Le Petit Vingtième

"Le Petit Vingtième" ("The Little Twentieth") was the weekly youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper "Le Vingtième Siècle" ("The Twentieth Century") from 1928 to 1940. The comics series "The Adventures of Tintin" first appeared in its pages.

History

"Le Vingtième Siècle" was a Catholic and conservative newspaper from Brussels, led by abbot Norbert Wallez. In 1925, 18 years old Hergé, the creator of Tintin, worked there, first as a clerk and, after he fulfilled his military service, as an illustrator for the main pages and for some supplements like the weekly arts pages and the female section.

In 1928, the abbot decided to start a weekly 8 page youth supplement, appearing every Thursday. He called it "Le Petit Vingtième" (The Little Twentieth). Hergé was named Editor-in-Chief. In the first issue, appearing on November 1 1928, he illustrated a short comic made by Desmedt, the sports editor of the newspaper called "Les Aventures de Flup, Nénesse, Poussette et Cochonnet". Sensing that this comic lacked spirit and was rather old-fashioned compared to the current American comics and to the works of Alain Saint-Ogan, Hergé started working on his own comic. [cite book |last=de Grand Ry |first=Michel |authorlink= |coauthors=Nizette, André; and Lechat, Jean-Louis |title=Le livre d'or de la bande dessinée |origyear=1986 |accessdate=2007-12-03 |publisher=Centre de la bande dessinée Belge |location=Brussels |language= |pages=4-5 |chapter=Hergé] In 1928, he got engaged to Germaine Kieckens, the secretary of the abbot at the newspaper. They got married in 1932.

On January 10 1929, in issue 11, "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets" began. Every issue featured two pages of the story, and Hergé often made covers for the supplement depicting Tintin as well. A year later, on January 23 1930, the first page of "Quick & Flupke", a gag strip, appeared in the magazine as well. 310 gags would appear before the paper folded.

The supplement, especially the comics, were an overwhelming success, with circulation of the publication quintupling on Thursdays. At the end of each of the first three stories of "The Adventures of Tintin", an actual reception of the comic hero (played by an actor) at the station in Brussels was organized, with thousands of people attending. In the meantime the first assistants to Hergé were hired to help him fill the supplement and to do minor work on "Tintin" and "Quick & Flupke": Eugène Van Nijverseel, better known as Evany, and Paul Jamin (also signing as Jam).

To capitalize on the success, a new publishing house was started, "Les éditions du Petit Vingtième", publishing the first three books of "Tintin" and the first two of "Quick and Flupke" before folding and passing the rights in 1934 to Casterman, which was better suited to cope with the international success of Tintin (which by then also appeared in France and Switzerland). Both the newspaper comics and the album publications were in black and white, although the covers to the supplement, which were also often made by Hergé, used a supporting colour.

Between February 8 and August 16 1934, Hergé also published the more juvenile story "Les aventures de Popol et Virginie chez les Lapinos" (translated as "Popol out west"). This story was first published as an album (in French) only in 1952 though. [ [http://www.tintinmilou.free.fr/rg/oeuvres.htm Other works by Hergé] fr icon]

In February 1940, an attempt was made to launch "De Bengel", a Dutch translation of "Le Petit Vingtième". This magazine marked the first appearance of Tintin in Dutch. The magazine seems to have never been distributed though, and only one copy is known to exist. [ [http://www.gva.be/dossiers/-k/kuifje/dossier.asp GvA] Kuifje-dossier (in Dutch). Last accessed July 18, 2006]

The publication of "Tintin" and "Quick & Flupke" continued in the newspaper supplement until May 1940, when the Germans invaded Belgium.

Tintin publications

* "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets": January 10 1929 - May 8 1930: album 1930 (10 editions of 1,000 copies each)
* "Tintin in the Congo": June 5 1930 - June 11 1931: arrival at Brussels North train station July 9 1931: album 1931 (110 pages)
* "Tintin in America": September 3 1931 - October 20 1932: album 1932 (120 pages)
* "Cigars of the Pharaoh" (published as "Tintin in the Orient"): December 8 1932 - August 2 1934 (124 pages)
* "The Blue Lotus": August 9 1934 - October 17 1935 (124 pages)
* "The Broken Ear": December 5 1935 - February 25 1937
* "The Black Island": April 15 1937 - June 16 1938 (124 pages)
* "King Ottokar's Sceptre" (published as "Tintin in Syldavia"): August 4 1938 - August 10 1939 (106 pages)
* "Land of Black Gold": September 28 1939 - May 8 1940 (unfinished)

Quick & Flupke publications

Between 1930 and 1940, some 310 gags of Quick & Flupke appeared in 'Le Petit Vingtième, all in black and white. They regularly appeared on the cover of the supplement as well. Two albums were published by the Editions du Petit Vingtième. Most of the other gags appeared later at Casterman.

* "Quick et Flupke gamins de Bruxelles" (1931)
* "" (1932)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/books/index.html Tintinologist: guide to the Tintin books]
* [http://home.scarlet.be/tintinophileparmidautres/page/le_petit_vingtieme.htm A number of covers of "Le Petit Vingtième"]