Le Sifflet Comic Strips

 

Long before Tintin made his debut, Hergé was already developing his artistic style through a variety of newspaper illustrations and comics. Among these early works are seven short comics published in the Belgian newspaper Le Sifflet.

Though these stories predate Tintin, they are filled with the humor, expressive artwork, and lively storytelling that would later become Hergé's trademark. Each comic introduces a cast of memorable and often eccentric characters, giving readers a glimpse into the imagination of a young artist whose talent was already beginning to shine.

These short comics also provide a fascinating look at Hergé's artistic development. His character designs, sense of movement, visual gags, and storytelling techniques reveal many of the qualities that would eventually mature into the famous ligne claire style recognized around the world.

While they are not as well known as Tintin or even Hergé's other early series, these seven comics are an important part of his creative journey. They offer fans a rare opportunity to see the foundations of one of the twentieth century's greatest comic artists and to discover a collection of entertaining stories that deserve to be remembered.

Enjoy each of these seven forgotten gems from Le Sifflet and the unique characters that inhabit their pages!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD YEAR'S END FEAST! IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE GOOD LITTLE CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD MR. SCHINLER'S DOG IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD SCHINLER AT THE DENTIST IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD MR. VANDERVELDE ON THE TIGHTROPE IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE ELECTORAL BODY AND THE MARIANNE SOCIALIST IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD MR. SCHINLER'S JOKE IN ENGLISH     

In Between Tintin Adventures

 

Most Tintin fans are familiar with Hergé's adventures that appeared week after week in Le Petit Vingtième. But what happened in between those installments?

To help fill the gaps between the serialized Tintin stories, Hergé created what turns out to be, in total, a small collection of seven illustrated dialogue pieces. Rather than traditional comic strips with sequential panels, these feature Hergé's unmistakable artwork accompanied by text-based conversations, often between Tintin and Snowy, though occasionally including other familiar characters.

These short works offered readers an enjoyable way to spend another week with Tintin while awaiting the next chapter of his latest adventures. Filled with humor, wit, and the charm that made the series so beloved, they provide an interesting glimpse into Hergé's creativity outside the standard adventure format.

Although they are little known today and have rarely been reprinted, these seven pieces are fascinating historical artifacts from the early days of Tintin. They remind us that the world of Tintin extended beyond the adventures themselves, creating an ongoing connection with readers through the pages of Le Petit Vingtième.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN AND SNOWY ARE BORED! IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD BY SPECIAL WIRELESS IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD GANGSTERS BOOTLEGGERS IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN'S MAIL IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN DEPARTS IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TRAVEL PLANS IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD HELLO... HELLO... THIS IS TINTIN... IN ENGLISH      

Tintin and the Golden Fleece

The first live-action movie based on Tintin was "Tintin and the Golden Fleece" released with Hergé's permission and actually quite a fun adventure! There was a film book released which had still's from the movie along with text. This was published in French and in English (although it is very rare and hard to find!). What I am offering today is not that! This is a version that some fan drew of The Golden Fleece in comic strip format. He drew it in French and I started to translate it into English. I'm sad to say that this project also never was completed. I finished the first 9 pages of the comic (which is actually divided into 3 volumes). But if you have never seen the movie or read the film book (and don't speak French!), then maybe this will give you a good taste of what you're missing!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE IN ENGLISH 

UPDATE 2026: I now have an English translation of the entire movie script of "The Golden Fleece." It's still not the same as being able to watch the movie in English, but it at least helps you know the entire story, even if you can't see it.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE SCRIPT IN ENGLISH 

The Adventures of Totor

This is a very interesting comic, in my opinion! Totor is kind of like the proto-Tintin character. Hergé drew this for a Boy Scout paper before he had worked on Tintin. Totor is a boy scout who is very similar to Tintin. He travels to America and encounters bandits and native Americans. It's not a very politically correct story, but that's not unique to this story by Hergé only! Obviously. It is also different because the story is told with narration under the drawings, rather than speech bubbles. But it's still a fun little story that helps us understand Hergé's early career. Enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE ADVENTURES OF TOTOR IN ENGLISH

Then, there was also a brief continuation of Totor drawn by another artist, Evany. This was done with Herge's approval in his lifetime. I was only able to find one page from this continuation, but it is nonetheless interesting to see.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MEMOIRS OF TOTOR IN ENGLISH 

The Misadventures of Jeff Debakker

For this comic, I originally posted it incomplete; but I have since found the entire strip that Hergé drew. This is an unusual comic called The Misadventures of Jeff Debakker. It seems to be about what the title suggests: a man called Jeff the Baker (da-Baker), and his misadventures...

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MISADVENTURES OF JEFF DEBAKKER IN ENGLISH

The Witch's Lake (or The Sorcerer's Lake)

All right, this will probably be the last post I make on this blog ever, because I have come to the end of my English translations that I found from years ago on my hard drive. I don't plan on doing any more translation work, but I hope what I have here will be enjoyed by many English-speaking fans of Hergé and Tintin for years to come!

This week, I am giving you my complete English translation of a Tintin story by Yves Rodier. Rodier famously did a complete version of Tintin and Alph-Art which has been quite popular. But many people do not know about The Witch's Lake (French: Le Lac de la Sorcière). This is a short comic, only 6-7 pages long but a complete story. It is very faithful to Hergé and Tintin fans will find much to delight in this story which has only been in French up until now. And with that, I bid all of you a fond farewell! Au revoir!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE WITCH'S LAKE IN ENGLISH

Destination World

This week, I offer you Destination World (French: Objectif Monde), one of the most interesting parodies ever created based on Tintin. It is also one that received the official blessing of Hergé's estate (a very rare thing!). It was published in French and created by David Savard. It follows a young man who is a huge Tintin fan and even pretends he has a dog called Snowy! He gets caught up in a bizarre mystery that has a very surprising conclusion. I translated the full 26 pages of this comic into English back in 2006, but it has remained on my hard drive ever since. I hope Tintin fans will find this a fun ride!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD DESTINATION WORLD IN ENGLISH