BEYOND THE BOOKS
NEWS AND NOTEWORTHY EVENTS
Iconic Sleuth Ventures to Maher Avenue
P
ART DETECTIVE, part reporter, Tintin
In “The Adventures of Tintin: The Blackstones’
traveled to the Soviet Union, to Tibet, to
Microchip” — a 30-page comic book written as part
North Africa, and to the Arctic Ocean —
of an independent study in French — Russell explores
among many other exotic and foreign lands
the broader themes of cultural ignorance and rela-
— in search of stories and adventures.
tivism, just as Hergé did so brilliantly in his 24 Tintin
He took on drug traffickers in Egypt and India. He faced off against Al Capone and
stories (now published in more than 70 languages and having sold more than 200 million copies).
his gang in Chicago in the middle of Prohibition.
“I read every Tintin series book when I was a little
He clashed with a mastermind counterfeiter in
kid, many of them several times,” Russell said. “This seemed like the perfect way for me to continue my
Scotland. And he walked on the moon before Neil Armstrong.
study of the French language — and to have some fun in the process.”
Since 1929, in fact, when created by the renowned Belgian cartoonist Hergé, Tintin
In Russell’s story, of course, Tintin nabs the bad guys and saves the day.
has trekked to the world’s every corner in the pursuit of truth and in the fight against injustice. He’s become a literary hero for graphic-novel aficionados of all ages — sporting his recognizable quiff hairdo and working alongside his faithful companion, Snowy, a white wire fox terrier. And now, thanks to Brunswick senior Alex Russell, Tintin has come to Maher Avenue to foil a terrorist plot targeting financial assets in the community.
Here’s a sampling of Alex Russell’s work, including the cover page and an illustration of Tintin himself. “What is it?” he asks.
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