Customer Reviews

Tintin in the Congo

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

People who complain about the low quality of the illustrations in this book are missing the point. This is a reprint of the original strips that ran in the 1930's. Herge reworked most of his other stories from that period in the 50's and 60's to bring them up to the higher standard that most people associate with Tintin. However, an updated Tintin in the Congo was never released in English due to it's sunny portrayal of colonialism (which Herge later repudiated). This book is a wonderful time capsule of Herge's early work, but you have to keep in mind the time and place it comes from.

I was expecting to be smothered in racism throughout this book; but to be honest, I don't think it was very racist. Yes: Tintin hunting and killing animals is a little shocking. But then, the time it was written probably dictated all that.
It is funny throughout and Snowy is superb. And, another plus point here is that it is quite long: 120 pages is almost double the usual Tintin pages(62).

This is the second Tintin album (1930 remake 1931) and it is my least favorite Tintin album for reasons that I will explain later.

Tintin and his talking dog Snowy (Milou in French) travels to the Congo to hunt for trophies, take wild life photographs, and to write a story for his newspaper. The trip is very eventful and Tintin and Snowy encounters criminals, American gangsters, a shark, a lion, snakes, crocodiles, other wild animals, hostile natives, an evil medicine man and much more. Tintin's dog Snowy is also made into a King by the natives and they are eventually worshipped as Gods. The story is fast paced and entertaining. The dialogue is witty and the illustrations are colorful and eye catching.

This edited version is not as bad as the original version with the exploding Rhinoceros; however, it still is problematic. The Belgian Colonists are depicted as the white nice masters while the Africans are depicted as lesser knowing primitive people that are unable to govern themselves. The book is never hateful or intentionally offensive but it is still borderline racist.

The favorable depiction of the Belgian Colonists is also disingenuous considering the problematic history of Belgian Colonial rule in the Congo. This story takes place just 20 years after the end of the Congo Free State. The Congo Free State was a corporate state privately controlled by Leopold II, the King of the Belgium. During this time Congo was plundered of its resources and the population was decimated through what could be described as genocide. An estimated 10 million people were murdered during this time. To gain perspective; 2-15 million Native Americans were killed by European Colonist (Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English) during a few hundred years and the Nazis killed 16 million people through Genocide (see R.J. Rummel). It should be noted that Herge probably did not know any better.

As a kid in Sweden I enjoyed reading all of the Tintin albums and my American kids have also read them. All of the albums are quite entertaining but some of them are less entertaining or have problems, like this one. What ever you do don't let this album be your first Tintin Album. However, if you already have several of them I would still recommend it.

Finally I would like to list all the Tintin albums in order from my favorite to the one I liked the least. I will make this list into a list mania list next but put it here for easy access.

Skip this list if you don't want to read it (I know it is very long).

(1) Tintin in Tibet (5 stars). It was published 1960. It is my favorite Tintin. Tintin's friend Tchang (from Blue Lotus) is lost in a plane crash in Tibet. Everyone thinks he is dead, but not Tintin, who sets out to find him against all odds. It contains adventure, humor, and mystery; however, it is also about the human spirit, and compassion. Therefore it is also a very inspiring and thought provoking adventure.

(2) Blue Lotus (5 stars). This is Herge's first master piece; it is one of my favorites. This Tintin adventure from 1934 takes place in 1931 but is still the second best Tintin (after Tintin in Tibet) as far as I am concerned. Tintin is fighting Opium gangs in China when Japan invades. This adventure is dark, scary, exciting and fun. It is also a history lesson to a certain extent.

(3) Flight 714 (5 stars). This book was published in 1968. Tintin and his friends are invited to fly in the private jet of the billionaire Lazlo Careidas. The private jet is hijacked and they are taken by their kidnappers to a very mysterious Island. This adventure is filled with surprises, humor, it is fast paced and exciting, and is therefore one of my favorites.

(4) The Crab with the Golden Claws (5 stars). This was the first Tintin I read as a kid (in Swedish). It was also the first Tintin movie I saw. This is the book where Tintin met Captain Haddock for the first time. Just like the other later works by Herge it is exciting, and well drawn, but this is one is also very funny. It will make you and your kids laugh out loud.

