Democratic Republic of Congo 'should eschew Tintin' Now, as the DRC gears up for the arrival of delegates from 56 countries across the French-speaking world for a summit next month, he believes the country should find a better poster boy than Tintin to sell to its visitors. There are other strong images which speak positively of this country, its peoples. It would be more respectful to Congo and the whole of Africa if we spoke of images that value the Congo, and not Tintin," he added. Tintin's relationship with Congo dates back to 1930 when his creator Georges Remi - better-known by his pen name Herge - first wrote "Tintin in the Congo," in which the intrepid reporter and Snowy tackle wild animals, hunters, diamond smugglers and warlike local chieftains. But Herge's heavily stereotyped depiction of Africans as fat-lipped, childlike savages has made him a controversial figure for a country trying to turn its back on a brutal colonial past followed by decades of dictatorship and conflict. Earlier this year a Congolese man studying in Belgium tried and failed to have the book banned on the grounds of racism. Leading bookshops in Britain have moved it from their childrens' sections to the top shelves, where only adults can see it. But not everyone in Congo is adverse to Tintin. Auguy Kakese, an artisan who specialises in Tintin statuettes, said he saw no harm in remembering Congo's past. "It's humour, it's not racist... for those who say it's racist I say that in the comic strip, you never see images which show him trying to kill the Congolese," he said. We were a Belgian colony, if we work with Tintin now it's to say that the Belgians are still our brothers.