"You are getting secrets from me that I have never told anyone before." "I don't like talking about myself." "I instantly build a wall around myself." "But with you it's different." "I don't know why." "But that's how it is." "The story carries a message." "It definitely carries a message, don't you agree?" "I can see now that the story was a way of expressing myself." "That's clear enough." " I am quite confused." " Of course you are." "Of course." "Yes, I was very confused." "For several reasons." "There I was, a 23-year-old student in the office of Georges Remi." "The great cartoonist better known as Hergé." "I literally walked in off the street and we hardly knew each other." "And there we sat for four long days   speaking of things that changed my understanding of what he did." "We talked about the incredible adventures of Tintin." "23 books, created over a period of 47 years   translated into 58 languages and published in millions of copies." "And why?" "Like many others, I've always felt   that the books were much more than the intent to entertain children." "And I found that I was right." "In Tintin, Hergé distilled 50 years of politics, wars and daily life." "Cars, trains and planes ..." "Businessmen, dictators, scientists." "You can trace the history of the 20th century through Tintin's adventures." "You'll find strange things too." "Paranormal experiences, dreams, frightening things." "Things that have to do with the inner life." "What I discovered in talking with him was that this innocent series  increasingly became a personal expression   a way to express his own problems   and often his inner crises." "The story carries a message." "It definitely carries a message, don't you agree?" "TINTIN AND I" "My name is Numa Sadoul." "I am an actor, director, and writer." "But in October, 1971, I was a student   and went to Brussels, the rainy Mecca of the comic book   to interview cartoonists for a small magazine." "But the undisputed high point of the trip was meeting Hergé." "Hergé, October, 1971." " Should I move closer?" " No, no." "It's a sensitive microphone." "He was extremely enigmatic." "When I saw him on television or in the papers   he always seemed very elegant and charming   but also reserved   as though he made a point of concealing his own personality." " How do we get started?" " It's up to you." "Does it work?" "I was very curious." "And then I felt a sudden impulse." "I must tell you that I may ask tricky questions." "I asked him if he was willing to do a long in-depth interview   which could become a book." "To my great surprise, he said yes." "Just like that." "I don't know why." "So we immediately began a week of conversations." "I can see now that Tintin was sort of a projection of myself   just like all the other characters, because they are all part of me." "Tintin is a projection of me." "The hero without fear or flaws." "It is how I would like to be." "In any case, what I strove to be." "It is how I would like to be." "In any case, what I strove to be." "Over the years, he was surrounded by flawed characters   people with flaws, physical and moral flaws." "Captain Haddock has many flaws, but accepts himself as he is." "There are the Thompson Twins." "They're idiots   which I often am." "I see myself in them." "But in Tintin, there's a subconscious desire to be a hero   which you rarely are in real life." "Probably never." " You're always someone's hero." " Of course." "But to yourself, it's hard." "It's hard to accept yourself." "That was my great problem." " Was it hard for you?" " Definitely." "To accept myself ..." "A Catholic childhood, going to a Catholic high school   certain moral concepts, Catholicism ..." "It's all very hard to overcome." "Just look at the concept of sin   which haunted me until not so very long ago." "It's maybe 15-20 years ago." " But Tintin is a real boy scout?" " Yes, I was a boy scout myself." "As such I set pledges and loyalty very high   and I still do today." "It's a bit funny, but I don't think it's a bad starting point." "But I have suffered from it." "When I've broken appointments   or not kept my word, then I've suffered." "For example ..." "No, I won't talk about that here." "Well, I could." "I went through a crisis   and went to a psychiatrist to get through it." "That's when I did "Tintin in Tibet", where everything is white." "I yearned for purity." "I only dreamt in white." ""Tintin in Tibet" is about mountains." "And eternal snow." "I was totally taken by surprise that he confided in me that way." "I was interviewing someone   and suddenly we were into psychoanalysis." "Suddenly I was psychoanalyzing   the man I was supposed to interview." "It was deeply disturbing." "He was giving me a role I could not handle   because I was too young, but I threw myself into it   with the naivety and blindness young people have   and took on the role of psychiatrist." "How was your childhood?" "My childhood?" "Now you're cruel." "Very cruel." "Completely