Deleted Frames from Jo, Zette, & Jocko in Cœurs Vaillants

When readers think of deleted material from Hergé's work, the focus almost always falls on the Tintin adventures. Yet another of Hergé's major series, Jo, Zette, & Jocko, also underwent revisions between its original newspaper serialization and its album publication.

Originally published in the French Catholic magazine Cœurs Vaillants, the adventures of Jo, Zette, and their mischievous chimpanzee Jocko were often edited before being collected into book form. Individual panels—and occasionally entire pages—were removed, altered, or rearranged to improve the pacing or fit the album format.

These deleted scenes rarely receive the same attention as their Tintin counterparts, but they are every bit as fascinating. They offer a unique glimpse into Hergé's creative process and allow us to see how he refined his storytelling before the adventures reached their final published form.

I've collected these deleted frames from the original Cœurs Vaillants publications and translated them into English. Whether they contain extra dialogue, humorous moments, or scenes that were ultimately left behind, they provide another opportunity to explore Hergé's work as it first appeared to readers and to appreciate the evolution of one of his lesser-known, but equally enjoyable, series.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD DELETED SCENES FROM THE SECRET RAY IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD DELETED SCENES FROM THE STRATOSHIP H.22 IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD DELETED SCENES FROM THE VALLEY OF THE COBRAS IN ENGLISH  

The Adventures of Tom & Millie

Following The Adventures of Tim the Squirrel, Hergé took another step toward what would eventually become Popol Out West. That intermediary work is The Adventures of Tom & Millie, a remarkably rare publication that is both familiar and surprisingly different.

Although it retains the same principal characters from Tim the Squirrel, Hergé reworked the story in several important ways. Most notably, he abandoned the illustrated-text format of Totor and Tim the Squirrel in favor of a true comic-strip format, complete with panels and speech balloons.

The setting also underwent a dramatic transformation. Instead of taking place in the American West, the story unfolds in the Sahara Desert. The rabbit natives are replaced with monkeys, and numerous plot elements were rewritten, resulting in a story that feels far more than just an early draft. In many respects, The Adventures of Tom & Millie stands as a unique adventure in its own right.

The publication actually consists of two separate stories. The first is the two-page Where There's a Will, a humorous tale that Hergé would later adapt into the Quick & Flupke gag The Toothpick. This is followed by the main 18-page adventure, In Search of the Sun, which contains the core narrative that would eventually evolve into Popol Out West.

Unfortunately, this work is extraordinarily rare. After years of searching, I have managed to locate and translate most of the story, but five pages still remain missing. Using descriptions found in books and archival references, I have been able to reconstruct and summarize the missing portions to help bridge the gaps, but I have yet to find the actual pages themselves.

If you happen to own, or have access to, a complete copy of The Adventures of Tom & Millie, I would be very grateful if you would contact me at tintinfan36@gmail.com. Any information that could help complete this remarkable chapter of Hergé's early career would be greatly appreciated.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE ADVENTURES OF TOM & MILLIE IN ENGLISH 

Tim the Squirrel

 

Before Popol Out West, it existed in a very different form. Titled The Adventures of Tim the Squirrel, this early version tells essentially the same story, featuring the same main characters and the foundations of the familiar plot, but in a much earlier storytelling style.

Rather than using the panel-by-panel comic format that Hergé would later perfect, Tim the Squirrel follows the format of his earlier Totor stories. Each page consists of a series of illustrations accompanied by descriptive text beneath the drawings, allowing the narrative to unfold through a combination of artwork and prose rather than speech balloons.

Even in this early presentation, Hergé's gift for expressive characters, engaging adventures, and visual storytelling is unmistakable. The story offers a fascinating glimpse into his artistic evolution, bridging the gap between his earliest illustrated narratives and the polished comic albums that would later bring him international acclaim.

For Hergé enthusiasts, The Adventures of Tim the Squirrel is much more than an early draft of Popol Out West. It is a valuable piece of comics history that reveals how one of the medium's greatest storytellers refined his craft and experimented with new ways of bringing his characters to life.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TIM THE SQUIRREL IN ENGLISH

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

The Adventures of Rotor: The Secret of Dukduk

So, this is a weird comic this week. This is a parody of Tintin and of Totor at the same time. It is called The Adventures of Rotor, and follows a young boy scout in his adventures. There are many websites online where you can purchase the complete book in French only. Unfortunately, I only translated the first 7 pages of this comic. So it is unfinished. But if you want to get a taste of what this story is about and maybe pursue it further, go ahead and take a look!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE ADVENTURES OF ROTOR IN ENGLISH

Non-Hergé Minor Items

So, this week's offering is a little different. All of them are not drawn by Hergé (except one deleted frame from Tintin in Tibet).

One interesting item is a short comic drawn by Bob de Moor, advertising for Eurosignal using the Tintin characters (done with Hergé's permission).

Then, we have one extra page added to Tintin in Tibet by Yves Rodier; this is not based on any page that Hergé actually drew, but is still interesting!

