It is arguably the most famous quiff rendered on paper and it first appeared in public on Jan 10, 1929. On that date, Tintin, a young reporter, who wears knickerbocker trousers and keeps a loyal white fox terrier Milou, was born in Brussels.

The Adventures of Tintin saw him start his adventures by taking a train to the Soviet Union accompanied by Milou－named Snowy in the English version of the cartoon strip. From Moscow to China, from the sands of the Sahara to the glaciers of the Qomolangma (known as Mount Everest in the West), from the Amazon rainforests to the Scottish highlands, Tintin has trotted the globe in pursuit of the baddies.

Before the advent of television, the international expeditions undertaken by the tireless reporter opened young people's eyes to countries, cultures, landscapes, and natural phenomena which were still relatively unheard of.

Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi (1907-83), also known by his pen name Herge, was the man behind the creation.

It's no exaggeration to say that Herge dedicated his entire life to the creation of the 24 book series after the publication of the first adventures in Le Petit Vintieme, the weekly youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtieme Siecle (The Twentieth Century).

The collection has been translated into more than 70 languages and published in more than 100 countries and regions, with more than 230 million copies sold. And time has not diminished the cartoon hero's popularity.