On December seventh, the man who inspired Herge's Tintin died. Until I found that out, I had no idea he even existed.

Huld was catapulted into fame when he was still a teenager in the 1920's, winning a Jules Verne related contest in a Danish newspaper. The contest was open only to teenage boys, and the winner had to travel "Around the World in 80 Days" unaccompanied and without the use of airplanes, Verne-style. The media picked it up, and by the time he returned to his native Denmark he was a sensation. He later wrote a book about his adventures.

Herge was also a Denmarkian, and the way Huld told the story, Herge was swept along in the hype and decided to capitalize by writing his own stories of a globetrotting young adventurer with wispy hair.

As great as this story is, Herge never actually admitted that Huld was Tintin's inspiration. I don't blame him. The speculation only adds to the boyhood magic of the Tintin stories, and indulges us with the possibility that any of us could be waiting for a knock on the door, a scrap of paper, a noise around the corner, anything that will whisk us away on an incredible adventure.