Tintin in the Congo - NEW comic in hardcover

Tintin in the Congo is the most controversial of the Tintin albums. Tintin in the Congo has often been criticized for its racist and colonialist views, as well as several scenes of violence against animals. Hergé has later claimed that he was only portraying the naïve views of the time. When the album was redrawn in 1946, Hergé removed several references to the fact that the Congo was at that time a Belgian colony. This failed to mollify critics, however. Because of its controversial subject matter, the album has only been published as a facsimile black and white edition in English. However, a colour English edition was finally published in September 2005, by Egmont Ltd with a foreword explaining the historical context (a similar move had been employed for the 1983 translation of The Blue Lotus).

It was out of print for a long time (due to its content), but was reprinted in 1970 after a request from a major newspaper in Zaire (today Congo-Kinshasa) to Herge. They asked why they weren´t allowed to read the adventure "depicting our ancestors". Permission was given.

When the album was to be published in Scandinavia, the publishers objected to the infamous scene on pg. 56 of the colour album, where Tintin blows up a rhinoceros with a stick of dynamite. They asked the page to be redrawn, and Hergé complied. Instead of blowing the animal to pieces, the rhino accidentally fires Tintin's gun, gets scared and runs away. This page was also used in the English translation; it is only present in these two editions.

View my other Items