Tintin and Alph-Art

Tintin and Alph-Art (originally Tintin et l'alph-art) is the twenty-fourth and final book in the Tintin series. Hergé worked on it until his death, and it was published posthumously (despite its unfinished status) in 1986 by Casterman in association with La Fondation Hergé, and was republished in 2004 with further material.

Contents

1 History 2 The Storyline 3 Rediscovered pages 4 Influences 5 Hergé's Legacy 6 Publication History 7 Pirate editions 8 Publication Details 9 References

History

In 1976, a few months after the publication of Tintin and the Picaros, Hergé told the journalist and author Numa Sadoul that he was contemplating the next adventure of Tintin - setting an entire story in an airport departure lounge. This idea was eventually dropped, and in 1978, he decided to set the story in the world of modern art. He had grown tired of his creation, and the pressure he was under to produce new adventures, and in an attempt to rekindle his passion for writing and drawing the adventures of Tintin, chose to incorporate his love of avant-garde artwork into the new story. Hergé was inspired by the Ferdinand Legros and Elmyr de Hory affair, and incorporated a second element, a new age sect and a phoney guru. He planned to cast Rastapopoulos as the villain, but according to Harry Thompson, dropped the idea in 1980 when he introduced the alphabet art element.

The Storyline

The story opens with Captain Haddock having a nightmare of being visited by Bianca Castafiore. Tintin receives a telephone call from Bianca Castafiore, telling him that she is in his country for a few days, and tells him about the man she is with, Endaddine Akass, a famous mystic. In town, Captain Haddock comes across Castafiore, and to avoid her, dashes into the nearby Fourcart Gallery, meeting avant-garde artist Ramó Nash and owner of the gallery, Henri Fourcart. Fourcart shows an interest in meeting Tintin. Haddock purchases a perspex letter 'H' (Personalph-Art). Back at Marlinspike, Haddock and Tintin watch a news report about their old friend Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, who plans to buy Windsor Castle from the British government, and the Beaubourg Centre (the Pompidou). Following this is a report on the suspicious death of art expert Jacques Monastir, who is presumed drowned off the coast of Ajaccio.

The next morning, Tintin learns that Fourcart was killed in a car accident. Tintin visits the gallery to "make a few enquiries" and meets Martine Vandezande, the gallery assistant, who discusses the death of her former employer. The conversation is recorded by a reel-to-reel tape recorder hidden under the counter. Tintin then visits the Garage de l'Avenir at Leignault, where the mechanic tells him where Fourcart crashed. Tintin drives there on his motor scooter, when he is pursued by a black Mercedes. At the scene, Tintin discovers that the 'accident' was no such thing; Fourcart was murdered. A botched attempt is made on Tintin's life. He returns to Marlinspike and tells the Captain about the events of the day.

The next morning, Tintin returns to the gallery and accuses Miss Vandezande of telling his attackers he was going to visit Leignault. When she bursts into tears, Tintin realises she is being sincere. A short conversation takes place between Tintin and Mrs Laijot, the book-keeper. Tintin sees a poster in the street advertising a conference - 'Health and Magnetism' - held by Endaddine Akass, who is shown on the poster wearing a pendant similar to Miss Vandezande's. That evening, Tintin and Haddock visit the meeting, where they see the Thompson twins and Mr Sakharine, from The Secret of the Unicorn. Haddock disrupts the session by having a coughing fit. Tintin recognises the voice of Akass, but cannot place it. Tintin and Haddock meet up with Miss Vandezande as she leaves the conference. Tintin says he is beginning to understand the affair, and the next morning he informs Miss Vandezande of his plan to unmask the criminal. That same evening, Tintin arrives at the old Fréaux factory, carrying a red lamp. The informer he had arranged to meet is there, and he lights the lamp. Tintin lights his lamp, and is shot at. He avoids injury, and commands the two men to put their hands up. He is hit on the back of the head by one of them and knocked unconscious. When he awakes, he is in hospital, Haddock at his bedside. Tintin explains that there is a microtransmitter in Miss Vandezande's pendant she wears, and deduces that the relay must be close.

