Week 1

Do you think comics are a children's or adult genre/media?
How does Farr (1991) justify Tintin's appeal to adults?

These two questions are related and I have found many answers to this question about why its so popular and appeal to readers, children to adults. Comics, are so attractive for all age groups as its easy to read(not many academic or technical terms, good for chill-out), anytime and for all, with great eye-catching pictures. This is not just time-consuming specifically in this case, Tintin, its got facts which will be readers’ knowledge. Good fun and is mentioned by Farr (1991) ‘There was more to the adventures’ broad appeal than high quality drawing and compelling narrative. As in the best fiction the stories were anchored firmly in fact. There was additionally a topicality of subject which somehow did not date, and there was Herge’s remarkable ability to anticipate world events, whether Pearl Habour or the first manned landing on the moon. The extraordinarily accurate detail of every story, the result of painstaking research and Herge’s constantly swelling archive files, was a key ingredient of the successful formula.’..’The perfectionism of detail of the Tintin stories the real or fictitious but thoroughly convincing settings, mirrored the world as seen by Herge and his public.’

‘Another key aspect of Tintin’s enduring popularity is to be found in the many levels at which the adventures can be appreciated. By devising a character who would appeal to children as much as grown-ups’..Tintin was aimed at “all young people aged from seven to seventy-seven.” Each finds their own level of understanding and appreciation. The appeal is, moreover, self-generating, for in due course the children become adults and then parents themselves, allowing the Tintin tradition to be carried on. It is like J.M. Barrie’s ever youthful Peter Pan continuing to fly off to Never Never Land with tone generation after another of Wendy’s descendants after the herself has grown into womanhood and in due course old age.’

‘The child will be gripped by the excitement of Tintin, the comedy, even farce. The adult will additionally find political satire and parody, puns and prescience. The most dedicated Tintinologist, as he or she may be called, may be read the stories any number of times and still discover something new; they bear repeated re-reading. The adventures, like their hero, are inexhaustible.’

References

Farr, Michael. (1991). Tintin: the complete companion. London: John Murray.