mediocre." "In a middle class environment." "My childhood was no paradise." "I still despise looking back at it." "When I look back at my childhood and youth ..." "I'm not happy with it." "Because it was mediocre?" "Because I felt mediocre." "When I look back at my youth, it was grey." "Grey and mediocre." "I definitely don't want to return to it." "It wasn't until I made it to "Le Vingtième Siècle"   and Wallez, the abbot, who influenced me a lot, I can see now ..." "He made me aware of myself." "Now the Rev. Wallez enters the picture." "I knew absolutely nothing about Rev. Wallez." "I had no idea who he was." "The first time I heard about him was when Hergé mentioned him." "I had no idea of the influence this man had on his thoughts   his life, his marriage and his philosophy." "Wallez was extremely politically aware." "As the editor of "Le Vingtième Siècle", an ultra-Catholic newspaper   he admired Hitler and Italian Fascism." "He was proud of the picture of Mussolini in his office." "This was everywhere in the 1930's." "There was a bizarre alliance between the church and Fascism in Belgium." "Rev. Wallez saw it as a modern point of view." "He also had modern thoughts for his paper." "He wanted to make a youth section   that could amuse the kids and teach them his political ideas." "Then he discovered Hergé   who had a junior position in the advertising department." "He asked him to create a young hero, a Catholic reporter   who would fight for good all over the world." "That's how Tintin was born in 1929." " He went to the Soviet Union first?" " Yes, that was a political game." ""Le Vingtième Siècle" was a very right-wing newspaper." "But I had the Pope's blessing and that of my editor   so I felt I was safe." "Tintin's world was, in a way, blessed beforehand." "Tintin's world was, in a way, blessed beforehand." "Then I realized   that Wallez organized his private life quite literally." "He even assigned his secretary as his wife." "Her name was Germaine Kieckens and was also his faithful disciple." "Both my wife and I were influenced by him." "We both tried to exceed each other   to achieve perfection." "The best attitude, the highest morals, etc." "Naturally, I took this as a bit of a joke." " But there it was ..." " A joke in which way?" "The series was a game." "Tintin was a game for me until ..." "Until "The Blue Lotus" ..." ""The Blue Lotus" became a turning point, because   when I announced in "Le Petit Vingtième"   that Tintin was going to the Far East and China " " I got a letter from another abbot who wrote:" ""If you make the mistake of drawing a Chinese with a pigtail"   "or have him eat birds' nests while shrieking "Hee, hee!"   "you will cause much damage."" "So he put me in touch with a young Chinese   who was a painter, sculptor and poet." "His name was Tchang Tchong-Jen." "And to my great surprise, I discovered a whole new world." "He taught me many new things." "Chinese poetry and calligraphy." "The wind, inspiration." "The bone, graphical strictness." "It was a revelation for me." ""Dear Tchang"   "I remember the day so well when you visited my wife and me."" ""I can still see and hear you explain that all things have a soul."" ""You spoke of the life in the tree behind our house."" "I lost contact with him." "I wrote to him after the war." "During the war, it was impossible, but I never heard from him." "I try every now and then, but I never hear from him." "Never." "Yes?" "That was nice of you." "You know, right here ..." " Did you want milk?" " No, it's fine like this." "That was nice of you, thank you." ""The Crab with the Golden Claws" is key." "It's where the Captain appears." "He's speaking about Captain Haddock." "Tramps!" "Terrorists!" "Troglodytes!" "Tramps!" "Terrorists!" "Troglodytes!" " And Haddock's curses?" " The sounds inspire me." "Sometimes I look in a dictionary   and come across an expression that suits Haddock   and I write it down." "Sea lice!" "Savages!" "Sycophants!" "If you say it with emphasis ..." " That's a new one." " I'm considering it right now." "Visigoths!" "Vandals!" "His outbursts are always caused by alcohol." "In "The Crab with the Golden Claws", it's only when he's drunk   that he rages and charges the poor Arabs, who flee from him." "Here's a picture I like." "I love that one." "It's the same person lying down   who gets up and ..." " It's an entire sequence in one." " Exactly." "In one drawing." " Have you done many of them?" " No, there are two that I like." "The other is in "Red Rackham's Treasure"." "I like the two drawings." "Here it is." "It says everything." "You come from the ship." "He has already debarked ..." "It has it all." "There are only two drawings he really likes, only two." "Both in the same style." "It's almost constructed in a triangle   so that it ..." "It's a conscious construction." "It's not instinctive." "When I see Franquin's drawings, I always think:" ""How can anyone compare Franquin and Hergé?"" "He is a much better cartoonist." "He