The next morning (despite doctor's orders) he heads to the Fourcart Gallery, and visits each of the other occupants in the apartments which house the gallery. He visits the occupants under the pretence of conducting a survey on solar power. The first occupant proves fruitless, but the second Tintin recognises as having been Akass' assistant at the meeting. He sends Tintin away, and then telephones someone, determing that Tintin has to be "taken care of". The next morning, Tintin heads into the village on his motor scooter, and is pursued by the men in a car. They shoot at Tintin, whose scooter careers off-road and crashes into a tree. They check to see if Tintin was killed, but Haddock, having heard the gunfire, arrives in his car. Tintin climbs down from his hiding place, inside a pollarded willow. Tintin, Haddock and Calculus later take stock around the table. Tintin comes to the conclusion that the affair revolves around Endaddine Akass, and that they should find out more about him. Remembering Castafiore's telephone call, he decides to go to Ischia, where Akass has a villa.

Upon their arrival, Tintin and Haddock spy out the land, and observe Akass' villa, where they see Ramó Nash. Tintin receives a telephone call warning him to leave the island, and Haddock receives one from Castafiore, who has learnt they were on the island, and invites them to the villa, and informs them that Akass is away in Rome for a few days. The next morning, they arrive at the villa, where Castafiore introduces them to a number of her friends - Angelina Sordi, Mr Gibbons (from The Blue Lotus) and Mr Trickler (from The Broken Ear), Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, Luigi Randazzo (a singer) and Ramó Nash. Tintin and Haddock stay the night at the villa, on Castafiore's insisting.

Tintin hears a noise in the middle of the night, and looking out of the window, sees men loading canvases into a van. Intrigued, he explores the villa. In a huge room he comes across a number of paintings by the great masters - Modigliani, Léger, Renoir, Picasso, Gauguin and Monet - except they are all fakes. He is discovered by Akass, who admits to ordering the 'disappearance' of Monastir and Fourcart, and states that Tintin will have to go too, as he knows too much. Akass tells him that for his death, he will have liquid polyester poured over him, be signed by César and authenticated by an expert. The piece will then be sold to a gallery or a rich collector. Tintin is taken away by one of Akass' men to a cell, where he is locked up. He manages to make contact with Snowy, who is outside the cell. He writes a note to the Captain and throws it to Snowy through the bars on the window.

Night passes, and in the morning, Tintin is awoken by Akass' bodyguard. "Get moving !" says the man, "It's time for you to be turned into a 'César'..."

Rediscovered pages

In the 2004 edition of the book, nine additional pages are included which present alternative ideas for the story. The most significant include :

• A change of lifestyle for Captain Haddock - becoming infatuated with a minimalist painter, Ramó Nash, changing his style of dress, transforming the house, and growing hashish in the cellars at Marlinspike. Haddock and Tintin are arrested, and an investigation takes place in Amsterdam.
• Painting and narcotics ; at the Sondenesian embassy (see Flight 714) a 'grand soirée' is held, which is attended by ambassadors for Saboulistan, San Theodoros, Borduria and Syldavia. Dr Krollspell (also from Flight 714) makes a reappearance, as director of a 'brown sugar factory'.
• Captain Haddock suffers from neurasthenia because he can no longer drink whisky. He takes up painting, and becomes infatuated with the painter Ramó Nash. Calculus invents a product which will allow Haddock to drink whisky again, but during trials, he loses all his hair and blotches appear on his face.
• Endaddine Akass is revealed as Rastapopoulos. This is not confirmed in the actual book, so there is much speculation as to whether Hergé would have used this idea.
• Background information is given of Akass - we learn he is involved with Emir Ben Kalish Ezab, an idea not pursued fully in the story.
• An alternative page featuring Rastapopoulos - this would have taken the place of pages 39-40.
• Haddock is invited to an exhibition by the painter Ramon Hasj. A number of old acquaintances attend, such as Dawson, the Bird brothers and Carreidas.

Influences

• Endaddine Akass was based on the real-life character of Ferdinand Legros.
• Ramó Nash was based on the real-life Elmyr de Hory
• Martine Vandezande's appearance seems to be have been based on the Greek singer Nana Mouskouri. Her surname may have been taken from the name of a publishing house, "L'imprimeur Vandezande", which published a Tintin calendar in 1946.

