Hergé and the Bigotudos

One of the most fascinating books for anyone interested in Hergé’s creative process is Hergé et les Bigotudos by Philippe Goddin. This detailed study explores the long and complicated development of Tintin and the Picaros, tracing how the final finished adventure of Tintin evolved over many years through shifting ideas, abandoned concepts, and multiple rewrites.

The title itself refers to one of Hergé’s earliest working versions of the story, when the revolutionaries in San Theodoros were originally conceived as the “Bigotudos”, a group of moustached guerrillas inspired by Latin American revolutionary imagery. Over time, this concept would transform significantly.

Goddin’s book is based on extensive archival research from the Studios Hergé and offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how the story developed. It reveals early sketches, alternative gags, discarded sequences, and the gradual shaping of characters and plotlines. It also touches on how Hergé was simultaneously influenced by other ongoing ideas during this period, including narrative threads that would later contribute to Flight 714 to Sydney.

Rather than simply presenting a finished story, Hergé et les Bigotudos reads like a chronicle of creative evolution. It shows Hergé wrestling with structure, tone, and political context over a long period, repeatedly restarting and refining the direction of the album.

I have translated the material from this book into English, and this will be the final thing I present in my journey to bring unique things from the world of Tintin into English. I hope others have enjoyed and will enjoy these items for years! That is my hope. Thanks for joining me on this adventure.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD HERGE AND THE BIGOTUDOS IN ENGLISH

Quick & Flupke, Album #15: To Do or Not to Do

With the release of Business and Pleasure, I promised there would be one more volume to complete my unofficial English collection of Quick & Flupke stories. Well, here it is—the final album, which I've titled To Do or Not To Do.

This volume is a little different from the previous two. Rather than focusing solely on standard comic strips, it gathers a variety of miscellaneous Quick & Flupke material that Hergé created over the years. Some pieces consist mainly of dialogue accompanied by only a few illustrations, while others are Le Petit Vingtième cover images expanded with captions. There are also several other unusual items that don't fit neatly into any of the traditional collections.

Because of that, this album offers a fascinating glimpse into the more experimental and obscure corners of Hergé's work. Some pieces are genuinely funny, others are historically interesting, and a few... well, you can definitely understand why they were never included in the official albums!

Nevertheless, every one of these works helps paint a more complete picture of Hergé's early career and the enduring popularity of his mischievous young heroes. My goal with this collection has been to preserve and translate as much of this overlooked material as possible for English-speaking readers.

With this volume, the project is finally complete. I hope you've enjoyed discovering these rare Quick & Flupke stories as much as I've enjoyed tracking them down, translating them, and sharing them with fellow Hergé fans. Enjoy!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD QUICK & FLUPKE: TO DO OR NOT TO DO IN ENGLISH 

 

Quick & Flupke, Album #14: Business and Pleasure

Some time ago, I shared what has become the most popular post on this site: my English translations of a number of Quick & Flupke official albums; as well as some previously unavailable Quick & Flupke stories, which I collected into an unofficial thirteenth album titled What Audacity! By gathering stories that had never appeared in the official album series, I hoped to give English-speaking readers the chance to enjoy more of Hergé's delightful neighborhood troublemakers.

But that wasn't the end of the collection.

There were still many more Quick & Flupke stories that didn't make it into What Audacity!, either because I hadn't yet translated them or because there simply wasn't enough room. Over the past years, I've continued tracking them down and translating them.

I'm pleased to present the first of two additional unofficial albums: Business and Pleasure. Like the previous volume, it brings together a variety of classic Quick & Flupke adventures that have never been officially published in album-form in either French or English. As always, the stories are full of clever pranks, misunderstandings, and the timeless humor that made Hergé's mischievous duo such enduring favorites.

I hope this collection gives English-speaking fans the opportunity to discover even more of these charming and often overlooked stories. And don't worry—there's still one more unofficial volume to come!

Enjoy!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD QUICK & FLUPKE: BUSINESS AND PLEASURE IN ENGLISH 

Tintin and the Thermozero

Among the many lesser-known Tintin-related projects and fragments, Tintin and the Thermozero stands out as a particularly intriguing case of an unfinished collaboration.

