Tintin in the Land of the Soviets and lock Tintin in a dungeon, but he escapes with the aid of Snowy, who has dressed himself in a tiger costume. The last OGPU agent attempts to kidnap Tintin, but this attempt is foiled, leaving the agent threatening, "We'll blow up all the capitals of Europe with dynamite!" Tintin returns to Brussels amidst a huge popular reception. Georges Remi—best known under the pen name Hergé—had been employed as an illustrator at (""The Twentieth Century""), a staunchly Roman Catholic and conservative Belgian newspaper based in Hergé's native Brussels. Run by the Abbé Norbert Wallez, the paper described itself as a
Tintin (character) of the twentieth century. Hergé created Tintin as an ethnically white Belgian who was a native of Brussels, aged 14–15 years old. Assouline deemed Tintin to be middle-class, which he considered one of the few traits that the character had in common with Hergé. In his first appearance, Tintin is dressed in a long travelling coat and hat, a few pages later adopting his familiar plus fours, check suit, black socks, and Eton collar. (Hergé remembers a Canadian student at his college who was teased for wearing plus fours and Argyll socks; certainly an inspiration.) At first, the famous quiff