Tintin Forums

...or it's out of print. One story claims that as a result of that lawyer's hostility sales of "Congo" on Amazon actually shot up since everyone wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

Just goes to show: there's no publicity like bad publicity.

While I sure will agree, that the portraital of the Congolese in "Tintin in Congo" seems terribly dated these days, what do you expect from a young Belgian back in 1930, who had never been to Africa and maybe never even had met an African? Actually, I think it could have been worse. Tintin is very nice and helpful towards the Congolese, and not even the villain treats anyone badly because of their race. Compare it with how the oil barons treated the Indians in "Tintin in America" and how Gibbons treated the Chinese in "Blue Lotus". That's a totally different story.

I'm actually more offended by how Tintin keeps shooting animals. Was this really considered good fun for children back in the 1930s? Because it just disgusts me. I know this was commonplace back then, but really! There was even one page, where Tintin blew up a rhinocerus, which had to be replaced in the 1970s, or the album wouldn't be printed here in Scandinavia. But then again, Hergé came to regret this too.

To sum this up, "Tintin in Congo" maybe isn't my favorite Tintin album, but I don't think it should be banned. Of course, if Tintin hadn't gone on for fifty years after that, it would be long forgotten by now. But as it is, it's a part of a very popular and wonderful series, which is the pride of Belgium, and we can't just ignore how history was.