Rhinoceros bicornis auricornis

“Spirou and Fantasio” is a Belgian comic mostly associated with André Franquin. Apart from the eponymous heroes, important characters include a mushroom-obsessed scientist known as the Count of Champignac, Fantasio's evil cousin Zantafio, the clever squirrel Spip, the decidedly less intelligent fantasy animal Marsupilami, and the mysterious Zorglub. Overall, the comic comes across as a more fanciful and less grown-up version of Tintin.

Speaking of which, “Tintin in the Congo” has recently come under fire for its heavy stereotyping of Black Africans. In many ways, “The Rhinoceros' Horn” is the Spirou-and-Fantasio version of “Tintin in the Congo”, with arguably even worse racist stereotypes, as the White heroes visit the fictitious African land of M'saragba in search of secret documents. The natives turn out to be cowardly, stupid or obsessed with beheading strangers, apart from looking like anti-Black caricatures from White supremacist magazines.

Interestingly, the story also includes one of the first feminist heroes of the Franco-Belgian comic universe, the brave reporter Seccotine. Her confrontations with the sexist Fantasio are a spectacle to behold. Let's bear in mind that this was published in the early 1950's. It seems emancipated White females were OK (at least in fictitious settings!), while normal-looking Africans were still far into the future.

As for the plot itself, it has a great start but then becomes progressively less interesting, and I will therefore only give it two stars. And yes, it really does include rhinos with yellow-painted horns!