I hope you all know that Tintin is pronounced "Tan-tan" in the original French! I've gotten some looks from those in the know when I used to go around saying "Tin-tin". At this point I consider myself an official Tintinophile, I read them as a kid and now have the entire series including Tintin in the Congo and Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. I think that my favorite story is The Blue Lotus because it's where Hergé spent a lot of time researching the topic that he wanted to do a story on. Before Lotus he would just work day by day in little strips, but The Blue Lotus is a real planned out work of art.
As for my favorite character I'm caught between Captain Haddock and Skut!