Tintin’s tears become symbol of solidarity after Brussels attacks

Within hours of Brussels attacks Tuesday tens of thousands of people were sharing images on social media of the country’s most famous creation in tears.

With many invoking Herge’s cub reporter — who always got the better of the baddies in the end — one Twitter user put words into the boy hero’s mouth: “Let’s be strong, together and humane faced with these crazies.”

“We are all Belgians,” said a user called Ulysse, who lives in Paris. French film-maker and graphic novelist Joann Sfar had Tintin consoling his sidekick captain Haddock: “Sometimes I want to leave for the Moon, Captain.” But the most shared image of all was one showing a figure dressed in French colours putting an arm around a crying Belgian flag.