Doesn't sound like one of the better editions of Tintin. Considering that the original story for this issue came from around the early 1930s, it strikes me that it falls into the same category as stories like "Little Black Sambo" and "Little Brown Coco."

I can see where my friend who collects certain comic books (she has a marvelous collection—complete—of reprints of the early "Prince Valiant" comic strips--covet covet!), even though she would probably find it offensive, might want to have it to fill out her collection of Tintin (I'll have to ask her what she thinks).

On the one hand, it sounds as if it could indeed be genuinely offensive to some folks, but on the other hand, just because something is offensive, should it be banned? No, not on that account alone. Very dangerous precident!

Perhaps putting it into a special section with other material that people might find offensive, with adequate signage to alert readers, would be a good solution. It doesn't ban it from the shelves, but, like the health warnings on cigarette packages (they're your lungs) or transfat statistics on food labels (they're your arteries), let the buyer beware.

Don Firth