Quick et Flupke by Herge 1930

It is a larger piece at 15 x 21 inches published in Le Petit Vingtieme on November 20th, 1930. This is page 2 of a 2 page gag. The additional images has a scan of the other page in this sequence. I had my choice of the two pages but decided on this one as I like seeing Herge's signature but both pages are equals. My description got too long and translation got cropped. Basically it is a joke about Quick looking at all the things he wants to ask Santa for. After going back and forth over things he is lost in thought as he comments on how big the store is as the stairs down are taking so long (he is going down the up escalator).

I love Tintin. I grew up reading Tintin, Asterix, Lucky Luke, Disney Ducks, Archie, Looney Tunes and such. Tintin has always remained a favorite. 16 years ago I was fortunate to add a nice Tintin illustration by Herge to my collection and it has hung on the wall next to my desk in every house and configuration of office space we have gone through. It is "THE" piece that if the house was on fire and I could save only one thing, it would be this. That hasn't changed and although it might not be the most valuable art in my collection, it is "my precious". You can see it in this same gallery.

I never thought I'd own another Herge, let alone a published page. Tintin pages has always been out of reach. Every year it gets a lot further. This year I decided to take the plunge. I met George, a collector in the Nederlands through 2DG which is the European equivalent of CAF. We were able to come to terms on a piece of art and after several months of sales and scraping together cash I was able to finally pay this off. With some help from my friend Olivier (now your friendly neighborhood Heritage International Art rep) this piece has arrived safely in Canada. It is a lot larger than I had envisioned which is great. I am so use to smaller pieces coming from Europe.

Quick et Flupke is a strip created by Herge in 1930 for Le Petit Vingtième, a supplement for children in the conservative Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle. Similar to the color Sunday sections in North American newspapers these were separate entities with comics aimed at children. In total the series ran for just over a decade. This was at the same time Herge was creating early Tintin. At the time of this piece's creation, Herge was already well into his work in Tintin in the Congo, a most controversial book now. The story in this series are about two misbehaving brothers, their sister and an inflatable pig. Although popular and successful, the series would be overshadowed by the tremendous local and international success of Tintin. The strip and style of the art was greatly influenced by North American comics including McManus's work on Bringing Up Father which I think is obvious in this piece. There were other influences including Katzenjammer Kids and silent films staring Charlie Chaplin. While Herge tried to keep Tintin more "realistic", Quick et Flupke was more for telling gags that didn't fit with Tintin. Herge made multiple cameo appearances in the series and at one point is even the victim of being kidnapped by the two characters. Fun stuff...but there is a dark cloud hanging over all of this.

The magazine Vingtième Siècle was right wing and fascist and often had strong anti-semetic themes to their work. Perhaps not in the comic sections but in the content of the newspaper. During the war the publication itself was sympathetic to the Nazi's. After the war the magazine's editors and contributors, including Herge, were investigated and some charged for their involvement. Herge's participation was not deemed worthy of punishment but those ugly years darkened the rest of his career. Early Tintin were essentially Belgian propaganda in regards to the communists (Tintin and the Soviets) and Belgian's colonization of Africa (Tintin in the Congo). Tintin in the Congo is still a hard volume to find and is not included in most series that reprints Tintin due to the overly racist portrayal of blacks.

When it comes to Herge, you have to educate yourself a bit and understand the artist, his genius but also the context of his work in respect to the time and place it was created. There will always be the stigma attached to it.