King Ottokar's Sceptre

Hergé (Georges Remi) was born in Brussels in 1907. His pseudonym comes from his initials backwards (R.G., as pronounced in French). Over the course of 54 years he completed 23 albums of The Adventures of Tintin series, which is now considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, comics series of all time. With translations published in over 80 languages, more than 230 million copies sold worldwide and a Hollywood movie to its name, Tintin dominates the Comics and Graphic Novels chart even today. Sadly, Hergé died in 1983, leaving his 24th album, Tintin and Alph-Art, unfinished, but his hero continues to be one of the most iconic characters in both adult and children’s fiction.

Tintin shows young readers that the world in all its complexity is theirs to bestride. (The Wall Street Journal)I became enthralled with the way Hergé told his stories. Grand, epic, global adventures about a young reporter who goes all around the world looking for stories to tell. (Steven Spielberg, 'The Adventures of Spielberg: An Interview', The New York Times, 2011)Top 100 Children’s Book – Time Out (2022)Terrific world-straddling adventures. (Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Ten Essential Children’s Books, Books for Keeps, 2020)The Red Sea Sharks was named one of Young Bond author Charlie Higson’s favourite books in The Daily Express: “Tintin was a huge inspiration being a young person in an adult world.” (2015)Explorers of the Moon was named one of comedian Milton Jones’ favourite books in The Daily Express (2018)Explorers of the Moon was named one of screenwriter and best-selling crime novelist Peter May’s favourite books in The Daily Express: “A childhood favourite…it encouraged me to create my own cartoon series.” (2016)The Calculus Affair was named one of author and foreign correspondent Christian Jennings’ favourite books in The Week (2017)