Why I love Tintin

In which G.M. Norton touches on why Tintin is so close to his heart.

I was around 8 when I first read Tintin. My uncle gave me his old, slightly battered copy of The Calculus Affair and it was love at first sight.

As a young boy, I always had a pencil and a piece of paper close by to draw so the artwork really caught my eye. Each page was sumptuous and colourful, an absolute treat to look at. 

I also loved tales of spies, intrigue and adventures so once I began reading this particular Tintin story involving the mystery of broken glass, a kidnapped professor and shadowy foreign spies and I was in my element.

I'd discovered a whole new world in which a young reporter would stumble across a conundrum and wouldn't rest until he had solved it. 

I read and re-read that first book. To this day, The Calculus Affair remains my favourite Tintin tale.

I'd get up at a ridiculously early time to record radio dramatisations, television programmes, you name it. If it involved Tintin then I was interested.

The stories have it all - different cultures, politics, deceit, drama and best of all - comedy. The Tintin adventures never fail to make me chortle out loud.

Thanks to the world wide web, I've been able to order more Tintin books online and escape once more to exotic lands and even space.

Tintin is the perfect hero - always ready to make the world right and fight injustice. 

Written in Belgium by Hergé, Tintin is well and truly European. Posting pictorials of my Tintin lapel pins on Instagram, many of my American chums always seem a little bit puzzled by it. It took me a while to realise that, despite the Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson film released in 2011, America is largely unaware of our young hero. Which is a pity as they're missing out. 

Tintin is my little escape from the world. I can get lost in the beautiful drawings and laugh at the characters. 

G.M. Norton

Protagonist of 'Norton of Morton'