“The Blue Lotus” by Hergé returns to bookstores in a new colorized version. The opportunity to rediscover the iconic album which marked a turning point in Hergé’s career, with its serious and documented approach to China in the 1930s.
90 years after its creation, The Blue Lotusone of the major works of Hergé and the Tintin collection, is getting a makeover. The comic strip is indeed returning to bookstores in a new colorized and unique version.
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It was in 1946 that the Belgian publishing house Casterman warned Hergé, “if you want to conquer Europe, you need color, but to remain competitive, you will have to redesign everything”. We go from 124 boards to 62: so today here is the return of Blue Lotus origins, with a special notebook including lots of documents on the genesis of the work.
Seriousness and documentation
The Blue Lotus is for many, the first true Tintin, Hergé’s first masterpiece. Before, he said he drew for fun, now he documents himself. When Hergé announces that Tintin is going to China, Abbé Gosset, chaplain to Chinese students in Belgium, writes to the newspaper entitled The little 20thwarning that something serious will have to be done.
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He even ended up introducing Hergé to a young student from the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, born in Shanghai. The latter is called Tchang Tchong Jen and will become a character in the comic strip, so much so that he and Hergé become friends. Before designing the album, Hergé confided “his strong desire to understand and love the Chinese people”, a contract fulfilled. The Blue Lotus is 90 years old, and he doesn’t do them.
