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Jo, Zette & Jocko: Will other books be printed in English?

rodney
Member
#1 · Posted: 14 Dec 2009 11:03
Just wondering as the only ones I've seen in Australia are Cobras, Mr Pump and New York.

Will the remaining stories be printed anytime soon does anyone know?

What I think would be great is to get an album published which would have the complete adventures of Jo, Zette & Jocko!

Similar to what is done with Asterix where they put 5 or 6 adventures into the one book.
jock123
Moderator
#2 · Posted: 14 Dec 2009 11:23
All the available JZ&J books have been translated and made available in English, so there isn’t anything left to be put out.

The Secret Ray is the combined volume of “The Manitoba” - No Reply and The Eruption of Karamako, and was published by Sundancer when Methuen passed on it, probably due to the same sorts of concern they had over Congo - it’s depiction of island natives is questionable. It is available through The Tintin Shop from time to time if they have it in stock.

I suppose we might get an edition of the collected B&W strips (like Tintin some stories were adapted to colour), and there is an un-published, incompletely finished sixth book Le ThermoZéro, which may get an Alph-Art style release some day, but that’s it.

A collected edition of all the stories is possible, but unlikely - firstly, the rights don’t seem to rest with the same company. Sundancer is effectively now part of Moulinsart, as it was an imprint created by Nick Rodwell, and the Last Gasp website lists The Secret Ray as published by Moulinsart (so it is still in print, and indeed may have been reprinted); Egmont is a separate entity altogether. Secondly, the presence of The Secret Ray would effectively make the other titles more controversial by association, and why run that risk? As is, it keeps The Secret Ray as something they can choose to have or not to have, depending on your own feelings about the work.

If you want to know more, you can search these forums, and you’ll find information on all of the above in other threads.
rodney
Member
#3 · Posted: 15 Dec 2009 01:23
Surely it cannot be any more questionable than 'Tintin in the Congo'?
The publisher would simply include an intro explaining when this actual adveture was written and hence the different views of the time (1930/40's??) to smooth things over.
I have not read the actual story. Is it bad what Herge has done in the story?
Thanks,
Rod
jock123
Moderator
#4 · Posted: 15 Dec 2009 11:30
rodney:
Surely it cannot be any more questionable than 'Tintin in the Congo'?

Not necessarily - but it only needs to be as questionable - and actually The Secret Ray may be in some ways more so. It again comes down to Hergé depicting some island natives in a simplistic and patronising fashion, which is as you suggest, dated. We should also remember that “dated” doesn’t actually mean “old, but no longer offensive”: as has been shown by recent activity, such as court cases to have the books withdrawn, Hergé’s depiction of race is still something that offends and upsets many people, and we may perhaps have to temper our thirst for his work if it has the power to hurt people.

As to the publisher “simply” doing something, the controversy surrounding Congo should demonstrate that nothing in these cases is simple. Methuen did not want to court controversy, so they delayed the release of Blue Lotus until they felt that the market would accept it, and chose not to do anything with Congo and The Secret Ray.

When Egmont took on the works, they decided that they would put Congo out, but by that time Secret Ray had been placed elsewhere, so it isn’t part of their series, even if they wanted it to be.

There is introductory material in the book as it stands, and it is available if you look for it, so I’m not sure what you are questioning, exactly.
Harrock n roll
Moderator
#5 · Posted: 15 Dec 2009 12:54
As mentioned recently here, The Secret Ray is currently available via Amazon.com in the US. The US distributor Last Gasp also has copies for sale.

http://www.lastgasp.com/d/33621/
rodney
Member
#6 · Posted: 16 Dec 2009 06:16
Hi Jock123,

Thanks for your reply to this, having not read the book or seen the actual copy I didn't realise there was intoductory material in the story. This should help ease critic concerns with this story.
jock123
Moderator
#7 · Posted: 16 Dec 2009 13:20
rodney:
This should help ease critic concerns with this story.

It gives context to the problem, certainly: however it may do nothing to reduce the offence felt, and works like The Secret Ray and Congo will always remain a problem.

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