Very few mainstream comics have been set in the Soviet Union. Exceptions include ‘Corto Maltese in Siberia,’ ‘The Golden House of Samarkand,’ and ‘Superman: The Red Son.’ Photo by Filip Stojanovski (CC-BY 2.0) depicts recent editions of the three comics, published in Serbia. The Soviet Union existed for 70 years, from 1922 to 1991, and at its height encompassed 15 states stretching from the Baltic to the Black Sea to the Bering Strait. Despite its importance in world affairs for much of the 20th century, there’s one area of international culture in which the USSR barely existed: the world of comics. The USSR didn't have its own comics industry, so it couldn't produce stories about itself. And though a few of its allies had some comics being published while being part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc, with the possible exception of occasional World War II stories, even they didn't have any major series set in the USSR. Between 1947 and 1991, during the Cold War, mainstream American comics didn't offer much opportunity for their audiences to get acquainted with the Soviet people and their lands, beyond the “us vs them” clichés. While US superhero comics had many stories involving Soviet characters, such as Marvel's Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), very few were set in the USSR. And when they were, similarly to James Bond films, they didn't really touch upon the life there outside limited settings, such as military installations, Moscow's Red Square and the Kremlin, or KGB offices. Fandom databases listing DC and Marvel comics indicate that only a minuscule portion of mainstream superhero stories use USSR as location: about 286 (183 + 93 + 10) compared to over 20,291 set in the USA (4,344 + 15,404 + 543). The ratio is about 70 to 0ne. The first instance of a major comics series with a story set in the Soviet Union came several years after its formation. The adventures of the acclaimed Franco-Belgian reporter Tintin began with the 1929 story “Tintin in the Land of the Soviets.” The front page of the 1 May 1930 edition of Le Petit Vingtième, declaring “Tintin Revient!” (“Tintin Returns!”) from his adventure in the Soviet Union. Photo: Wikipedia (fair use). Rather than reporting, there Tintin acts more like a secret agent, fighting “evil communists,” who are presented as a gang of bloodthirsty robbers who exploit the helpless, subdued population, stealing their food and killing at will. They are also seen as incompetents incapable of capturing the hero, who returns triumphantly home to Brussels to a hero's welcome by cheering crowds. As the basis for his first Tintin story, the author Hergé perused much of the content of a 1928 anti-Bolshevik pamphlet “Moscou sans voiles” (Moscow Unveiled) by former Belgian diplomat Joseph Douillet. This story also seems to have set the standard of depicting “Soviet Russia” as a drab and dreary wintery wasteland, with the freezing cold as a recurring motif. Though the first run was commercially successful, the author considered this work substandard and crude, and for decades refused requests for reprints. Hergé only agreed to republication in 1973 in reaction to expensive “mediocre-quality” unlicensed editions that exploited the growing fan base. In the following decades, the previously shunned episode had been “normalized” as part of collections and was republished in Belgium and abroad through translations. Comics aficionados mostly consider this episode as a reference in discussions contrasting Hergé's later works. A comment about the 2011 Croatian edition on Stripovi.com, a forum/encyclopedia for comics publishing across the region of former Yugoslavia, sums up the general impression of the fan community: Šovinistički, imperijalistički, rasistički, avantiristički. Zanimljiv jer pokazuje od kud je Tintin krenuo i ne puno više od toga. Chauvinistic, imperialistic, racist, adventurous. This comics is only interesting because it shows Tintin's starting point, and not much more than that. Croatian hardcover album containing ‘Tintin in the Land of Soviets and Tintin in Congo’ (2011) and the Serbian edition of its parody, ‘Spirou in the Land of Soviets’ (2021). Photo by Filip Stojanovski, CC-BY. Spirou à Moscou, cover of 1990 Belgian edition by Dupuis. Photo by Wikipedia, fair use. Franco-Belgian comics duo Spirou & Fantasio had two adventures in the USSR. The first was released in 1990 as the album “Spirou à Moscou” (Spirou in Moscow). It has a light tone, caricaturing many of the Western stereotypes about the Soviets, such as playing suicidal Russian roulette and men greeting each other by kissing on the mouth.