Le Thermozéro is an abandoned comics project from two of Hergé

Hergé

Georges Prosper Remi , better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. His best known and most substantial work is the 23 completed comic books in The Adventures of Tintin series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, although he was also...

's series : The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin is a series of classic comic books created by Belgian artist , who wrote under the pen name of Hergé...

as well as Jo, Zette and Jocko

Jo, Zette and Jocko

The Adventures of Jo, Zette and Jocko is a comic book series created by Hergé, the Belgian writer-artist who was best known for The Adventures of Tintin...

.

History

In the late 50's, feeling his imagination drying up, Hergé asked comic book author Greg for ideas for a new adventure of Tintin. Greg met Hergé a few days later with a synopsis. At meetings at Hergé Studios, reactions were mixed: half the studio was ready for this action story, the other half saw it as just a rehash of the "The Calculus Affair

The Calculus Affair

The Calculus Affair is the eighteenth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero....

". After making 8 pages of sketches, Hergé agreed with the second half and abandoned the project.

Unwilling to abandon a good idea, Hergé planned to make the Thermozéro the plot of the third filmed adventure of Tintin but once again, this did not take place.

Bob de Moor

Bob de Moor

Bob de Moor is the pen name of Robert Frans Marie De Moor , a Belgian comics creator. Chiefly noted as an artist, he is considered an early master of the Ligne claire style. He wrote and drew several comics series on his own, but also collaborated with Hergé on several volumes of The Adventures of...

, Hergé's assistant, was asked to change the synopsis and make it the sixth Jo, Zette and Jocko adventure. After a few sketches were made this project fell through as well, as Hergé asked Bob de Moor to modernize The Black Island

The Black Island

The Black Island is the seventh of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as the hero. It was first published in the newspaper supplement Le Petit Vingtième in the late 1930s...

instead.

Synopsis

On a rainy day, Haddock, Tintin and Calculus have a car accident with a German they previously had words a few minutes before. Tintin, ready to help people, draws him out of his car and covers him with his coat. Surprisingly, many people try to put the man in their own car before the ambulance arrives. He hides an object in Tintin's coat without anyone's knowledge. Finally, the ambulance arrives and everyone goes home.
Back at the hotel, Calculus decides to bring Tintin's coat to the laundry. A few days later, Tintin and the Captain discover that everyone present at the accident has been burgled. Apparently, the people behind all this are looking for an item that previously belonged to the victim. The next day, Haddock is kidnapped and the message for the ransom is "Haddock for the item". A meeting is set in Berlin. Though unaware of what the item is, the heroes travel to Germany to get Haddock back. With a case in his hand, Tintin meets the kidnappers. A few minutes later they are all jailed, as Tintin's case carried a transmitter. Back in Marlinspike, Calculus discovers the item (an explosive that functions in spaces without oxygen) cannot work as one ingredient is missing.

Parodies

• Yves Rodier
  Yves Rodier
  Yves Rodier is a Franco-Québécois comic strip creator known for his many pastiches of The Adventures of Tintin.- Biography :...
  
  made an inking for page 4 using Hergé's original sketch