Tintin, the comic book hero, is embroiled in a row about political correctness – just as he is about to make the switch to celluloid superstar.
The Campaign for Real Education has condemned his publishers as “over the top†for deciding to package one of his early adventures, Tintin in the Congo, in shrink-wrap and with a warning about its content.
Its criticism comes within weeks of the worldwide release of Steven Spielberg’s new film about the boy reporter and his dog Snowy.
George Remi, the Belgian artist better known as Herge, first published his tale of derring-do in Africa in 1930. When he re-worked it in 1946 he removed several references to the Congo being a Belgian colony.
But the book still contained a number of images that were perceived as racist. One of these showed a black woman bowing to Tintin and saying `White man very great…White mister is big juju man`.
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