HERMANN

HERMANN ◊ COMANCHE Original plate no. 34, prepublished in Le Journal de Tintin belge n°47, November 18, 1975. Presence of traces of glue and superficial soiling on the back of the board. India ink on paper 36 × 47.5 cm (14.17 × 18.7 in.) With Charlier and Gir's Blueberry as a rival, new ideas had to be found to move the script forward. Here's Red Dust, now the town's deputy sheriff, confronted with the Indian wars. The originality of this episode, still imagined by the skilful Greg, is the use of an observation balloon that has become a staple of battlefields since the French Revolution. The surprise is that the Apaches are in possession of a cannon. The subjective vision afforded by the binoculars produces a lovely field/counter-field shot, punctuated by the anxiety of the besieged, in ignorance of what awaits them. A short sequence that ties up the whole story in a few images. Remarkable.