“Spirou and Fantasio in Moscow” was originally published in 1990. The English translation of this Franco-Belgian comic is more recent, dated 2012. The album is credited to Tome and Janry. It's obvious that “Spirou and Fantasio” is long past its golden age, associated with Franquin. The tale of how two brave Belgian reporters end up aiding the KGB in Moscow (!) is surprisingly uninteresting. Even the anti-Soviet or anti-Russian stereotypes are pretty boring, give or take a few. But then, I don't know how anti-Soviet stereotypes may have looked like in Brussels circa 1990! One annoying detail with this comic is that many of the characters speak Russian (not always translated) and that many English letters are printed backwards (to resemble Cyrillic letters).
Humorously, the comic comes with several disclaimers in which the creators almost desperately remind the target audience that the plot is sheer fantasy, and that no political subtexts are intended. While the Soviet Union still existed in 1990, its influence over “Eastern” Europe had pretty much vanished the year before. I suppose Tome and Janry feared that a story in which the KGB are the good guys could be misinterpreted by simple souls…
As for the plot itself, it revolves around Spirou, Fantasio and their pet squirrel Spip visiting Moscow during the perestroika, only to find that the mob has taken control over most of the city. The once so feared KGB is fighting a losing battle against the mobsters, who are led by a mysterious “White prince” named Tanaziof, who claims to be a descendent of the last Czar and plans to steal Lenin's embalmed body! Unsurprisingly for avid readers of this comic, Tanaziof turns out to be an alias for Zantafio, the arch-villain of the “Spirou and Fantasio” universe. One classical in-universe character conspicuously missing is Marsupilami, who apparently left with Franquin.
If you are a really hard line fan of things Tintinesque, you might perhaps like the “Spirou and Fantasio” concept, as well, although the adventures of the eponymous heroes tend to be more fanciful than those of Tintin and the captain. I can't see Tintin helping the KGB! Speaking of which, "Spirou and Fantasio in Moscow" contains a covert reference to "The Adventures of Tintin". One of the Western military secrets stolen by the KGB is a drawing of the fictitious space rocket from "Destination Moon"!
Overall, however, I think this album is pretty weak.
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