Two of Tintin's friends...
While the month of May was filled with festivities around Hergé and Tintin (the Tintin Festival in Namur and the opening of the Hergé Museum in Louvain-la-Neuve), we have also learned some sad news over the past few weeks.
Yves Duval and Pol Vandromme have passed away. Yves Duval was barely 15 years old when he first contacted Hergé to speak to him about his passion: telling stories. A born storyteller, the creator of Tintin could really sympathise with the young and enthusiastic teenager, and encouraged him to follow his dreams. Yves certainly gave it his best shot, as he became on of the most talented and prolific columnists and writers working for Tintin magazine. He was an avid traveller and created the series Franval, with Edouard Aidans. Being such a curious soul, Yves Duval always made sure that he supplied Hergé with sources of information on a wide variety of subjects.
Journalist, literary critic and polemist, Pol Vandromme was the first person in Europe to write a book entirely devoted to comic strips, in the highly respected series L'Air du Temps, published by Gallimard. It was entitled Le Monde de Tintin, and was first published in 1959. The book is still being reprinted and is presently available in the Vermillon series, published by Editions de la Table Ronde.
Our thoughts are with the families of these two great friends of Hergé and Tintin.