Suske and Wiske (UK: Spike and Suzy, US: Willy and Wanda) have become the new Kuifje. Critics foam at the mouth in rage, after pictures from the latest album, 'Mami Wata' leaked out, even before the magazine went to the shop.
It's not the naked titties, which are already an oddball in the a-sexual comic series that spark outrage. No, it's how they have depicted a black person, with lips even bigger than those in the infamous 'Kuifje in Africa'(En: Tintin in Africa). "I see an half-ape, not an African man", writes Rwandese - Belgian writer Dalilla Hermans, who has sparked the debate on Facebook.
She has also started a Facebook action, in which she calls upon the people to draw, and send in pictures of African men that do not look like apes.
Publishing agency Standaard has responded by apologizing. They say they didn't realize the impact it would have, and say they understand Hermans' action. They say it was never their intention to offend anyone. However they add "it is not unusual that in a comic, characters are made into charicature. That doesn't meant they are representative for a race, or group of people. The comics' character Lambik is also not meant to be a prototype for the Flemish white man. The discussion we are having now is about a single picture in a comic with many diverse characters, including an African police officer who is drawn in a completely different way".
The album will come out on the market on the 5th of july. De Standaard says the albums have already been printed and will not be called back. They are willing to see if it is possible to alter the character in the next print. One print of the album consists of 100 thousand copies nowadays.
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Topic: Things that made you go "WTF?" today o_O (Read 14524238 times)