How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin’s appeal to adults?

Farr explains Tintin to originally be aimed and designed for children, yet goes on to say how all ages can find enjoyment. With Tintin being such a phenomenon, it is passed on from generation to generation, with the children who religiously read Tintin, that then grow up and become parents themselves and introduce it to their own children – it’s a never ending cycle of Tintin being read and re-read. Children become fixated as it is a series of exciting adventures to follow but the adults too enjoy the comic with obviously more of a developed and mature understanding. The comedy, unravelling series of events, “…political satire and parody, puns and prescience” (Farr, 1991) are all what entice the adult even past the stages of reading to their children. The enjoyment not only lies in the first time reading, but the multiple times in life, with each time finding something different and new the reader has never noticed before – continually surprising and engaging the reader no matter the age. To adults, it is also a sense of memories that can be shared or reflected on, as well as the gradual change in an individual’s understandings and knowledge to pick up the extra humour for example, that you may have missed ten or twenty years ago. Farr justifies Tintin to also be an adult read as in a sense it 'never gets old', there is always something to be interested in even if you know what is going to happen, the way you analyse and reflect on it as an adult will always be changing and enticing.

Week 1-2: Comics [Julie]

Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?

In our current society, comics blur the line of the target demographic. Considering that comics are created by adults, I can’t say this is a media solely for children but rather, something that can be picked up in childhood and continued in adulthood. And I believe that Herge aimed to have children as his main audience, as Far (1991) have stated that Herge’s target audience age range from “seven to seventy seven”.

The initial impression that comics gives is a very childish feel. After all, it’s made in a way that can be understood easily by children and have plots that appeal to them. Comics are generally encased in alluring heroic adventures which children enjoy.

This can be seen in Herge’s famous The Adventures of Tintin. The protagonist of this comic, Tintin, is a young adult who travels around the world and gets into various situations that requires him to outsmart and defeat bad guys to save the day. These sorts of adventures are very appealing to children. Herge’s Tintin engages children’s imagination and allows them to place themselves in the position of the protagonist and become the hero themselves.

As a child, I read Tintin and thought how marvelous it would be to travel and be involved in numerous adventures. I’m sure that I am not alone in this fantasy. In this regard, we can argue that comics are indeed a children’s genre. Imagination Soup conveniently gave us 8 reasons to let kids read comics.

However, as I’ve previously stated, comics are made by adults. In adulthood, we realize the stories we loved as children have themes far from being child friendly. An example of this would be racial the stereo-typing ...


... as well as the display of the opium dens in ‘The Blue Lotus


I might be part of the exception now though. I ceased to enjoy Tintin as much as my childhood. Knowing what I know now, I’d say I’m having second thoughts showing Tintin to my future children.

Reference:

Farr, Michael. (1991). Introduction. In Tintin: the complete companion (pp.8-9). London: John Murray.

High quality comment here. but question could lead to vague generalizations. The real question is, what is Herge's audience...I like the illustrations. What the difference between a comic and a graphic novel?

Comics Appeal To Everyone Week 2

Tintin and Other Comics Appeals To People Of All Ages (Week 2)

As listed explained in Farr (1991), Herge devised Tintin as a character with broad appeal. Herge himself said that Tintin was aimed at people aged from “seven to seventy seven” (Herge).  He feels the appeal of Tintin grows because people who grew up reading Tintin become parents and introduce their kids to Tintin. Therefore, the number of people that are introduced grows with each generation that is passed.

The appeal of Tintin is broad because of the content that is included in his adventures. Children will love the colourful illustrations and high paced action while the adults appreciate the “political satire, parody, puns and prescience”.  

This is a true statement because some of the kids that are reading Tintin and the Blue Lotus (especially today) won't know the political and historic significance references that are portrayed in the book. The cartoon of Tintin added more kid friendly moments such as when Tintin tried to become an "Action Man". Most people wouldn't know about Japan's rule over China at the time that historians and older people will understand. I'm sure my late Grandmother would have liked the books as she experienced first hand the brutality of Japan in China at the time as she nearly got killed by a bomb. It's this type of realism that makes Tintin so appealing for many people of all ages.  

An example of this type of realism is a scene in the comic book version of Tin Tin and the Blue Lotus. It was the first meeting between Tin Tin and the Chinese boy Chang. Even though Tin Tin save him from drowning, Chang questioned  Tin Tin's heroics by saying "Why did you save my life? I thought all white devils were wicked". During that time, Chinese people didn't like Westerners, although Westerners take too kindly to Chinese people either. This can be seen earlier in the comic book where the European man shouts to the Chinese person "Dirty little China man! To barge into a white man!

It's this level of historical realism that makes the comic book version of Tin Tin appealing to older readers as well. This is a direct contrast to the Tin Tin and the Blue Lotus' animated version where all of the racism elements were cut out in favor or more "kid-friendly" entertainment such as the infamous scene where Tin Tin becomes "Action Man".
  

Although the appeal of Tintin appeal to people from all ages and in most countries, the character still fails to appeal to American audiences like other comic book heroes do like Spider-Man and Batman. The newest Tintin movie directed by Steven Spielberg made most of its box office money outside of the USA. According to figures from Box Office Mojo, only 20.7% of the movie’s $377 million earned were from the USA. It failed to gross over $100 million in the USA like most other comic book adapted movies. 