(5) The seven Crystal Balls (5 stars). This Tintin published 1948, is eerie, mysterious, and exciting. It is the first one of a series of two, the second being "Prisoners of the Sun". In this adventure the members of an expedition that investigated the tomb of Rascar Capac an Inca King, become sick with a strange horrible disease. The mummy taken from the tomb mysteriously vanishes (escapes?) during a fierce thunderstorm.

(6) Prisoners of the Sun (5 stars). This is the second book of a series of two. Tintin and company end up in Peru. They save a boy Zorrino from Peruvian racists. Zorrino guides them to the Inca Empire which still exists underground in the Jungle. Towards the end Tintin saves himself and his company by using his knowledge of a coming solar eclipse. It was later plagiarized by Mel Gibson in Apocalypto.

(7) The Castafiore Emerald (5 stars). This adventure was published 1963. It is absolutely the funniest of them all. It is filled with a lot of good humor. However, to get all the jokes you need to be familiar with Tintin and Captain Haddock already. So I would not recommend this as your first Tintin.

(8) The Red Sea Sharks (5 stars). This adventure was written in 1958. Tintin stumbles into an organization selling African slaves (slavery still existed in the Middle East and Africa in 1958). A lot of old crooks from other books show up here, including Captain Allan, Rastapopolous, Dr. Muller, etc. This book is intensely exciting and full of action and is therefore one of my favorites.

(9) Tintin and the Picaros (5 stars). This adventure published 1976 is full of fun and adventure. Castafiore is being held by General Tapioca innocently accused of plotting against him. Well if you know Castafiore you now feel sorry for the poor old dictator.

(10) Explorers of the Moon (5 stars). Written 1954 this is the second book in a series of two. This book is a lot more exciting and fun compared to the first (Destination moon). The movie is, however, better than the comic book (they are the same but this comic makes a good movie). However, reading this science fiction style comic book is a lot of fun.

(11) Land of the Black Gold (4 stars). This book was published in 1950 (original version 1948). It takes place in the middle east and is about oil, war, and the fight against criminals like Dr. Muller (German villains were no longer taboo). Prince Abdullah the son of the Emir of the Arab Emirate of Khemed is kidnapped and Tintin and company sets out to rescue him.

(12) Red Rackham's Treasure (4 stars). This is the second book in a series of two, the first one being "The secret of the Unicorn". In this adventure Tintin and Captain Haddock goes on an expedition to find the treasure of Sir Francis Haddock. It is in this book we meet Professor Calculus for the first time. His underwater machine turns out to be invaluable, even though Tintin and Captain Haddock at first reject it.

(13) The Secret of the Unicorn (4 stars). This adventure was published in French 1943. This is the first book in a series of two (the second being Red Rackhams treasure). In this adventure it is discovered that Captain Haddocks forefather was a feisty sea captain who fought pirates and left a treasure behind. It is not as fast paced as many other Tintin adventures and contains a considerable amount of detective work.

(14) The Calculus Affair (4 stars). In this adventure Professor Calculus is kidnapped in Geneva and Tintin and Captain Haddock set out to save him. It turns out that Professor calculus is working on a secret weapon that the fictional country of Borduria really wants to have. It is an exciting adventure but not as humor filled and exhilarating as some of the other adventures. It was written 1956.

(15) The Cigars of the Pharaoh (4 stars). The Cigars of the Pharaoh is the first of the better Tintin books. In this adventure Tintin is on a holiday cruise but ends up traveling to Egypt and India on a dangerous adventure. It is an exciting and mysterious adventure that is not objectionable (unlike the three first ones).

(16) The broken ear (4 stars). This story from 1937 takes place in South America. Tintin fights dangerous crooks, gets caught up in political turmoil, is nearly executed, travels through the rain forest, encounters piranhas, and lives among the Arumbaya Indians. This is where Tintin meets General Alcazar for the first time. Lots of action but it is still not a top quality Tintin.

(17) King Ottokar's Sceptre (4 stars). Published in 1939 this book is an allegory for fascist aggression. In this adventure Tintin visits the mythical Kingdom of Syldavia. The leaders of Borduria, a neighboring country, plot to unseat King Muskar. They attempt to seize the symbol of the Syldavian monarchy, which is "King Ottokar's Scepter". This adventure was exciting but still not a favorite of mine.

(18) The Black Island (4 stars). FOUR STARS: This one was written 1937. It takes place in England and Scotland. I saw the movie version, and read the book in several languages. In this adventure Tintin is hunting down a gang of forgers. The drawings have a higher quality than "The broken ear" and the story flows smoothly. However, I find the story to be somewhat tedious and too British for me, and this is not one my favorites.

