Mr. Boullock's Disappearance

Among the two wartime Tintin stage plays produced with Hergé’s involvement, the second—and perhaps more intriguing—is Mr. Boullock’s Disappearance.

This play presents a surprisingly original storyline. It places the Thomson & Thompson detectives at the center of the action, alongside another pair of twins, in a narrative that carries a distinct “around the world” atmosphere reminiscent of Around the World in 80 Days. The tone is more theatrical and episodic than the other play, with the plot unfolding through a series of lively set-pieces.

Although Hergé was not the sole author of the script, his involvement helped ensure that the characters retained their familiar personalities and visual humor. The result is a curious blend of stage comedy and Tintin-style adventure, offering a different way to experience the world of the series during the wartime period when regular publication had been disrupted.

Having located and translated the script after years of searching, I’m sharing it here so that readers can finally explore this unusual and rarely seen corner of Tintin history.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD MR. BOULLOCK'S DISAPPEARANCE IN ENGLISH 

Tintin in India: The Mystery of the Blue Diamond

When Le Petit Vingtième ceased publication during World War II, Tintin did not disappear entirely. During this period, two stage plays featuring Tintin were produced with Hergé's involvement, offering audiences a chance to experience his famous characters in an entirely different medium.

Although Hergé did not write the plays himself, he collaborated on the productions while the scripts were primarily written by another author. The result was a pair of entertaining adventures that captured much of the humor, excitement, and spirit of Tintin, even if they are largely forgotten today.

Sadly, no recordings or films of these performances are known to exist. For decades, the plays have remained little more than a footnote in Tintin history, known to only a handful of dedicated researchers and collectors.

After years of searching, however, I was fortunate enough to track down the original scripts. I've translated them into English so that Tintin fans who have never had the opportunity to read them can finally experience these rare pieces of Hergé history.

While they may not be official Tintin albums, these plays offer a fascinating glimpse into an overlooked chapter of the series during one of the most difficult periods of Hergé's career. I hope you enjoy discovering these long-forgotten adventures as much as I enjoyed bringing them to light.

The first one is Tintin in India!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD TINTIN IN INDIA IN ENGLISH 

Miscellaneous Herge Items

Not every piece of Hergé's work fits neatly into one of his famous series. Throughout his career, he produced a wide variety of one-off comics, advertisements, games, and experimental projects that are often overlooked but provide fascinating insights into his creativity and versatility.

Among these is a fun game published in Tintin magazine, introduced by a short comic featuring Professor Calculus and the Thomson & Thompson detectives.

Hergé also created Colour Your Colours, a coloring page produced to advertise a popular Belgian chicory-root drink, blending his distinctive artwork with commercial illustration.

Another curious creation is Magneshal, a whimsical advertising character who first appeared in a series of single-panel illustrations without dialogue, performing absurd visual gags. Hergé later expanded the character into a one-page comic strip, giving readers a little more of this unusual figure's humorous world.

Perhaps the most intriguing items in this collection are the three opening pages created under the pseudonym Olav by Hergé and his friend, Edgar P. Jacobs. These were drawn in the uncertain years immediately following the end of World War II, when Hergé had been blacklisted and feared he might never be permitted to publish under his own name again. Together, the two artists began three completely different stories, producing only the first page of each before the projects were abandoned. Although none of these works developed into full-fledged adventures, they remain fascinating glimpses into Hergé's lesser-known output.

Whether created for advertising, entertainment, or during one of the most uncertain periods of his career, each offers a unique window into the imagination and artistic evolution of one of the twentieth century's greatest cartoonists. Here, I've translated these rare pieces into English so that more readers can enjoy this overlooked corner of Hergé's work.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD CALCULUS GAME IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD COLOR YOUR COLORS IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD MAGNESHAL IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD OLAV PAGES IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FSC CALENDARS IN ENGLISH

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD RANDOM 1-PAGE THINGS IN ENGLISH  

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  

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 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