Hergé's Legacy

Upon his death, Hergé left around one hundred and fifty pages of pencil sketches for the story. These were edited by a team of experts, including Benoît Peeters, Michel Bareau and Jean-Manuel Duvivier, resulting in forty-two pages of sketches. The album, therefore, only presents the scenarios and sketches of an interrupted tale. However even in its rough state, it is testimony to the extraordinary narrative and graphic talent of Hergé. The story can appear a little disjointed and convoluted at times, although one must remember that Hergé would have recast and edited the story countless times before it was finished.

It is possible that the scenes set at Marlinspike would have been reduced in favour of balance of the story - in the original manuscript, Tintin, Snowy and Haddock do not leave for Ischia until page 31. Furthermore, the scene involving Tintin and Mrs Laijot was marked for possible cutting (20bis on the original manuscript, meaning an additional page 20).

Bob de Moor, Hergé's main assistant, showed an interest in completing the book following Hergé's death. It was not such a surprising request; de Moor had worked with Hergé since 1951, was responsible for running the studios in his absence, adapted the animated film Tintin and the Lake of Sharks into comic-strip form, and worked on the previous book Tintin and the Picaros with Hergé alone. In de Moor's words, "Personally I would have loved to finish Alph-Art. It would have been a tribute to Hergé. Fanny Remi asked me to finish it, and I began work on it, but after a few months she changed her mind. I didn't insist, but for me it was logical that there was a studio, there were artists in the studio, Casterman asked for it to be finished, there were twenty-three finished books, that one story was not finished; so I had to finish it."

Publication History

The book was first published in English in 1990 by Sundancer. Unusually - but understandably given the nature of the unfinished artwork with Hergé's original hand-written text - the translations do not replace the original text. They are presented separately in a supplementary booklet included with the book. The artwork was very well-presented. This was a very lavish publication, but unfortunately, very expensive to produce.

The 2004 edition, published by Egmont, uses an entirely new layout, mixing Hergé's pages with the text and enlarged frames to highlight parts of the story. It is in the same format as the standard albums - a hardback book, sixty-two pages in length, and is readily available in the UK. Although somewhat of a disappointment - the size of most of the original artwork leaves a lot to be desired - at least Alph-Art has been re-published.

It is rumoured that there is enough content in the Hergé Foundation archives to produce a third edition of the book. Hopefully, this version will contain the better elements of both its forerunners.

Pirate editions

A number of pirated versions of the story exist, finished by other artists. The first was produced by an artist under the name of 'Ramó Nash'. This edition features mediocre drawing and an unsatisfactory ending. The second, and most renowned, is by Canadian artist Yves Rodier. Whilst relatively well-drawn (Rodier was 17 at the time) and close to the spirit of Hergé, his version fails capture the atmosphere or the tension of the original series. The sequences set after Tintin's escape seem overly drawn-out, and result in an unusually morbid ending. Originally drawn and printed (privately) in black and white, a colour version was produced a few years ago. Both colour and black and white editions command high prices at auction. A third edition of the story exists only on CD-ROM, and is rarely seen.

Rodier's version came the closest to being labelled 'official' - he met with Bob de Moor shortly before his death, and discussed the possibility of working together on a version. This was never realised, despite Rodier's obvious ability and the involvement of de Moor.

Publication Details

French :

1. Hergé, Tintin et l'Alph-Art (Casterman, 84pp, 1986) - ISBN 2203017015
2. Hergé, Tintin et l'Alph-Art (Casterman, 62pp, 2004) - ISBN 2203001321

English :

1. Hergé, Tintin and Alph-Art (Sundancer, 94pp, 1990) - ISBN 0951279920
2. Hergé, Tintin and Alph-Art (Egmont, 64pp, 2004) - ISBN 1405214481

Note : the first English edition of the book, published by Sundancer, is now out of print.

References

1. Lofficer, Jean-Marc & Randy (2002) The Pocket Essential Tintin - ISBN 190404817X
2. Thompson, Harry (1991) Tintin - Hergé & His Creation - ISBN 034052393X
3. Goddin, Philippe (2004) Hergé, Chronologie d'un œuvre (Tome 5) - ISBN 2874240524fr:Tintin et l'Alph-Art es:Tintín y el Arte-Alfa sv:Tintin och alfabetskonsten

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