TinTin Books discussion

In Tintin in the Congo, his most controversial outing, Tintin and his dog Snowy head to the Belgian Congo, where he investigates diamond smuggling and protects the village from a corrupt witch doctor.

Written at the request of his editor (and in spite of Hergé's desire to take Tintin to America), 'Tintin in the Congo' betrays a patronising attitude towards Africa and its inhabitants that was typical of Europe in the 1930s. Herge came to regret his opinions in this work, but defended himself by stating that he was working from the opinions and writings of his society. In future redrawing of the work, Herge removed many of the overly colonial references to Belgium, as well as some of the less animal-friendly sequences (such as using dynamite to blow up a rhinoceros solely for hunting purposes). The album still remains controversial to this day, however, and is often banned. By this point, Herge was beginning to meticulously research his works, and it would not be long before the pace of his albums would slow down as Herge dedicated time to creating albums of marvellous high quality.

"Tintin in the Congo" was finally published in English in 1991 by Sundancer, and subsequently in 2004 by Casterman. Both of these were black and white, but the album was finally published in 2005 in colour, by Edgmont. It is one of only two complete albums (the other being "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets") which has never been adapted for any other medium.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_i...

Tintinologist: http://www.tintinologist.org/guides/b...

24 Days of Tintin: http://tintinblog.com/2009/11/19/24-d...

You know, obviously this book is quite racist: the citizens of the Congo are very simple, childlike even. Some of it, like the witch doctor, is about as racist as other early foreign villains (like in the Blue Lotus, or even the Americans.)

But this is a step above the Soviet book, cause at least it's vividly drawn. It's not great though. It's really confusing to read, because there isn't much of a story. Most of the time, Snowy just does battle with African animals. Snowy's cute, but I sometimes feel like pages that overuse him just make the story seem silly and immature.

I actually don't know how I feel about this one, at least the Soviet book had a purpose. This just seems like an excuse for Herge to make some money and draw fun animals.

This one was changed quite a lot over the years, so I recommend checking out the Tintinologist page above!

I don't begrudge Herge as much as some people about the racism: I mean, he was a product of his own time and he later came to regret it. There's only so much you can do right?

I'm a huge Snowy fan, Merry, so I won't agree with you on that theory, however I certainly accept that this book is filled with too many cliffhangers. Some of them seem like the kind of thing that would only delight a small child, since it's soooo repetitive!

Places visited and mentioned in "Tintin in the Congo" (courtesy Wikipedia):

* Brussels, Belgium
* Antwerp, Belgium
* Democratic Republic of the Congo / Mataldi, Belgian Congo
* Santa Cruz, Canary Islands
* Lisbon, Portugal

(Tintin's only reported trip to any of these places - excluding his home country obviously!)