History from Barks to Hergé

I have not had the pleasure to truly sit down and review the works of Carl Barks or Georges Remi [Hergé]. I have enjoyed the exploits of Scrooge McDuck and Donald's nephews in Duckburg as well as Tintin's adventures through their animated adaptations. This will be the first time I have taken the chance to review their non-animated, original texts.

What struck me most about these two graphic narratives was how similar they were despite being so radially different. the styles of illustration between the two narratives are radically different, the organization of Tintin's comic panels are much more organized and less uniform, and the characters have very little in common on the surface, they share very similar approaches to story and characterization.

Hergé's series has been admired for its clean, expressive drawings in his signature("clear line") style. Its well-researched plots straddle a variety of genres: swashbuckling adventures with elements of fantasy, mysteries, political thrillers, and science fiction. The stories feature slapstick humour, offset by dashes of sophisticated satire and political or cultural commentary. Although Carl Bark's stories take place in a more fictional setting, DuckBurg, rather than Belgium like Tintin, Donald's exploits all seem to share the similar adventurous quality to them genre-wise. While Tintin battles ne'erdowells in outer space, Donald and his nephews swashpuckle with pirates on the high seas. What's more, no two comics ever feel like they fall into the same adventure and are very varied with their tales.

Another similarity lies in the illustrations themselves and their use of masking: showing emphasis on a character through stylization while leaving the background illustrated realistically. While Tintin is a more realistic character-- despite his bravery and unbelievable wit, it would be more likely to find a spunky journalist in real life than it would be to find a talk duck-- he is very much stylized and is easy to decipher from the background. For obvious reasons, Donald Duck is double so.