Following on from the previous volume in the series, "The Calculus Affair", "The Red Sea Sharks" was created with the aid of Hergé's team of artists at Studios Hergé. Influenced by Honoré de Balzac's "The Human Comedy", Hergé used the story as a vehicle in which to reintroduce a wide range of characters who had first appeared in earlier instalments of the series. The story dealt with the trade of enslaved Africans across the Arab world. However, in the 1960s the story generated controversy as Hergé was repeatedly accused of having portrayed the Africans in a racist manner. He was upset by these claims, and made alterations to the depiction of the Africans in later reprints. Hergé continued "The Adventures of Tintin" with "Tintin in Tibet", and the series as a whole became a defining part of the Franco-Belgian comics tradition. "The Red Sea Sharks" was critically well-received, with various commentators describing it as one of the best Tintin adventures. The story was adapted for both the 1991 Ellipse/Nelvana animated series "The Adventures of Tintin" and the 1992-3 BBC Radio 5 dramatisation of the "Adventures".