The project began with a story suggestion from another contributor. Hergé himself then produced a small number of preliminary sketches, exploring the visual direction and early structure of the adventure. Alongside these drawings, a full story outline was also developed, although the exact division of creative responsibility between Hergé and the original proposer is unclear to me.

For a long time, this material remained difficult to access. The full outline, along with additional sketches, is not widely known.

In preparing this post, I have translated the surviving outline and related material into English.

Even in its incomplete form, Thermozero shows promise as a concept. The combination of early Hergé sketches and structured story planning makes it possible to imagine how it could have evolved into a fully realized adventure, fitting alongside the more experimental corners of the Tintin universe.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN AND THE THERMOZERO IN ENGLISH

Tintin and the Blue Oranges

Among the many adaptations and reinterpretations of Tintin, one of the more unusual artifacts is the script for the French live-action production Tintin and the Blue Oranges, the second live-action Tintin film.

What I’ve done here is a translated version of the script, rendered into English so that readers can follow the story as it was originally structured. Reading the script in this way provides a unique perspective on how Tintin was interpreted for live-action cinema at the time. The humor, mystery elements, and character dynamics are all present, but filtered through the conventions of screenplay writing rather than Hergé’s comic panel storytelling.

Although it is not a substitute for watching the film itself, this script allows us to experience the story for those of you who may never watch the film.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN AND THE BLUE ORANGES SCRIPT IN ENGLISH

Thomson and Thompson Detectives

Between the major Tintin albums Red Rackham’s Treasure and The Seven Crystal Balls, Hergé’s work took an unusual detour during the wartime period in Belgium. In the pages of Le Soir, a serialized story appeared under the title Thomson and Thompson Detectives, offering a very different kind of Tintin-related adventure.

Unlike the standard album format, this story was produced in a hybrid style: each week featured a single drawing by Hergé, accompanied by narrative text written by another author. This created a distinctive rhythm, more akin to illustrated fiction than a conventional comic strip.

The story opens in a surprisingly grounded setting, with the Thomson & Thompson detectives assisting a farmer and becoming involved in the everyday work of churning wheat on a rural farm. From this humble beginning, however, the narrative gradually develops into something far more complex.

As the plot unfolds, the twins find themselves drawn into a murder investigation, giving the story a noticeably darker tone than many typical Tintin-related works. Despite this, Hergé’s signature humor remains present throughout, largely carried by the Thompsons’ misunderstandings and misadventures.

The result is a fascinating blend of comedy, mystery, and wartime serialization constraints. It stands out not only for its unusual format, but also for the way it bridges lighthearted rural scenes with a more serious investigative storyline.

Though it is not part of the official Tintin albums, Thomson and Thompson Detectives remains an intriguing example of how Hergé’s universe expanded into experimental formats during a turbulent period in history.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THOMSON AND THOMPSON DETECTIVES IN ENGLISH

Ramo Nash's Tintin and Alph-Art

Among the unfinished works left behind by Hergé, Tintin and Alph-Art remains the most discussed and widely reimagined. After Hergé’s death, several artists attempted to complete the story in different forms, the most well-known being the color reconstruction by Yves Rodier.

However, far less attention has been given to another interpretation often referred to as the Ramo Nash version. This version remains anonymous in origin and is presented as a full 62-page treatment, and is very faithful in style and true to the spirit of Tintin. It is entirely in black and white and follows the narrative directly from Hergé’s surviving sketches.

I have chosen not to reproduce the earlier pages that closely mirror Hergé’s original notes or overlap with material already expanded in Rodier’s version. Instead, the focus here is on the continuation—the material that picks up where Hergé’s own work ends and attempts to carry the story forward.

While the authenticity and origins of the Ramo Nash version remain uncertain, it stands as another example of the fascination surrounding Hergé’s final unfinished adventure. Each reconstruction, whether official or unofficial, reflects a different interpretation of how Tintin’s last case might have concluded.

What follows is a translated excerpt of the continuation beyond Hergé’s original pages. Enjoy exploring this rare and lesser-known interpretation of Tintin’s final journey.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD RAMO NASH'S TINTIN AND ALPH-ART IN ENGLISH