(19) Destination Moon (4 stars). First published 1953, this is the first book in a series of two (the second being Explorers of the moon). It is a very good concept, a sort of Tintin science fiction. However, it is not fast paced and at times tedious.

(20) Tintin and the lake of the sharks (4 stars). Published 1974 and based on a film from 1972, it is a little different than the other Tintin adventures. It is not directly written by Herge, but Herge supervised the creation of the film. The drawings are not typical either; they look like still pictures from the movie. It is also a little shorter. However, it is still a good adventure and my kids like it, so I give it four stars.

(21) The shooting star (4 stars). In this adventure (from 1941) the world comes close to annihilation when earth almost collides with a star. Tintin and Captain Haddock sets out on an expedition together with a team of international scientists to find a piece that broke off and landed in the Ocean. Well, stars are not solid and pieces don't brake off stars, but there are a lot more oddities in this unlikely story.

(22) Tintin in America (3 stars). Tintin in America" portrays America with an old fashioned European prejudice that is unrealistic and unflattering. His portrayal of the Indians is borderline racist, and the plot is essentially "gangster tries to kill Tintin, Tintin miraculously escapes" repeated a couple of dozen times. Having said that, the book is still entertaining, in its own way.

(23) The adventures of Tintin in the land of the Soviets (3 stars). This is anti-communist propaganda, which I don't mind; however, it does not make a good comic book. The drawings are also not that good. However, this comic book shows that people knew about the Soviet horrors back in the 1920's.

(24) Tintin in the Congo (3 stars). It was an exciting adventure with some interesting and fun twists. However, the quality is very far from that of the more modern Tintin books, and it is borderline racists.

The book is not faithful to the first colored edition as it is supposed to be. This is the edited version where the exploding Rhino was replaced with more P.C. drawings. What is the point of this edition if they are not going to give us the original version even if it is considered by some to be crude or immaturish??

And yes, the exploding rhino was featured in the very first colored edition, not just the B/W one as some would believe.

This is the black and white original version of Tintin in the Congo, not the reworked color version. Problems that people have had with this book are racism and animal cruelty issues. In doing the color version Herge downplayed the animal cruelty and took out a bit of the racist elements. (Some of this was expanding the comics to a wider market, but mostly it was changes Herge wanted to make since he could make them.)

The animal cruelty is definitely a big presence in this book. Tintin goes to the Congo on vacation to hunt big game. In most scenes he is off in the jungle hunting. In this black and white version he blows up a rhino with dynamite - the dynamite was removed in the color revamp.

The racism is present in this black and white one. Tintin gives a lesson to African school children, which he prefaces with, "I am going to teach you about your country Belgium." (Congo was a colony of Belgium at the time.) In the color revamp he teaches math instead. I have read the color version and don't see it as racist although blacks are drawn with huge lips etc as in other period comics.

Herge redid this comic and made changes to remove elements that were offensive - offensive to himself as well as others. One could argue that his making these changes was some sort of attempt to "cover up" On the other hand he had more creative control later in his career so perhaps he thought the new version was better. Ironically the color version is unavailable in English, but the black and white one is. (Color version is available in Italian, French, Spanish and German - so maybe you could read that one if you are bilingual.) The currently available color English editions reflect what Herge wanted people to read and reading one of those would be a better option. Read this for historical interest or to see an early drawing style. (Herge did not have formal training as an artist, so art style is interesting to consider.) Be aware that this was updated by Herge later in his career into a milder version.

You need to put yourself in Herge's shoes, time and place before you can give an objective opinion on this book.
I had actually read all the Tintin's on the back cover of the original books before discovering this.
I quite enjoyed this book, and I do NOT think one must accuse herge of racism. He was reporting the popular idiom and practice of that time. I think the Tintin's make a remarkable comment on the thinking in Europe at the time.
But that's getting too serious. I liked this book.

"Tintin in the Congo" was the second adventure of the intrepid reporter and is one of the most controversial stories (along with "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets," albeit for different reasons). The problem with this Hergé offering from the 1930s is that it contains racist ideas and images. "Tintin in the Congo" fully embraces Belgian colonialism, white supremacy, and heroic missionaries bringing the word of God to the unwashed savages. Tintin himself is almost unrecognizable to readers who have come to love him through the traditional 21 adventures in the easily available canon (seven volumes each containing three adventures). Tintin calls natives "boy," bullies them around, and has clearly come to Africa to have a grand timing shooting animals during his safari holiday. More recognizable are the local gangsters who assume Tintin is there to bring them to justice and take pre-emptive action, which results in the recognizable series of perilous escapes. The best part of this adventure is that Snowy does more than his fair share in rescuing his master from trouble and ends up becoming the king of the pygmies.

