“Tintin” volume appears in the original colored version

Fans of the Belgian comic series “Tintin” who understand French can look forward to fresh reading pleasure: the volume set in China „The Blue Lotus“ (“The Blue Lotus”) was re-released in France on Wednesday in the original version, almost twice as long and recolored.

Unlike Asterix and Obelix or Lucky Luke, who live on after the death of their creators through other artists, there have been no new adventures from the young reporter Tim since 1983.

The descendants of the Belgian comic artist Hergé – who reversed the initials of his name Georges Remi for his pen name – did not allow anyone else to let the comic character live on in new volumes.

However, it is already the fourth time that a volume has been reissued in its original version. The volumes set in the Congo, the Soviet Union and America have also been re-edited and recolored.

In Germany in recent years, individual classic Tintin albums have also been re-released as color versions of the original album, sometimes accompanied by disputes over publishing rights. Therefore, it will only be a matter of time before “The Blue Lotus” appears in the original colored version here.

However, there are no concrete plans for this yet. “We have nothing planned at the moment,” said the spokeswoman for the German Tintin publisher Carlsen, Claudia Jerusalem, on Thursday when asked by Tagesspiegel. But that doesn’t rule out the possibility that the volume will later be published in German by the Hamburg publisher.

In the USA, the volume “Tintin in the Land of the Soviets” has even been free of rights since the beginning of the year – there the copyright is only valid for 95 years. “This will have no economic consequences,” says Tintin expert Benoît Peeters.

“In the USA, Tintin is not particularly widespread.” In Europe, copyright does not expire until 70 years after the author’s death: So “Tintin” will no longer be protected by copyright until 2054.

The new edition of the Lotus volume reminds us that Hergé had a passion for Chinese art. “Through this I learned my sense of order and tried to combine care, simplicity, harmony and movement,” he is quoted in the volume.

“The Blue Lotus” was first published in a magazine in 1934. With his realistic portrayal, Hergé set himself apart from the earlier volumes, in which he often used stereotypes. This was also thanks to his friend, Chinese artist Chang Tschon-jen, whom he met at the Brussels Art Academy. The boy named Tschang in the volume is a tribute to him.

Original pages from “Tintin” comics regularly fetch high prices at auctions. In 2021, a drawing for the title of the volume “The Blue Lotus” changed hands for 3.2 million euros.