The creation process of a comic book is relatively complex and varies a lot from one author to another. In the case of Hergé, it is a really methodic progression. Besides, by his last years, he could benefit from a large help from his collaborators of the Studio Hergé, among others Bob de Moor. This article details the creation process of a Tintin album. A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... A comic book artist at work. ... Georges Remi Hergé Georges Remi (May 23, 1907 - March 3, 1983), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. ... Bob de Moor is the pen name of Robert Frans Marie De Moor, a Belgian comic artist born in Antwerp in 1925 and died in 1992 in Brussels. ... Tintin and Snowy (Tintin et Milou) are world travellers and inseparable friends in The Adventures of Tintin. ...

Graphical cutting

The first step is obviously to find a scenario, a simple as possible, to set the edges of the story to tell. The graphical cutting comes as the next step to enhance and develop this scenario. At this stage, Hergé sketches the frames flow, assuring to have a tension spot at the end of each page. All the dialogs and characters are drawn very quickly without any décor. It’s at this stage that the story takes a form. A Scenario (from the Italian, that which is pinned to the scenery) is a brief description of an event. ...

The penciled page

Once the cutting done (ten or so drafts may have been drawn), Hergé goes to the penciled pages. He uses sheets of 30cm on 40cm. He is now actually beginning the real drawing step. He draws the characters; not hesitating to erase and cross out until the paper is ran through. Often, he asks his collaborators to sketch him in the position he wants for his character, always with the same focus on truthfulness/realism. At the end, when all the penciled are done, he takes a tracing of all the frames, choosing the best stroke. This is often an occasion to reframe the elements. Once done, he transfers everything on a clean sheet.

The inking

On the penciled pages, all the characters are present, but the decors are only sketched. At this stage, Hergé’s collaborators start to draw the vehicles, the landscapes, the uniforms, ... while respecting the general style as much as possible. Once again, with a constant focus on truthfulness/realism, Hergé and his collaborators do not hesitate to go on site in order to make sketches and take photos. While everything is completed, the pages are ready to be inked, with nibs and Indian ink. The dialogs are reviewed and corrected, the number of letters and signs counted, the speech balloons drawn. After a last verification, the pages are sent to the photoengraver. Photoengraving is a process of engraving using photographic techniques. ...

Colors and dialogs

A little while afterwards, the studio receives a couple of photographic proofs, in the publication format. The ones for the coloring are printed in a blue-grey tone (called the “blue-prints”), along with black and white printed on celluloid. The coloring is done by some collaborators of Hergé who work with watercolor, Ecoline or gouache. Characteristic aspect of Hergé’s style, the colors are applied flatly, without any gradation, which gives the best readability and freshness, according to him. Dialogs are drawn by the letterer on a special proof, once for every foreign language translation. The onomatopoeias are generally drawn by one of the assistants. Watercolor is a painting technique making use of water-soluble pigments that are either transparent or opaque and are formulated with gum to bond the pigment to the paper. ... Gouache (from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash) is a type of watercolor paint, made heavier and more opaque by the addition of a white pigment (chalk, Chinese white, etc. ... In comic books, the letterer is the person who draws the letters in the word balloons, draws in sound effects and usually designs a books logo. ...

The final result

Once the work done, all the proofs are sent to the photoengraver who combines the back and white celluloid, the colored sheet and the dialogs. The very last thing to do is now to start the rotary press and to send the brand new albums all around the world.

Bibliography

• To the discovery of Tintin (in French) The text is given away (granted?) to the public domain by its author. See this page
• How arises a Tintin adventure in Le Musée imaginaire de Tintin or in Tintin et les Bigotudos from Philippe Goddin, both published by Casterman.