Dark Tintin, it’s the story of a book that might never have appeared, a cursed manuscript that several major Parisian publishers have declined in turn. Its author, however, is by no means an amateur. Follower of a « pop philosophy », Preferring to the great eternal truths the mythologies that fascinate our time, Mark Alizart published with the Presses Universitaires de France (PUF) no less than five essays in six years on very varied themes, such as the presence of dogs near man or the cryptocurrency.
The essayist thought he had a good subject once more: Tintin, the most popular character in comics, who has structured the imagination of 7 to 77 year olds since 1929. With an angle that is more original, a rereading of the adventures of little reporter through the prism of the rape suffered by its author, Georges Remi, alias Hergé, in his childhood. “I knew that by dealing with this subject, I was desecrating a temple dedicated to childhood, but I did not expect that…”, still surprised Mark Alizart, taking a sip of coffee in his vast apartment in the Marais, in Paris.
Everything started off as if in a dream. “I want to publish your text”, wrote to him, in September 2020, Maxime Catroux, editor at Flammarion. The message is not wildly expansive, but it has the merit of being clear. A contract was signed in December of the same year, accompanied by a – modest – deposit of 2,500 euros. The great promotional machine of which Flammarion is capable is then set in motion.
Hot topic
Ahead of the release, scheduled for September 2021 to stick to the literary season, a great interview is given to Vogue et an item is scheduled in Weekly Book, the publishing bible. But, in June 2021, boom, Flammarion decides to cancel everything. “A bad return from booksellers, things that happen”, hears Mark Alizart say. Thousand portholes ! Tintin is nevertheless popular. In good years, Casterman, Hergé’s historic publisher, sells at least 3 million albums. The successive confinements have even strengthened the appetite for reading. As for the subject of incest, it is extremely topical following the resounding publication of The big family (Threshold, 2021), by Camille Kouchner.
With hindsight, without being paranoid, conspiratorial or even revengeful, Mark Alizart has developed his little theory on the case. “From a reliable source”, he says, Antoine Gallimard in person, the boss of Madrigall (the parent company of Flammarion), would have stopped Dark Tintin to avoid jeopardizing the fragile relations between Casterman, his other flagship, and the heirs of Hergé, who died in 1983. He would thus seek to spare the susceptibilities of Nick Rodwell, the Briton with gray locks who, since his marriage, in 1993, with Hergé’s widow, Fanny Vlamynck, managed the estate with an iron fist.
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