Tintin Forums

Hello. I, like many others, love Tintin, and used to watch it when I was growing up.

Anyway, I am getting back into Tintin.

I have both version on DVD, including the European version.

I also have all 24 Tintin books.

However my question is about Tintin in the Congo.

I just ordered the normal edition (haven't gotten it yet), but I have also see a Tintin in the Congo "Collector's Edition. What is the difference?

Also there is Tintin in the Congo with a white cover and its like 299$ - why, and what is the difference?

Please help me out. My main concern is the difference between the regular and collector's editions.

Hi Tintin Noob.

The colour version of Tintin in the Congo was only translated into English a few years back and sold with a red "belly band" around it, warning buyers of its potentially offensive portrayals of black Africans. And recently, some bookshop chains have taken the extra step of shelving it among the adult graphic novels rather than in the children's section. So it may be that some websites you've seen it sold on are now listing the book as a "collectors' edition" to avoid parents complaining that they're peddling racist books to children. If that's the case, the normal colour edition you've seen and the "collectors'" colour edition may in fact be exactly the same book simply being marketed differently. That's my best guess, anyway. Someone on this forum will put me straight if I'm wrong!

The expensive white-covered edition you've also seen sounds like the English translation of a facsimile of Herge's original black-and-white book version of Tintin in the Congo, which a different publisher brought out in the UK some years before the colour version was brought out in English. I bought a copy when it came out and, though pricey, it wasn't that expensive then. But copies may be worth more now due to rarity. If you're into Hergé's early black-and-white versions, it's interesting to read. But if you're putting together a set of the 24 modern editions (all in colour except for Land of the Soviets which was never coloured and Alph Art which was never completed), the ordinary edition of Congo that you've ordered sounds like the right one to have gone for.

Hope that helps!

The red belly band Balthazar mentions, has a heading, 'Collector's Edition'. I daresay some copies are probably being sold now without the band.

Hello,

Alright thanks for your help guys... Ya I hope my copy that i ordered is in good condition... If it comes damaged i'll prob order the special edition one.. I just wanted to know if the one i ordered would be in color or not.. Anyway my next thing i want is a nice Tintin Picture that i can frame and put in my room. Kind of like they have those expensive clips from old cartoons like elmer fud and daffy duck i forget what there called animation cell i want one of tintin anyone know where i can find that

Moderator Note: Hi TinTin Noob, please take a bit more care with your spelling and punctuation when posting: it is only fair to the rest of the members, many of whom do not have English as their first language. Many thanks!
The Tintinologist Team

Sorry Noob,

I should have been clearer.

There is only one English colour edition. These all came with the red belly band that says "Collector's Edition" & explains why it is so politically incorrect.

It may be that for what ever reason that some people are either selling them without the red band or just simply not showing it in their advertisement.

So yes, your copy will be in colour.

As for the picture, why don't you pick up a copy of Golden Claws & use one of the full page action shots. I always somehow imagined that's why Herge did these pages, sort of like a lift out poster.

Hi ...I have just been putting together a Tintin collection for my son. Okay
its a little early (he's not even one yet) but I enjoyed them as a kid. I never
read Tintin in the Congo myself and in trying to complete the collection I have tried to get my head around the various versions. I purchased the colour Egmont version .

I was also trying to source the Last Gasp B&W version for myself but it seems to be out of stock everywhere although amazon seems to have some but they are quite pricey and don't show a picture. Other web sites showed the Last gasp version with a white cover and Tintin and Snowy and a leopard in the jungle.

I managed to order it online from a local bookshop (no picture on the website but I was expecting a white cover). When it arrived it was actually a yellow/cream cover with Tintin and Snowy in a car. The bookshop sticker on the back has the ISBN I was expecting for the Last Gasp version but inside the book there is a different ISBN. On the final page there is a foreword by the Tintin translators.

From this website the cover seems like the 2004 Casterman edition but the only dates inside show text copyright Casterman 1991. Can anyone tell me if their cream edition sounds like this one. Is this the Last gasp english version? I now know that the white cover is the Sundancer edition.

Thanks for any help

When I bought the B/W edition of Congo last year, I thought it was going to be the white cover with a painting of Tintin and Snowy in the jungle, but I got the same edition as you are referring to, Tinkat. However, in the publishing information it said it was the Last Gasp edition. I believe that these two editions are the same, except for the cover, so I don't think that you were cheated or anything.

Thanks Cigars of the beeper. The publishing info in mine (on the last page) just
mentions Moulinsart as the English language distributor (excluding USA) and Last Gasp as the distributor for the USA. Apart from that this book does not mention Last Gasp anywhere which I thought was odd. I didn't think I would be able to get a B&W version so I am very happy. Definitely not cheated at all.

By the way where did you get your copy. I am on the lookout for reputable and not too expensive places to get Tintin books ... I still need to get the B&W versions of a couple of the others. Oh no I think I am obsessed because I would still love to get the Congo with the white cover ;)

Balthazar, is there a paperback version of tintin in the congo? Also the expensive white cover is the reading the same like the text inside the book is it the same as the red band one. My red band is in plastic wrap and i dont want to open it but i want to read it so i want to buy one to read.. So might buy the expensive white but is it the same as the red/ thank you

More ... Posted: 18 Mar 2008 14:41:22[/b]
tinkat, where did you get the version that yous peak of? The cream color? I would like to buy it as well?

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[Moderator action: combined 2 consecutive posts.]
Moderator note: Instead of making consecutive posts, please try to use the 'edit' function to add to existing posts. Thanks! - The Happy Tintinologist Team

To TinTin Noob
I got it from a booskshop in Sydney. They had it listed on their website.
I enquired not really expecting them to have it because others had it on their website but turns out they don't have it in stock. I think I was lucky. It must have been sitting on the shelf for a while. I was told it had some shelf damage but they could not order another because it was of print so they gave me a discount. I just checked for you on the bookshop's website (www.abbeys.com.au) and that particular one isn't listed anymore.