is much more skillful." "He is a much greater artist." "It's not false modesty." "I honestly mean it." "But I tell a story with my own drawings, which makes it complete." "He falls into a hole   and falls into the water." "You have to go through the waterfall   and then there's another world, a parallel world, an adventure world." "But no more adventurous than that." "It's completely logical." "It's not as though we say three magic words and presto!" "The story makes sense, but it shifts gear." " Hello!" " Tintin, is that you?" "Where are you?" " Behind the waterfall." " Behind the waterfall?" "How?" "Get down here, I'll show you." "Pass through the waterfall." "It's only a thin veil of water." "My goodness!" "Well, if it's necessary." "Thundering typhoons!" "This is incredible." "It is difficult to draw." "It's not just a sketch you do on the fly." "It's a major arrangement where the pieces fall into place   with documents, research, etc." "My drawings have to be nurtured." "In "King Ottokar's Scepter", the bad guy is "Müsstler", Mussolini-Hitler." "One day at the "Vingtième Siècle", a German came by." "He worked for the German secret police." "I did not know it because he had a Belgian name." "But he told me:" ""The plane in "King Ottokar's scepter" is a Messerschmitt."" "Of course it was." ""Don't do that sort of thing too often"." "He didn't say anything else, but it made me wary." "In Brussels, the war is hardly being felt." "Against British wishes, the Belgians gave up without a fight   so the city was not damaged." "These pictures show that the Belgians did the right thing   and their trust in the German troops is rewarded." "The war was over for us." "We had no allies." "The Germans were here." "It wasn't nice, but it wouldn't last forever." "So it wasn't a problem for me to work for a paper like "Le Soir"." "For me, the case was clear." "I understood that the subject was taboo." "That was the big question about Hergé:" "His views during the war." "During the war, Hergé stayed in contact with Rev. Wallez   and he encouraged him to work for "Le Soir"." "You had to support the Germans in their fight against Soviet Communism." "But Hergé was warned by several people." "Brussels, October 16, 1940." ""As a father of a large family, let me express my sorrow"   "at seeing Tintin and Snowy printed in the new 'Le Soir'."" ""From the margins of your amusing drawings"   "the children are being influenced by the new German heathenism."" ""I ask you to reconsider." "If it is possible, back out."" ""I apologize for not signing this, but times are uncertain."" "It's the Devil's messenger!" "One of Satan's henchmen!" " One of Beelzebub's servants!" " That guy is pretty annoying." "For me the matter was simple." "I worked like a miner, a tram driver or a baker." "But it wasn't seen that way." "If it had to do with papers   it was seen as treason   while it was something different for train drivers." "Go back to Satan!" "To your master!" ""The Shooting Star"." " A bit fantastic." " Yes." " This episode is very strange." " Yes, very mystical, for me too." "For me too." "Look here." "What do you say?" "It looks like a huge ball of fire." "Yes, a huge ball of fire." "An enormous ball of fire." "It's headed straight towards us at an incredible speed." "Is it coming towards us?" "It is not going to hit us, is it?" "The ball will collide with the earth." " Good heavens, that means ..." " Yes, the end of the world." "He must have been totally disoriented." "Everything crumbled." "Even Rev. Wallez, who had said Hergé was on the right side   was arrested as a Nazi sympathizer - and spent several years in jail." "When the son of man shall come in all of his glory   with all the holy angels, he will sit on the throne of heaven." "All the nations shall gather before him and he will separate them   as a shepherd divided the sheep from the goats." "Then shall he say to those on his left hand:" ""Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire"   "prepared for the devil and his angels."" ""For I was hungered and ye gave me no meat."" ""I was a stranger and ye took me not in."" ""I was sick and in prison and ye visited me not."" ""Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these  ye did it not unto me."" "The liberation was on the 3rd." "Brussels was liberated on the 3rd   and on the 3rd, I was in jail." "I was arrested four times." "The various departments didn't talk, so I was arrested four times   but I only spent one night in prison, then I was released." "But I was blacklisted." "Mr Tintin, he has aged ten years since this trouble began." "That was in 1945." "All my friends, editors, etc.   disappeared." "There was no one." "It was fantastic." "Unbelievable." "It was an incredible experience in that no one ..." "No one knew me." "But that was how it was." "Hergé, interview no. 2, October 21, 1971." "I have never talked so much about myself." " But it's interesting." " I'm not so sure." "But then Raymond Leblanc