King Ottokars Sceptre (Adventures of Tintin)

Political unrest in Europe in the late 1930s influenced Herge when he wrote King Ottokar's Sceptre, in which Tintin and absent-minded Professor Alembick travel to Syldavia to try to avert a confrontation with neighboring Borduria. The history Herge creates for his fictional Eastern European country is complex and fascinating, and a locked-room mystery and cross-country pursuit make for one of Tintin's more entertaining adventures. Syldavia and Borduria would return in later stories, as would one of Herge's most memorable characters, Bianca Castafiore, the "Milanese Nightingale" renowned for her rendition of the "Jewel Song" from Faust. --David Horiuchi