Nothing is more adventurous than real-life human stories – the brave people smuggler known as the King of the Šumava in an excellent cartoon adaptation.

Comics

The first part of a planned comic-book trilogy inspired by David Jan Žák’s bestseller Návrat Krále Šumavy (The Return of the King of the Šumava) from 2012. This biographical novel about the people smuggler who outsmarted the security services has been adapted into a fast-paced detective-style comic book. Although the King of Šumava, Josef Hasil, originally wore the uniform of the National Security Corps and guarded the border, following the “Victorious February” of 1948 he went over to the other side.

As well as the dramatic events behind the creation of the Iron Curtain and a setting in the Czech “Wild West” of the Šumava border region – a world of border guards, agents and people smugglers, interrogations, remote forest locations and penal camps – this is also a story of enduring human values, bravery and betrayal, and bonds between people. But here the heroes are human – not cardboard cut-outs. Their weaknesses make them more relatable to the reader.

Read an excerpt from the book here.