got the idea to publish   a weekly for kids in 1946." "It was in '46." "I thought the time was right to do a good illustrated magazine for kids." "He had been in the resistance." "Everyone knew he was clean   so he could do anything." "He wasn't suspected of anything." "He asked me to continue Tintin   in a new magazine." "Superb." ""Dear Georges, you clearly have talent."" ""You educate the kids while amusing them."" ""You teach them right and wrong." "That's not so bad."" ""You should be happy."" ""Dear Germaine, I am tired of always writing the same story."" ""I am tired of churning stories out."" ""I have suffered much since the war."" ""My boy scout spirit has suffered blows." "I see the world differently."" ""Dear Georges"   "if you won't come home for my sake, then come home for Tintin's."" "The worries that you experience are part of the creative process." "You try to find a balance." "In "Explorers on the Moon"   there are some silly things about Wolff sacrificing himself at the end." "He writes a note that says:" ""When you read these lines, I will have left the rocket."" ""As for myself, a miracle might save me too."" "Here you see the influence of the church   which the publishers, Casterman, hastily called in." "It's about suicide, which is forbidden in the Catholic church   and Wolff commits suicide." ""No, he sacrifices himself."" ""No, he commits suicide, and that is unacceptable."" ""But Jesus let himself be crucified." "Isn't that a sort of suicide?"" ""But that's blasphemy!"" "Finally I gave up, even though I knew I'd look like an idiot." " That's why I put in that rubbish." " Long live the church." "A miracle, give me a break." "Forget all about Theresa of Avila." "The guy is doomed!" "I could sense the conflict in him " "I could sense the conflict in him   between the pressure he was under   and the desire to be free." "All sorts of pressure, which went right back to the start." "The pressure was so clear at that moment   that I wanted to ask something very specific." "Did your wife play a role in your work?" "That's an indiscreet question." "Yes, indirectly." "I think." "Indirectly." "Not directly in the actual creative process." "But through her views, she strengthened   a rigidity in me, a certain morality and my boy scout spirit." "All of this is very obvious in the Tintin books." "She was the Rev. Wallez's secretary." "During all that time I was kept down by Rev. Wallez   and by her without knowing it." "I tried to be who I was." " And you were thirsting for life?" " Yes." " You hungered after life?" " Yes." " Did you know Fanny then?" " Yes, she worked here." "She was a colorist." "I had never experienced anything like it." "It happened imperceptibly." "I don't actually know how." "I didn't see much of the others here." "I preferred working alone." "I saw her once in a while." "She worked here after all." "Something happened." " That's wonderful." " It was definitely wonderful." "But it had consequences." "Very dramatic consequences." "I left my wife." "It was an awful experience." "Mostly for her, but also for me." "I had broken my word ..." "That was awful, awful." "It was also a drama for me." "I had some terrible dreams." "Everything was white, white, white." " Fear-filled dreams?" " Yes, very." "I am alone in my house in Ceroux." "I suddenly see some children in the garden playing in the snow." "I go out to throw some snowballs at the children   but they are gone." "Then I see a black cliff in the snow." "I go closer and see the entrance to a tunnel, which I enter." "At first, it's easy, but the further I go, the steeper it gets." "Finally I see a light above me from a dazzling white sky   and a snow-covered landscape." "I try to crawl up to get out   but some iron bars keep me imprisoned." "Tchang!" "Tchang!" "I had to visit a psychiatrist." "He was a student of Jung's, but as he was dead " " I got his successor who lives in Zürich." "I found myself in a condition   of intense suffering, so I wrote my dreams down." "He listened to me with interest   but said with regret that I had to look elsewhere." ""I can't help you." "You hold all the cards."" ""The problem is that you have a demon in you that you have to kill."" "He told me to exorcise my white demons." "I dreamt in white." "Why do they end up in Tibet?" "Why have they travelled that way?" "There has to be a reason." "A letter from his old friend Tchang, who writes that he's coming." "But he doesn't arrive." "He has disappeared." ""Tintin in Tibet" is really   one of the albums that stands out." "It's both a very dramatic and yet harmonious album." "This drawing is printed in my consciousness." "That's the album there." "The Swiss psychiatrist told me:" ""I have to say that you are obsessed by your work."" ""You'll either have to fight your way through the crisis"   "or continue to work." "I would choose the first."" "I did not stop working." "A scout smiles when there are problems." "That's the Scout's honor." "I continued and