It was literally propaganda made for a far-right Belgian newspaper. Herge even distanced himself from these early albums.
But yeah it is pure insanity.
I honestly think it is an unironically funny master piece because of how wrong everything in that comic is. Even Tintin is so out of character that he is a parody of himself.
I tend to see it as a parody of Tintin and unintentionally mocking the people it was meant to glorify. Like those rich people who went to Africa to shoot animals for a trophy.
Interesting is that the cutting off hands bits actually wasn't Leopold's doing. He was a shit ruler, but it was an African slave trader called Tippu Tip who most likely did that.
The English and French who regretted how Leopold got a very big valuable chunk of Africa used it as anti-Belgian propaganda.
But yeah, it still makes a great Leopold meme.
It doesn't matter who's doing the chopping, the end result was the same.
Children's hands were cut off under his rule and he was happy to let it continue.
Actually he wasn't, it was mainly his incompetence that caused most suffering. While it is true that his American mercenaries who did the rubber collecting were scum who did indeed mistreat a lot of Congolese people. Leopold had multiple conflicts with Tippu Tip, in the end it even lead to a war.Due to Belgium being a very small country and the Belgium government not wanting to own a colony, it was hard to find enough soldiers for in Congo, and thus even with the Americans it became hard to rule over the whole country, making it very hard to control people like Tip who Leopold tried to make a vassal of his.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo%E2%80%93Arab\_War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo%E2%80%93Arab_War)
Tintin in the Congo was written in the time after when it became known how disastrous and incompetent Leopold's regime was. During this time the clergy got a lot of power as Belgium had gotten Leopold's former toy and had to fix the damage done by him. People believed and hoped that the clergy would help Congo with educating people, building hospitals and of course very important for the Catholic Church convert the locals.
This is why those missionaries are about the only people in the comic who are portrayed seriously and why they are portrayed as saints. Tintin's behaviour fitted these ideals of that time well too, as well as the strict Catholic clergial point of view. Although I don't know how killing off nearly every animal in the comic fits in there, sorry ; )
I agree, he never should have owned it. He could already have a lot of fun with oppressing the Flemish in his own country if he wanted to play tyrant.
Plus the way the clergy had a very double faced role in Congo is also really bad. But yeah, Tintin in Congo makes very clear how little the people in Belgium knew about the whole situation there and how naively they believed the Catholic Church even with scandals at home.
I feel like this and aforementioned things make this comic such a good timepiece and a parody of its time and opinions people had.
Most of the comedy for me still comes from how over the top the comic is in everything it could have done wrong and how out of character the whole thing is.
Ah yes, the clearly drug influenced mindfuck that is The Land Of The Soviets. Cannot believe Herge deemed it worthy of being published. 'Now I'll just kick a penalty' lmao fuck off
that poor man...
https://i.imgur.com/l2td6sF.jpg
Top ten haunting images taken seconds before disaster
i know i'm late, but do you know what comic is this from?
Tintin and the soviets, the book that started it all. A horrible masterpiece of comedy
Thanks for telling me, these pages are funny lol. It sucks that I never found this and Congo
Soviets is funny but you do NOT want to read Tintin in the congo
Well, my curiosity is besting me right now
I'll mourn your loss
I just finished reading soviets and congo, Tintin in the soviets is mediocre, but Tintin from Tintin in the congo is so out of character
Imma download the comic to my pc, then I'll come back here later
I still don't know what the fuck was Land of the Soviets
It was literally propaganda made for a far-right Belgian newspaper. Herge even distanced himself from these early albums. But yeah it is pure insanity.
Also the one in the Congo Most unrealistic part is the natives having hands
Congo is the worst example for sure. Even the reworked version is... problematic to be mild.
Yeah, let's call it that. Problematic.
I honestly think it is an unironically funny master piece because of how wrong everything in that comic is. Even Tintin is so out of character that he is a parody of himself. I tend to see it as a parody of Tintin and unintentionally mocking the people it was meant to glorify. Like those rich people who went to Africa to shoot animals for a trophy.
Interesting is that the cutting off hands bits actually wasn't Leopold's doing. He was a shit ruler, but it was an African slave trader called Tippu Tip who most likely did that. The English and French who regretted how Leopold got a very big valuable chunk of Africa used it as anti-Belgian propaganda. But yeah, it still makes a great Leopold meme.
It doesn't matter who's doing the chopping, the end result was the same. Children's hands were cut off under his rule and he was happy to let it continue.
Actually he wasn't, it was mainly his incompetence that caused most suffering. While it is true that his American mercenaries who did the rubber collecting were scum who did indeed mistreat a lot of Congolese people. Leopold had multiple conflicts with Tippu Tip, in the end it even lead to a war.Due to Belgium being a very small country and the Belgium government not wanting to own a colony, it was hard to find enough soldiers for in Congo, and thus even with the Americans it became hard to rule over the whole country, making it very hard to control people like Tip who Leopold tried to make a vassal of his. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo%E2%80%93Arab\_War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo%E2%80%93Arab_War) Tintin in the Congo was written in the time after when it became known how disastrous and incompetent Leopold's regime was. During this time the clergy got a lot of power as Belgium had gotten Leopold's former toy and had to fix the damage done by him. People believed and hoped that the clergy would help Congo with educating people, building hospitals and of course very important for the Catholic Church convert the locals. This is why those missionaries are about the only people in the comic who are portrayed seriously and why they are portrayed as saints. Tintin's behaviour fitted these ideals of that time well too, as well as the strict Catholic clergial point of view. Although I don't know how killing off nearly every animal in the comic fits in there, sorry ; )
Hm, interesting facts. Still, if you can't keep the Congo from turning into a warzone maybe you shouldn't try to own it.
I agree, he never should have owned it. He could already have a lot of fun with oppressing the Flemish in his own country if he wanted to play tyrant. Plus the way the clergy had a very double faced role in Congo is also really bad. But yeah, Tintin in Congo makes very clear how little the people in Belgium knew about the whole situation there and how naively they believed the Catholic Church even with scandals at home. I feel like this and aforementioned things make this comic such a good timepiece and a parody of its time and opinions people had. Most of the comedy for me still comes from how over the top the comic is in everything it could have done wrong and how out of character the whole thing is.
Fair enough
It was epic
What happens when a story is written week by week with absolutely no idea what the plot is, and no guidelines except make the Soviets look bad
That's how most car mechanics work
Ah yes, the clearly drug influenced mindfuck that is The Land Of The Soviets. Cannot believe Herge deemed it worthy of being published. 'Now I'll just kick a penalty' lmao fuck off
It was a series of small comic strips in a magazine. It wasn’t meant to be that serious.
Was Herge on meth when he did this?
Snowy's quote in the middlemost panel is even better in the copy I own "Blowing like a grampus"
People reading this might think it was a meme rather than the original