Tintin Forums

Do we all agreed that Dr Müller is German?
I see him as a German living in the UK, pretending to be English ("Smith" in The Black Island).
"Müller" is a German name but we never establish his nationality - do we?
Quote me wrong if I am - I'm not in front of my collection...
Isn't one of his henchmen called Ivan, with a black beard - Russian?

The others look like English/ Scottish rogues.

So a bit of an international gang of forgers.

Interesting point rastpopoulos, as I have some French editions of The Black Island and Land of Black Gold (L'Île noire and L'Or noir), and noticed that Müller/ Smith's dialogue does not use German "accented" words, or speak any German, as he does in the English versions - I assume it's something that our English translators have added, (like "Himmel!", "Ach so!", and "Krutzitürken!"
They were probably inspired by those old British war comics. Clearly Hergé didn't originally intend him to have a German accent.

I'll also just point out that he is known as "Smith" in Land of Black Gold, rather than The Black Island.

Personally I couldn't imagine him as anything other than German.

Yeah, sorry! As I said, I haven't got my collection in front of me at the moment.

I also forgot about the Germanic curses (d'oh!). That's interesting about them not being found in the French. I presume he's still Dr Müller in the French editions?


He must be German, full stop, okay? Open and closed case!

I presume he is still "Dr Müller" in the French editions.

Yes, "J.W. Müller, M.D." in L'Île noire and "Professeur Smith" in L'Or noir.

I suppose he could have been posing as English in Black Gold, as Smith is a very obvious English name. Much has also been made of the fact that in the original Black Gold from 1939 he's a German trying to sabotage British oil interests. However, as I said, there doesn't appear to be anything which distinguishes him as a German in the French versions, apart from his real name.

Related topic created: The World of Tintin in World War II.

Hergé based him on a Dr Bell (not the one who inspired Sherlock Holmes), a Scot who assumed German nationality, and was in cahoots with the Nazis.

He too is thought to have had dealings in an unrealised plot to collapse the British economy, but was "liquidated" soon after...

So if that's how Hergé saw him, that would explain why he doesn't seem particularly Germanic in the French editions. As stated above, it's only in English he goes into "typical" Teutonic overdrive.

Seems right Karaboudjan. Did you find that in the Companion (my collection is in storage at the moment)? So in the French version he's a Scot wannabe German, but in the English translations he's 100% German?
Or, is he a Scot with a German accent?
Sounds like more translation confusions to me!

Müller was designed very specifically to serve as a German villain, with a conflict in Europe appearing - at the time - more and more imminent. I think there's really no doubt as to his nationality.

When he was brought back in Land of Black Gold - which was technically the very next adventure, though it was abandoned when the Nazis took Belgium - he was up to more of the same things.

When Hergé returned to the story, of course, he changed the impending war from WWII to the Israeli war of independence (and that was the conflict that was "averted" in the 1950 version, even though it had already happened!), and then eventually into the Khemed conflict in the third version.

Of course, by then, Müller's being German was far less relevant, and his very presence in the Middle East is a lot less explicable, except by coincidence.

I'd often wondered how he'd managed to escape both prison first time round, and then the Emir's wrath. Knowing how he idolises his bratty little son, you'd think he'd have had the Herr Doktor's liver for breakfast...

And yes, I did get that Dr Bell info from the Companion. It's my source of power!

(And how sad am I???!)