Talk:The Adventures of Tintin
More elaboration is needed. -- Hajhouse
Unfortunately, all my Tintin stuff is in storage, across the country. From memory though: Hergé and his mentor, mr. Wallez?, were originally strongly anti-American. The picture of the poor woman in the ghetto may have been a criticism of the USA, and the American publishers may have interpreted it as such.
The error of Hergé's ways was, IMHO, not so much seeing that what he wrote could be construed as being racist, but rather that it could be recognised as inaccurate. IIRC, a reader who was offended by the simplistic stereostypes of the early albums offered Hergé to inform him about 'real life' in China.
I think The Blue Lotus deserves its own article, on the grounds of it being one the most important 20th century comics albums, because it was a break-through album in Hergé's development and because it helps portray the way Hergé and many Europeans of his time looked upon 'racial' and cultural differences. -- branko
Early Herge is more naive than racist. He wrote at a time when his publisher was keen to promote Belgium as a colonial power, hence the scene in Congo where Tintin does a stint as a schoolteacher, writing "notre patrie la Belgique" on a blackboard. -- Tarquin
Page names for the books
Is there any reason why these are called "Tintin The Red Sea Sharks" and not simply "The Red Sea Sharks"? It seems odd, and it makes linking difficult.