I made it." " That's one way to get on." " Of course." "It's based on the scout movement." "I had to drive out my inner demon, the Swiss psychiatrist said." " Did it work?" " I think so." "I left my wife and had to admit that I was not perfect." "All this is something I was not conscious of." "Then came "The Castafiore Emerald"." " But that's completely different." " Yes, very." " What is your next book about?" " I don't want to say much about that." "It's a secret." "As the Thompson Twins say:" ""Our lips are sealed."" "But the plot is simple and for a change   all of the characters stay at home, at Marlinspike Hall." "My jewels!" "It's not deliberate   but it's partly my wife I'm making fun of." "I can see that now." " Is there any resemblance?" " Some." "I have a summer cottage just outside of Brussels." "I have a summer cottage just outside of Brussels." "One day, my wife and I were visited by a brass band   from the neighboring village." "They were all rather drunk." "First, they all relieved themselves in the hedge ..." "Then their spokesman said:" ""Let's raise our glasses to Spirou!"" "That's a good one, no?" "Was this before "The Castafiore Emerald"?" "That gave me the idea for the brass band in Marlinspike Hall." "Life is much more comfortable and spacious." "I feel much closer to other people." "Now that I've left my wife and accepted my so-called sins   life has become much more comfortable and easier." "The future is terrifying." "The shock of the new." "It scares people." "Yet that doesn't mean one should hide from the world." "Not everything will be bad in the world to come." "Everything's falling apart." "Everything's falling down." "The roof is caving in." " Things change." " Yes, and things need to change." "Everything's falling apart." "The entire old world is finished." "Schools, universities ..." "All finished." "People can't cope anymore." "It explains the violence." "Young people are tired of it all." "And their fashions, their interest in Eastern philosophy, their drug use ..." "It's all a protest against this incredible apathy   which Tintin has always been against." "Tintin is a rebel, isn't he?" " Yes?" " Mr. Hergé?" " Is Tintin on to a new adventure?" " I had started one." "But it's come to a halt   as we're doing a new cartoon instead of a book   a version of "Prisoners of the Sun"." "It's going to be a great cartoon." "That's why Tintin's new adventure has been temporarily shelved." "People are always asking about that." "Especially the publishers." "It's an immense pressure." " Is he on to a new adventure?" " Before long." "Soon?" " I hope so." " Next year?" " Maybe." "And your publisher?" "He hopes that this commendable intention will become a reality." "I don't draw as much as I used to, as it doesn't interest me anymore." "I don't have as many demons to deal with anymore." " You've found happiness in idleness?" " Precisely." "Two stars meet " " Hergé, Tintin's creator, and the American painter, Andy Warhol   also called the "Pope of Pop Art"." "I wanted to express something   and the possibility lay in painting, which I quickly gave up, because ..." "Painting is a whole life   and I can't live two lives when I only have one." "Either comics or painting." "Not both." "I would like to paint, but it would exclude the other." "The adventurous aspect appears a little childish to me today   in relation to what I would have liked to express." "It's a bit like trying to shoot a fly with a big gun   which is kind of difficult." "Bang, bang." "I might have hit the fly but maybe not." "It's not like Lucky Luke, where a new album comes out each year." "With Tintin it took three, four, five, then six years." "It took longer and longer." "It was obvious that he would rather be doing something else." "Maybe that was why he was pleased I'd come." "So he didn't have to work." "Maybe that was why he was pleased I'd come." "So he didn't have to work." "Who knows?" "I'm sorry that this has taken so long   as there's so much more I'd like to say." "More important things." "But that's how it is." "Time has run out." " Have you any finished drawings?" " No, there aren't any." "Although I do have one of the first ones, which is almost finished." "This is almost finished." "It's a Belgian journalist." "Many go back to "The Black Island"." "Especially the journalists." "I've collected those I've known, and those that appeared in the past   so that people will recognize them." "It really is rather funny." "All the documentation is here." "I can't stand on my head and draw at the same time." "There are many different things." "And there's a huge amount of work between the two stages." " Why do you still work?" " I enjoy working." "I wouldn't work if I didn't enjoy it." "I'm doing less right now, because I'm travelling." "But isn't it also to escape?" "To avoid working again?" "Yes, that's partly true." "In order to avoid this slave labour." "Now I'm going to throw you out." "You must have masses of material." "You