As the intrepid boy reporter celebrates his 60th birthday, it seems that le tout France is up in arms over a (tongue-in-cheek?) newspaper column asking this: “A callow, androgynous blonde-quiffed youth in funny trousers and a scarf moving into the country mansion of his best friend, a middle-aged sailor… and whose only serious female friend is an opera diva… And you’re telling me Tintin isn’t gay?”