The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Just what is the deal with Nick Rodwell, husband to the woman who used to be married to Hergé (deceased), the creator of Tintin?  Why do I need to use such an awkward phrasing, instead of just saying that he’s the second husband of Hergé’s widow?  Because I would rather not have my private life, or FPI’s business investigated by Mr. Rodwell, as he did with three journalists last week.

In his blog on Tintin.com, quite aptly titled “Nick’s Blog”, Rodwell considerably upped the ante in a row with a select group of journalists that has been going on for years.  Hugues Dayez, the author of Tintin Et Les Heritiers (Tintin And The Inheritors), a very critical view on the way Moulinsart is curating Hergé’s legacy, is also the creator of a documentary film that proved, amongst others, that Moulinsart keeps a black list of journalists and Tintin specialists who are to be discredited at all times.  Rodwell succeeded in having the RTBF broadcast blocked by the court, but that didn’t seem enough.

Rodwell seems to have been digging around in the private lives of Dayez and his colleague Albert Algoud, and found out that both have an autistic child.  Which, to Rodwell, is the reason why both journalists feel such hatred for him : “If you have a passion for something, such as Tintin, you want to share that with your son.  If that turns out to be impossible, you become frustrated and you start looking for a scapegoat.”

In another piece, Rodwell attacked Journal Des Arts journalist Sophie Flouquet, who had written an article about the Hergé Museum, stating that it was not very child friendly.  For some reason, Rodwell felt it necessary to stress that Flouquet is a widow – maybe he was driven by his own personal frustration at having his wife constantly referred to as Hergé’s widow ?

(Tintin and his faithful furry companion, Snowy, by Hergé, (c) Moulinsart)

Reactions on tintin.com and other sites (such as French daily Le Monde, Belgian daily La Derniere Heure, or Le Soir) were livid – it would seem that everybody agrees that Rodwell has crossed the line, and would have to make amends if he wants the press to ever cover Tintin in a favourable way again.

One could use the celebrity’s adage that any publicity is good publicity.  However, with Tintin taking up centre stage in the Brussels Comics festivities, the opening of the Musée Hergé and the constant brouhaha about the upcoming Tintin movie, Moulinsart doesn’t really need to resort to below-the-belt tactics like this.  Moreover, Rodwell’s blog, now off-line, was presented and defended as his own personal forum, not an official Moulinsart podium. Still, as tintin.com webmaster Alain De Kuyssche told Belgian daily De Morgen on tuesday, the upheavel has resulted in a lot of new visitors for the Moulinsart website.  “It’s better advertising than I could have come up with”, De Kuyssche said.  In order to calm things down a bit, it is said that Rodwell will only state facts in his future blogs.  Which will be collected in a book, slated for 2012.  After the movie, that is.

Wim Lockefeer lives in Belgium and is wondering why he seems to be being followed by two similar looking private detectives with moustaches; you can read more of Wim’s thoughts on comics and art on his Ephemerist blog.