Paul Cuvelier, Corentin, 1947, Couverture du n° 50 du journal Tintin

L?Odyssée extraordinaire de Corentin Feldoë (Corentin Feldoë?s Extraordinary Odyssey) appeared on the 50th front cover of Journal Tintin on Thursday 11 December 1947. The start of young Corentin Feldoë?s adventures coincided with the launch of the magazine itself, on 26 September 1946. Along with Hergé, Jacobs and Laudy, Cuvelier was thus one of the four Belgians who were the driving force behind the "Belgian" Tintin before it ever came to be published in France. When Paul Cuvelier was first introduced to Hergé in 1945, he was a mere 21 years of age!He drew his very first cover for the fourth issue of the magazine, but by the time he drew this scene depicting Feldoë riding into the city he had already produced 14 previous covers. Cuvelier was par-ticularly good at drawing beautiful images like this. Talking about his art, he said: ?I didn?t like doing so many drawings. I minded the fact that I couldn?t spend longer on any one image. Strictly speak-ing, illustration would have suited me better. I think it?s closer to what I?m trying to do? (in P. Goddin, Corentin et les Chemins du Merveilleux, Editions du Lombard, 1984)