Tintin and the Art-Alpha

Tintin and the Alpha-Art (Tintin et l'Alph-Art) is what would have been the twenty-fourth and last album of the Tintin adventure series. Hergé worked on it until his death, and the album was published posthumously (although not complete) in 1986 by Casterman, in association with La Fondation Hergé. In 2004, a new edition with more additions was published.

Like Coke Stock, Tintin and the Art-Alpha features a large number of characters from other albums: Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab and Abdallah (Tintin in the Land of Black Gold), Serafín Latón (The Calculus Affair, Stock of Coke, The Castafiore Jewels i>, Flight 714 to Sydney, Tintin and the Rogues), Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (The Secret of the Unicorn, The Treasure of Rackham the Red), the Fakir Ragdalam (The Seven Crystal Balls), W.R. Gibbons (The Blue Lotus) and Mr. Chicklet (The Broken Ear). In Yves Rodier's version, in addition to these characters, they appear: Rastapopoulos (Pharaoh's Cigars, The Blue Lotus, Coke Stock, Flight 714 to Sydney), Allan Thompson (Pharaoh's Cigars, The Crab with the Golden Claws, Coke Stock, Flight 714 to Sydney), Mik Ezdanitoff (Flight 714 to Sydney), the Yeti (Tintin in Tibet) and mentions the character Laszlo Carreidas (Flight 714 to Sydney), but he does not appear.

Editorial trajectory

At the time of Hergé's death, on March 3, 1983, Tintin and the Alpha-Art was no more than a sketch: three plates drawn in pencil, forty-two in sketch state, and some additional writings with part of the script of the new adventure. It was then considered what to do with the elements that were available, mentioning the possibility of finishing the album by Hergé's collaborators. However, given the very preliminary state of the work (for example, there was no ending to it), this was discarded because the external contributions would have been too important.

Fanny Remi, the author's widow, decided that the album would be released unfinished, just as her partner had left it. The 1986 edition consisted of two blocks: one with the graphic clipping as Hergé left it, and the other with a transcription of the dialogues similar to that of the theatrical texts.

The 2004 edition presents a completely different form, where the author's plates are mixed with dialogue transcripts, and some interesting details are graphically highlighted.

Plot (explaining the 42 sketches)

Captain Haddock wakes up one morning in Moulinsart Castle with a dream in which Bianca Castafiore returns to her home, minutes later, it is discovered to be a premonitory dream and La Castafiore announces that she is arriving in Moulinsart. Captain Haddock goes for a walk and meets the diva. To avoid her, he hides in a Contemporary Art store and meets an artist, Ramo Nash, and the gallery director, Mr. Foucart, who wants a date with Tintin. La Castafiore also enters and gives him an H for Haddock. Upon arriving at the Castle, everyone asks him What is it for? And he answers a lot - Not at all. It's Art-Alpha. Meanwhile, on TV they see an interview with the Emir Mohammed Ben Kalish Ezab and Abdallah, who sets off a firecracker in full retransmission, and the Emir says that he would like to have Art-Alpha in Wadesdah, the capital of Khemed. After the programmes, Mr. Foucart telephones Tintin and meets him at half past six the following day. But Mr. Foucart does not arrive and the next day his death is announced, and the day before another artist had died, so Tintin talks to a secretary who was there, but she did not even know that Foucart had met the reporter. Tintin consults with his mechanic, whose theory is that he fainted. But when he returns to Moulinsart, a black Mercedes follows him and tries to run him over, but he doesn't succeed. He returns with all suspicions in the secretary but declares her innocence and tells her that she did not tell anyone about her conversation with him. Returning to Moulinsart, they see a show by Endaddine Akass on TV, (who was actually Rastapopoulos; as can be seen in Hergé's own sketches for the El Arte Alfa comic) and they see Mr. Sakarine (known in El secret of the Unicorn). Tintin tries to unmask the culprits, but they attack him and he ends up in the hospital. After being cured, he decides to go to an island near Naples, where La Castafiore is staying. Upon arrival, they meet old acquaintances, R.W. Gibbons (The Blue Lotus) and Mr. Chiklet (The Broken Ear). After sleeping one night, Tintin wakes up, with no trace of Haddock, nor Professor Calculus, nor La Castafiore and is kidnapped by Rastapopoulos, who points a pistol at him. The rest was left blank after the death of Hergé.

Tintin and the Art-Alpha, finished version by Yves Rodier

The first pastiche of Tintin made by Rodier consisted of completing the last album in the series, Tintin and the Art-Alpha, which had remained unfinished on Hergé's death. In 1986 Rodier drew the cartoon in black and white, and presented it to the Moulinsart publishing house, which owns the rights to the Tintin series, with the intention of being allowed to publish it as the character's official album. Moulinsart refused. In 1991, Rodier met Bob de Moor, who supported him in his attempt to finally shape the album. However, his request was again refused, and Bob de Moor died in 1992. Rodier later redraw certain parts of the story to bring it closer to Hergé's style. The finished version was later published without authorization. In any case, this work served as a launching pad for the further career of the Canadian artist.