And then finally, Hergé drew sketches for a story called Tintin and the Thermozero. He sketched (I believe) about 6-7 pages total. It was left unfinished. Well, several fans (including Yves Rodier again) have drawn completed versions of some of those pages, making them look like actual Tintin pages. I have translated all of these into English. So enjoy!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN IN TIBET EXTRA PAGE IN ENGLISH

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD EUROSIGNAL ADVERTISEMENT IN ENGLISH 

Deleted Frames from Tintin in Tintin Magazine

The standard Tintin books published in color actually have many frames (or even whole pages!) that are completely missing! When the Tintin stories were originally published, they were printed in newspapers or magazines, and because of page constraints and creating weekly cliff-hangers, Hergé created way more material than ended up in the published books.

This week I'm giving you deleted/missing frames from Tintin stories published in Tintin Magazine. After World War II was over, at first Hergé was imprisoned and not allowed to published any work at all. Then a friend created a new magazine centered around Tintin and invited Hergé to be a part (also helping to remove the blacklisting stigma from Hergé). These missing frames were all translated into English by myself. Specifically, you'll find frames from Prisoners of the Sun (with some from the conclusion of The Seven Crystal Balls), the 2nd (and completed) version of Land of Black Gold, Destination Moon, Explorers on the Moon, The Calculus Affair, The Red Sea Sharks, and The Castafiore Emerald.

DOWNLOAD PRISONERS OF THE SUN DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH

DOWNLOAD LAND OF BLACK GOLD DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

DOWNLOAD THE MOON BOOKS DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH

DOWNLOAD THE CALCULUS AFFAIR DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

DOWNLOAD THE RED SEA SHARKS DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH

DOWNLOAD THE CASTAFIORE EMERALD DELETED FRAME IN ENGLISH

Deleted Frames from Tintin in Le Soir

The standard Tintin books published in color actually have many frames (or even whole pages!) that are completely missing! When the Tintin stories were originally published, they were printed in newspapers or magazines, and because of page constraints and creating weekly cliff-hangers, Hergé created way more material than ended up in the published books.

This week I'm giving you deleted/missing frames from Tintin stories published in Le Soir. After the Nazis took over Belgium, Le Petit Vingtième closed down. Hergé found new work at Le Soir newspaper, and begin publishing new Tintin stories. These missing frames were all translated into English by myself. Specifically, you'll find frames from The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Shooting Star, The Secret of the Unicorn, Red Rackham's Treasure, and the original unfinished version of The Seven Crystal Balls.

DOWNLOAD THE CRAB WITH THE GOLDEN CLAWS DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH

DOWNLOAD THE SHOOTING STAR DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

DOWNLOAD THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH

DOWNLOAD RED RACKHAM'S TREASURE DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

DOWNLOAD THE SEVEN CRYSTAL BALLS DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

Deleted Frames from Tintin in Le Petit Vingtième

The standard Tintin books published in color actually have many frames (or even whole pages!) that are completely missing! When the Tintin stories were originally published, they were printed in newspapers or magazines, and because of page constraints and creating weekly cliff-hangers, Hergé created way more material than ended up in the published books.

This week I'm giving you deleted/missing frames from Tintin stories published in Le Petit Vingtième (the original home of Tintin). These were all translated into English by myself. Specifically, you'll find a page from Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and frames from The Broken Ear, The Black Island, King Ottokar's Sceptre, and the original unfinished version of Land of Black Gold.

DOWNLOAD THE LAND OF THE SOVIETS DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH

DOWNLOAD THE BROKEN EAR DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

DOWNLOAD THE BLACK ISLAND DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH

DOWNLOAD KING OTTOKAR'S SCEPTRE DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

DOWNLOAD LAND OF BLACK GOLD DELETED FRAMES IN ENGLISH 

 

If you are a fan of audio drama, I also created an audio drama based on Tintin in America. You can listen to it here: http://audioadventuretheatre.blogspot.com/search/label/Tintin

The Amiable Mr. Mops

This is one of my favorite unknown comics by Hergé. It is centered around an amusing character who looks like Charlie Chaplin and acts like him too. These are mostly sight-gags. Not a lot of words, which fits the silent movie era feel. Hergé drew a handful of these for Le Bon Marche's store catalogue. In my opinion they are pretty hilarious! 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE AMIABLE MR. MOPS IN ENGLISH

I also enjoyed them so much that I wrote an audio drama based on them. Tying the separate pages together into a somewhat cohesive plot and story. You can listen to it here: https://audioadventuretheatre.blogspot.com/2011/01/episode-25-amiable-mr-mops.html.

Mr. Bellum

This is a short comic strip Hergé made during World War II. It shows a middle aged man (Mr. Bellum) adjusting to war-time life with all its restrictions and unpleasantness... but in a humorous way! Besides translating this into English, I also colored most of it. LOL. Not as sure about those results...

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MR. BELLUM IN ENGLISH

Dropsy

Hello, it's been like a million years since I posted on this blog. And I really wasn't going to, but I looked back through my files and found many Hergé-related stuff that I had translated into English. And I thought, well, I might as well share it with other English Hergé fans if they would like to read this stuff in English and don't know French. So rather than let it sit on my hard drive only, I'm going to share them on here. All of this was translated by me, years ago. I hope you enjoy!

First of all, here is "Dropsy." This was a promotional short comic strip that Hergé wrote. Very similar in characters to Jo, Zette, and Jocko. It is told as a mystery type story.

TO DOWNLOAD DROPSY CLICK HERE