THE boy-reporter Tintin, created by Belgian cartoonist Herg茅 in 1929, roamed the planet in 23 comic books until 1975. But why did he never grow taller than a 12-year-old or show any signs of puberty and an interest in sex?
Now researchers believe they know. In the December issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal 鈥� which in previous years has carried a psychiatric analysis of Winnie the Pooh 鈥� they point out that Tintin experienced no fewer than 鈥�50 significant losses of consciousness鈥�. They blame his lack of maturation and libido on damage to the pituitary gland caused by repeated head injuries (DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1041405).
Lead authors Antoine and Louis Olivier Cyr, aged 5 and 7, found no statistical correlation between the duration of his concussion, deduced from the number of frames it takes Tintin to recover, and its severity, deduced from the number of stars circling his head at impact.
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