As you would expect Hergé works in as many exotic animals as he can into the story. So there are plenty of crocodiles, snakes, buffalo, giraffes, rhinos and the like. But the problem is that there are also a tribe of monkeys who bear an uncomfortable resemblance to the natives. Fortunately, the benevolent Belgians are there to make the Congo a better place. Now, as far as I am concerned there are clearly a lot of indefensible things in "Tintin in the Congo." Hergé's story and art clearly contain racist elements. I do find the story to be of historical value because it represents a clear manifestation of the racism of the times. Does this get Hergé off the hook? Absolutely not. But given the humanitarianism that is evident in the vast majority of the Adventures of Tintin it is clear that Hergé's attitudes changed for the better. If George Wallace and Strom Thurmond can get away with similar conversions on substantially less evidence in their favor in the political arena, than Hergé can get the benefit of the doubt when we take into account his entire body of work.

Young kids who love the Adventures of Tintin should not read "Tintin in the Congo" until they are older and can better understand why an author they admire could tell a story so racist and offensive. They certainly do not want to read this story at a point in their lives where they cannot realize what is wrong about this particular story. This is the second Tintin story, but it should not be one of the first Tintin stories anybody reads. With its rather limited availability, it probably will not be.

This early example of a Tintin adventure is quite good in itself, although the artwork and narrative style are rather primitive and simple compared to the rest of the Tintin books. This is the early black & white version as first published in book form rather than the later color album version that is currently available only in French. "The Adventures of Tintin in Congo" will definitely be of great interest to devotees of Herge's works, and anyone who is a Snowy fan will love this one, as the little dog is quite prominent and has lots of comments.

There is a bit of controversy about this book concerning racism, but I frankly found it rather difficult to detect. Obviously the story reflected the typical attitude of Europeans towards Africans back in the 1930's, but there is nothing at all of a mean-spirited or disrespectful nature. The depiction of Africans is a little paternalistic, but completely benign. I honestly have to conclude that this book is offensive only to someone extremely sensitive to racial issues. Everyone else will enjoy it. There are also some concerns about Tintin hunting lots of animals, which doesn't offend me anymore than the beef or chicken industry.

I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to all Tintin fans.

Tintin's second album is famous (or infamous) for its alleged racism. Actually, I think a better word would be paternalism: this book doesn't hate Africans as much as consider them like children, unable to govern themselves and in need of guidance from their white european masters. (In real history, the Belgian colonization of the Congo was known for its exceptional brutality, even by the standards of European colonialism, but I guess that's another story). No wonder this book is hard to get in an english version: it was not translated but after many decades. The book itself is typical of the early Tintin books with its protagonist having hair thin escapes from sure death at almost every page, though here the situations are probably more absurd than at any Tintin album (Tintin killing a rhino by drilling a hole in it and putting dynamite inside?). It's also very politically uncorrect by today standards as Tintin decimates the local fauna without seeming guilt. Despite all this, the book in itself is not a disaster. Actually, and taking aside its politically dubious undertones, it's quite entertaining.

As you might or might not know, most early Tintin was originally published in B/W format, with old style drawing. Yes boys and girls, it wasn't the colour edition we have now in hands. The first 9 titles are sceheduled to be released in English. This Tintin in the Congo is one of them.

Most early Tintin might look very old to us. The drawing weren't that smooth, compared to the later coloured edition. If you're a die-hard Tintin fan, I'm sure you really wanted to know what the book originally looked like. You will notice that the panels also changed. Not just the size, but also the sequence. Some panels were even edited or deleted. Some panels are added. In short, you can compare both editions.

The book was carefully printed and packaged. From the looks, people would already guess that this book (and also the others) is a lux book. The paper was good. The hard cover was good. The binding was good. The printing inside was also good. What more can you expect? Here the book also provided several pin-ups or covers in colour. It's a very nice gift!

If you feel you're a die-hard fan of Tintin (and Herge) then no doubt you must have all these 9 B/W original editions.