Yes this one was one of the really early ones. It was also pretty unsettling in that he hunts elephants and other things which would not be acceptable today.

It is offensive, as offensive as fake shoe polish black people in 30-40s music hall shows.

Tintin is really outdated now. It didn't age very well. I don't think it should be banned however, it is representative of the mindset at the time, and does not call for hatred.

That is only the early stories. The later ones are much less bigoted.

Indeed - the quality and rigouresness of research improved hugely. In fact, it was Chinese student, Chang Chong-jen (who got immortalised as Chang Chong-Chen in The Blue Lotus and Tintin in Tibet) who opened Hergé’s eyes to the bigger global picture. The Blue Lotus and subsequent stories became far deeper in terms of story, comment and satire.

That's not what i meant by outdated. It just looks old. Like a 70s movie with bell trousers and orange flower wallpaper. I know that later Tintin stories are not as colonialist as the first ones. I'm just saying that compared to comics such as Blake and Mortimer, it looks old.

Every so often, this rears its head. The book is undoubtably of its time - and is at odds with the rest of the books. I’m not sure if banning it is a good idea - I did have to ask for my copy in Waterstones, and it came sealed with a paper surround warning of the contents.

Blake & Mortimer are contemporary with Tintin - Edgar Jacobs stopped working with Hergé to draw those in the 1950’s, even the new Post Jacob stories look “old”. It’s probably an artefact of the ligne claire style - Yoko Tsuno looks similarly antique, despite being set in more modern times, as does Rainbow Orchid http://www.garenewing.co.uk/rainboworchid/

we have troops losing life and limb in combat and we worry about a fcuking comic/cartoon character that may cause offence, are we sure …

Because life continues during war, otherwise there's no point in fighting in the first place... Get a grip.