Lang|fr|Le Pays Réel}} as an explicitly political publication, and thus declined the position.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=114–115}}

Instead, he took up a position with {{Lang|fr|[[Le Soir]]}}, Belgium's largest Francophone daily newspaper. Confiscated from its original owners, the German authorities had permitted ''Le Soir'' to be re-opened under the directorship of De Becker, although it remained firmly under Nazi control, supporting the German war effort and espousing anti-Semitism.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=70–71|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=116–118}} After joining the ''Le Soir'' team on 15 October, Hergé was involved in the creation of a children's supplement, ''Soir-Jeunesse'', aided by Jamin and [[Jacques Van Melkebeke]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=72|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=120–121}} He relaunched ''The Adventures of Tintin'' with a new story, ''[[The Crab with the Golden Claws]]'', in which Tintin pursued drug smugglers in North Africa; the story was a turning point in the series for its introduction of [[Captain Haddock]], who would become a major character in the rest of the ''Adventures''.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=124–126}} This story, like the subsequent ''Adventures of Tintin'' published in ''Le Soir'', would reject the political themes present in earlier stories, instead remaining firmly neutral.{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1pp=98–99|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=122}} Hergé also included new ''Quick & Flupke'' gags in the supplement, as well as illustrations for serialised stories by [[Edgar Allan Poe]] and the [[Brothers Grimm]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=73–74|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=122}}

In May 1941, a paper shortage led to the ''Soir-Jeunesse'' being reduced to four pages, with the length of the Tintin strip being cut by two thirds. Several weeks later the supplement disappeared altogether, with ''The Crab with the Golden Claws'' being moved into ''Le Soir'' itself, where it became a daily strip.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=125}} While some Belgians were upset that Hergé was willing to work for a newspaper controlled by the occupying Nazi administration,{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2009|1p=73|2a1=Assouline|2y=2009|2p=72}} he was heavily enticed by the size of {{Lang|fr|Le Soir}}'s readership, which reached 600,000.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=73|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|p=121}} With Van Melkebeke, Hergé put together two Tintin plays. The first, ''Tintin in the Indies'', appeared at Brussels' Theatre des Galeries in April 1941, while the second, ''Mr Boullock's Disappearance'', was performed there in December.{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1pp=109–110|2a1=Assouline|2y=2009|2p=86|3a1=Peeters|3y=2012|3pp=130–131}} From October 1941 to May 1942, ''Le Soir'' serialised Hergé's next Tintin adventure, ''[[The Shooting Star]]'', followed by publication as a single volume by Casterman. In keeping with ''Le Soir''{{'}}s editorial standpoint, ''The Shooting Star'' espoused an anti-Semitic and anti-American attitude, with the antagonist being a wealthy Jewish American businessman; it would thus prove particularly controversial in the post-war period, although Hergé denied any malicious anti-Semitic intention.{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1pp=106–109|2a1=Lofficier|2a2=Lofficier|2y=2002|2pp=48–51|3a1=Assouline|3y=2009|3pp=80–83|4a1=Peeters|4y=2012|4pp=130–135}}

[[File:Galerie de Traitres - Hergé.JPG|thumb|left|Booklet published by the [[Belgian Resistance|resistance]] group ''L'Insoumis'', denouncing Georges Remy {{Sic}} as a collaborator. Hergé later admitted that "I hated the Resistance thing&nbsp;... I knew that for every one of the Resistance's actions, hostages would be arrested and shot."{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=150}}]]

Casterman felt that the black-and-white volumes of ''The Adventures of Tintin'' were not selling as well as colour comic books, and thus that the series should be produced in colour. At the same time, Belgium was facing a paper-shortage, with Casterman wishing to cut down the volumes from 120-pages in length to 62. Hergé was initially sceptical, but ultimately agreed to their demands in February 1942.{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2009|1p=95|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=136–137}} For these new editions, Casterman introduced a four-colour system, although Hergé insisted that colour should remain secondary to line, and that it would not be used for shading.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=137}} To cope with this additional workload, Hergé approached a friend whom he had met through Van Melkebeke, [[Edgar P. Jacobs]], to aid him as a cartoonist and colourist.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=86–87|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=138–139}} Jacobs could only work on the project part-time, and so in March 1942, Hergé also employed a woman named Alice Devos to aid him.{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2009|1p=96|2a1=Assouline|2y=2009|2p=86|3a1=Peeters|3y=2012|3p=139}} In July 1942, Hergé then procured an agent, Bernard Thièry, who took 40% of his commissions; their working relationship would be strained.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=85|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=131}} With their assistance, from 1942 to 1947, Hergé adapted most of his previous ''Adventures of Tintin'' into 62-page colour versions.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=140}}

Hergé's next ''Adventure of Tintin'' would be ''[[The Secret of the Unicorn]]'', serialised in ''Le Soir'' from June 1942.{{Sfn|Lofficier|Lofficier|2002|p=52}} He had collaborated closely with Van Melkebeke on this project, who had introduced many elements from the work of [[Jules Verne]] into the detective story, in which Tintin and Haddock searched for parchments revealing the location of hidden pirate treasure.{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|pp=143–144}} ''The Secret of the Unicorn'' marked the first half of a story arc that was completed in ''[[Red Rackham's Treasure]]'', serialised in ''Le Soir'' from February 1943; in this story, Tintin and Haddock search for the pirate's treasure in the Caribbean, with the character of [[Professor Calculus]] being introduced to the series.{{Sfnm|1a1=Lofficier|1a2=Lofficier|1y=2002|1pp=52–53}} Following ''Red Rackham's Treasure'', Hergé drew illustrations for a serialised story titled ''Dupont et Dupond, détectives'' ("Thomson and Thompson, Detectives"), authored by the newspaper's crime editor, Paul Kinnet.{{Sfnm|1a1=Goddin|1y=2008|1pp=128, 130|2a1=Assouline|2y=2009|2p=94}}

In September 1943, De Becker was removed as editor of ''Le Soir'' for stating that although the Nazis were motivated "by undoubted good will, [they were also] extremely out of touch with reality". Although Hergé was close to De Becker, he decided to remain at the newspaper, which came under the editorship of [[Max Hodeige]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=93|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=149–150}} In autumn 1943, Hergé had decided that he wanted Jacobs to collaborate with him on ''The Adventures of Tintin''. Although initially hesitant, Jacobs eventually agreed, adopting the paid position in January 1944.{{Sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=98|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=152}} Jacobs and Hergé became close collaborators and greatly influenced each other, while together they developed the plot for the next ''Adventure of Tintin'', ''[[The Seven Crystal Balls]]'',{{Sfn|Peeters|2012|p=153}} which began serialisation in ''Le Soir'' in December 1943.{{Sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1p=124|2a1=Farr|2y=2001|2p=118|3a1=Lofficier|3a2=Lofficier|3y=2002|3p=55|4a1=Assouline|4y=2009|4pp=98–99}}