King Ottokar’s Sceptre (1939)

King Ottokar’s Sceptre Review

King Ottokar’s Sceptre is the 8th volume of The Adventures of Tintin comics series by Belgian cartoonist Herge. It was published in 1939 and it is one of the more entertaining entries in the series.

Tintin and his dog Snowy travel to the fictional Balkan nation of Syldavia where they combat a plot to overthrow the monarchy of King Muskar XII. This story was set in a vague Balkan country, which may be Montenegro, but there are panels where the scenery is reminiscent of Southern Serbia or even Bosnia. As a Serb myself, I found it an absolute delight that Herge would devote an entire volume to my region, and even though the mish-mash of languages, names and countries was muddled, it still made for a rather interesting read.

This story was in serious need of more memorable supporting characters as the people that we meet in this fictional country aren’t particularly well fleshed out. Thankfully, Tintin was at his reliably competent and likable self while Snowy stole a couple of scenes himself. The scene with the bone was iconic as it wonderfully showcased Snowy’s bravery and heroism. Thompson and Thompson also got a moment to shine. The ending where they ended up in the water was hilarious.

The comic is gorgeously illustrated and you can see that Herge did his homework as the panels truly come alive with costumes, landscapes and architecture that really fit the Balkan region. He also included a lot of history on the fictional nation through some special expositional supplements. Those stalled the plot, but were amusing regardless. There is a lot of pre-WWII tension that made the comic quite timely for the period and the thriller elements were superb here, but too often the action was overly coincidental and rushed.

King Ottokar’s Sceptre is gorgeously illustrated, wonderfully written and very adventurous. It’s a Balkan-set adventure that was particularly well researched by Herge, which resulted in a lot of colorful authenticity present on every panel. The suspenseful tone was also well realized and the humor was excellent too.

My Rating – 4.3