An original issue of Journal de Tintin — the iconic Belgian-French weekly comic magazine for readers “aged 7 to 77” — this is N°534, dated January 29, 1959, featuring one of the most historically charged and technically accomplished covers in the magazine’s golden age. Signed by Fernand Cheneval, the illustration depicts a gleaming Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Luftwaffe fighter — ace of spades on the fuselage, red spinner, swastika on the tail — sitting on a sunlit airfield tarmac while five German officers in full uniform conduct their inspection. The headline announces: “Notre Histoire Complète: DOUGLAS BADER” — the legendary RAF ace who defied every convention of possibility by flying, fighting, and leading men in combat on two prosthetic legs.
The complete Douglas Bader story — “Douglas Bader ou le Pilote aux Jambes de Zinc” — unfolds across a full double-page spread inside, written and illustrated by Cheneval with meticulous documentary authority. The story opens on December 14, 1931: a young RAF pilot attempts a low-level aerobatic maneuver and crashes. The double amputation. The rehabilitation. The return to flying. The wartime command of a Spitfire wing. The capture. The escape attempts. The legend. Cheneval renders it all with period aircraft — Bristol Bulldogs, Spitfires, Messerschmitts — of forensic accuracy.
The back cover is a complete full-page color episode of Tintin au Tibet by the legendary Hergé — Tintin and Captain Haddock navigate the warm, crowded streets of a Nepalese market town, the search for Tchang drawing ever closer. The page glows with Hergé’s characteristic warmth: ochre walls, terracotta rooftops, the deep blue of the Himalayan sky above.
L. & F. Funcken contribute a breathtaking double-page spread of L’Ombre du Glaive — a medieval forest ambush of knights on horseback, the Funcken brothers’ signature palette of rich earth tones and jewel-like accents deployed with their customary painterly authority.
The Tintin Actualités news section is a remarkable time capsule of January 1959: a full feature on LUNIK — “Premier satellite artificiel du soleil” — complete with a solar system diagram tracing the Soviet probe’s trajectory as the first man-made object to escape Earth’s gravitational field entirely. A perfect snapshot of a world simultaneously looking backward to the war and forward to the stars.
Condition note: The cover presents with significant warping and spine splitting — the cover is partially detached along the spine — honestly reflected in the price. The interior pages, including the Hergé back cover and the Funcken double-page spread, remain complete and retain strong, vivid color throughout.
Key Details
-
Type: Original vintage comic magazine / illustrated weekly press
-
Title: Journal de Tintin — N°534
-
Date: January 29, 1959
-
Publisher: Le Lombard (Belgium / France)
-
Language: French
-
Pages: 40
-
Size: 21 × 30 cm / 8.3 × 11.8 in
-
Cover artist: Fernand Cheneval (signed)
-
Condition: Poor/Fair — significant cover warping and spine splitting, cover partially detached (disclosed); interior complete and colorful
-
Origin: Belgium / France
-
Age: 67 years (1959)
-
Notable content: Douglas Bader complete story (Cheneval) · Tintin au Tibet back cover (Hergé) · L’Ombre du Glaive (L. & F. Funcken) · Lunik solar satellite feature · Solido/Heller model aircraft advertisement
-
Collectibility: Very High for content — WWII aviation + Hergé + Funcken + Cold War space history; condition limits price ceiling
-
SKU: 2C89
