Imagine Haddock in Colombo!

Recently Herge's popular comic-strip book Tintin in the Congo (1930) has been deemed racist by Britain's Commission of Racial Equality and has been withdrawn from many bookshops both in the UK and US.

Curiously, in Cigars of the Pharaoh (1958) Tintin had Colombo on his itinerary but was diverted by an adventure in Egypt.

Under the circumstances it's best that Herge didn't set an adventure here. Anyway, I can't imagine Snowy scampering down Galle Road, but I suppose Captain Haddock might have had a good time in some arrack tavern.

By Richard Boyle, Via email