“The Sceptre of Ottokar”

The Sceptre of Ottokar is considered the most political edition of The Adventures of Tintin comics, created by Hergé. Published in 1939, The Sceptre of Ottokar features the fictional kingdom of Syldavia, threatened with invasion by Borduria, a neighboring country forming a plot led by the Syldavian traitor Müsstler. His party, the Steel Guard, gathers all the Syldavian conspirators together. The Steel Guard is a copy of the Iron Guard, a Romanian fascist and nationalist movement of the 1930s. While Belgium was designated a neutral country, Hergé himself took a public stand against the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. It is one of his best comic editions.