From my own experience, other comic books I read when I grew up were for adults especially the ones written in the '90s. As a kid, I loved reading Spider-Man comic books mainly because he was tough yet nerdy and had cool powers. As an adult, the Spider-Man comics are still appealing because he's an individual with a less than glamorous job still trying to makes ends meet. It's quite humorous how Spider-Man needs to buy his own suit from a costume store when it gets ruined. He's far from Batman/Bruce Wayne who is rich and can afford any upgrades he sees fit. Other graphic novels I like to read are certainly not for adults like Sin City and The Punisher which includes high levels of graphics violence. 

Comic books in general are becoming mainstream thanks to Hollywood. Marvel's The Avengers has become the third highest grossing movie of all time. As listed by Box Office Mojo, the movie has beaten the likes of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings at the Box Office and only James Cameron movies have beaten it.

References:

The Adventures of Tintin. (2011).   Retrieved 23 July 2012, from http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=tintin.htm

All Time Box Office. (2012).   Retrieved 23 July 2012, from http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

Farr, Michael. (1991). Introduction. In Tintin: the  complete companion (pp.8-9). London: John Murray.

Hergé. (2005; 1935). The Adventures of Tintin: The Blue Lotus. London: Methuen. 

Week 2 - Che Crawford - Tintin

Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?

Both. Much like 2D animation, I think comics can be dismissed and shoved aside as something that is childish, or for geeks. I think this is largely for two reasons. Comics can often consist of a sort of ‘silly’ humor that children enjoy and adults can sometimes find pointless. And also having ‘pictures’ with a story can be automatically sorted into the same category in our minds as children’s picture books. That is, something for beginner readers.

In 1837, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" was published by Rudolphe Töpffer and it is considered the earliest known comic book. In 1842, "The Adventures of Obadiah Oldbuck" became the first comic book published in the United States.

In the comic, Mr. Vieux Bois encounters a seemingly overweight young woman and instantly falls in love. His initial attempts at courting are ignored, followed by short periods of his desperation. He attempts suicide by falling on his own sword and then by hanging himself. Both attempts fail.

The comic story is told humorously and Töpffer described comic books as a medium appealing particularly to children and the lower classes but the story achieved widespread popularity in the United States and its original Switzerland amongst readers of all ages.

I’m wondering if people’s first run-ins with comics are usually the short humorous strips found in newspapers such as Garfield. I’m wondering if before people even get a chance to explore this medium of storytelling, they’ve already decided that comics can’t be something more serious and ‘adult.’ At least the Western world. But if people take the time to explore the genre, past Garfield, they will find some serious, or interesting stories on going stories that could be viewed as a more adult story. That's not to say that Garfield isn't an adult story. I just mean that comics can be more then strips now. They can be entire graphic novels.

If we look specifically at manga, that is Japanese Comics, we can see many examples of these types of stories. While some people in the Western world view comics as for children, manga stories have always catered for all ages. Their stories range from ongoing episodic stories about Ninja’s like Naruto, which is beloved by children, teengers and some adults, to love stories, to ‘adult’ stories, to fantasy etc.

Another version of comics largely enjoyed by adults are webcomics. Webcomics are updated daily, or weekly etc portraying whatever the artist wants to talk about. Sometimes having ongoing characters, or themes. The most popular ones earning enough views to allow their authors to take on web-comic writing as a full time job.

But of course comics are largely enjoyed by children too. I think we might find more and more these days that stories, comics, movies etc can be enjoyed by a large variety of people and ages, each getting different things from the story that is relevant to them.

I certainly have enjoyed a large range of comics, starting with Asterix and Obelix to more recently a personal favourite, the webcomic called 'Looking for Group."

Lachlan Week 1: Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?

I think comics, like many other forms of literature, can be for both children and adults. For example, Watchmen, which was originally a graphic novel (not much different to a comic book), is an incredibly thought-provoking, beautiful piece of work. According to wikipedia, Watchmen is regarded by critics as a seminal text of the comics medium. It delves into themes of power, nihilism, capitalism, and the very idea of heroes. These are very adult themes, and the violence and sophistication of language and ideas within are carefully written for a thinking mind. So much of Watchmen would sail right over children's heads.

However, on the other hand comics like Watchmen still show bright, colorful scenes with exciting looking characters. There is still something for children to flick through. I think this is similar to tv shows like Dexter's Laboratory or Powerpuff Girls wherein there is a clear audience, children, but there are adult jokes and comments thrown in too.

Tintin is interesting because Hergé originally started off as a propagandist, clearly targeting adults who could understand his comics. However, eventually Tintin became a children's role model. Comic Books like The Blue Lotus show a mix of both adult and children themes. There is the horrendous and inhuman depictions of the japanese, but it is cast against tintin's childlike exuberance and penchant for detective work.

 It is very difficult to simply state that comics are either a children's or adults' genre, as there is such a wide range of themes, art styles, ideas, and characters found within.

At 21, I have read a few comics, starting with ones like Tintin and Asterix, and more recently with graphic novels such as Watchmen or The Walking Dead. All these comics very clearly have interesting themes at play. The Walking Dead explores ideas of life after the apocalypse, and really delves deep into the darkness inside the human race. Issues of cannibalism, murder, rape, and heartbreak are not so much children's material. These graphic novels are clearly for adults, while The Simpsons or Sonic comics are catering for the tastes of children.

Again, Tintin is interesting as it appears on the surface to be mostly aimed at children, but issues of race and war are often lying right underneath. The Blue Lotus also deals with real life conspiracy theories, depicted by the Japanese blowing up the railways. Tintin is definitely a mixed bag of goodies.