must obviously call me if you're ever in Brussels again." "Maybe I've appeared confused?" " No, it's me that's confused." "And then it was over." "We'd been together for four days, and now he had to work." "The studio was full of work demanding his attention." "He said that he had to throw me out." "We couldn't spend an hour more." "It was strange how he clung on to the transcript of our conversation." "It took two or three years before the script was ready." "Hergé continued to alter it." "He looked at every single sentence." "He made alterations and additions   erasions and deletions." "He sent me the changes " " I inserted them and sent them back to him." "He wasn't satisfied." "In the space of three years he rewrote the text four times." "When he'd read the text, he saw that he had said too much." " so there's a major difference between the published text   and the conversations, which were recorded on tape." "He was far from content." "He had not found peace." "Far from it." "Hergé spent his entire life looking for   wisdom." "Brussels, June 10, 1973." ""I'm writing because I'm looking for a Chinese artist"   "who's called Tchang Tchong-Jen."" ""I've been trying to find Mr. Tchang Tchong-Jen for years ..."" "So whenever we met a Chinaman, when in Taiwan for example   he'd immediately ask:" ""You don't know anyone who knows Tchang Tchong-Jen"   "a Chinese painter?"" "The answer was always the same:" ""No, we don't know him."" "It's an achievement having your friend Tchang here from China ..." "I'm a radio and TV journalist, and I've been fortunate   to meet Hergé more than once." "He told me a lot about Tchang." "Tchang disappeared when the war broke out." "He went back to China." "After which, Communism closed off China   and he heard nothing from his friend for over 45-46 years." "Finally, there was someone in Brussels, who knew Tchang." ""Tchang Tchong-Jen?" "Yes, Shanghai."" ""He is my Godfather."" "It was apparently his Godfather, or the Godfather of someone he knew." "Hergé had searched for him in a distant land " "Hergé had searched for him in a distant land   and the answer, as is so often the case, was there right in front of him." "Nothing can stop a journalist." "I only pressured the Chinese a bit, as they could slam the door on me." "Then one day I got a call :" ""Mr. Tchang is coming."" "Tchang landed in Brussels in front of the entire international press corps   because everyone knew the story." "Everyone was happy about the meeting." "Especially me, because it was a journalistic scoop." "Time had taken its toll on them." "In addition, Hergé was very ill   and rather weak at that point." "Given his weakened condition   you have to say that their meeting was heart-breaking." " Have you read Hergé's books?" " Certainly." "What do you think of them?" "I thought of him all the time." "I don't know if Tchang understood it." "They both had to adjust to the situation and maybe both tried   to be as good as they were in the book." "It was a major media event, which was covered on TV   in the papers and in the press." "He was happy to see Tchang again, but it was also a marketing event." "How can you describe your feelings   when after nearly half a century   you rediscover someone who was more than a friend?" "Someone who opened doors and windows for me." "What was film and what was reality   what was idealized and what was the truth, I don't know." "Maybe Hergé needed an idealized friend   who could supply an unambiguously positive meaning   to a life that had been shattered by questions and doubts." "I want to thank our friend Tchang   you, Tintin, and you, Hergé, who made Tchang your protégé." "All of us, your loyal readers, send you a giant bubble   in the shape of a heart." "Then there's Numa Sadoul." "Are you shy?" "It was very odd to sit and look at this very modest man." "He was shy because he was celebrated." "He was very ill." "It was terrible." "It was a kind of osteomyelo-fibrosis   where the production of red blood cells stopped." "The three years of illness almost became three years of meditation." "He had a certain radiance." "Something very bright at that time." "I remember that some friends visited him here   and when a friend opened the door, she said:" ""Georges, you look like an angel."" "And there really was something about him   that had changed." "He radiated a light." "Good evening." "Georges Remi, alias Hergé, the creator of Tintin   died last night in Brussels of leukemia, aged 75." "Since February 25th, he had been at the Saint Luc hospital's   heart clinic." "Tonight our newscast will focus on a series of things ..." "Everyone spoke of the clarity he had recovered." "His secretary, his wife, his most recent employees." "Everyone that was around him during his last days." "Was he serene?" "I am not so sure." "But he created Tintin." "All of his doubt, his insecurity and his anxiety ..." "He used all of those elements." "He projected them into his books and made them rich."