The Curse of King Yutta

The Curse of King Yutta
aka The King’s Curse
De vloek van de mummie (Dutch title)
The Curse of the Mummy (Dutch title, translated)

Written by Mike Butterworth
Illustrated by Don Lawrence

The Curse of King Yutta was originally published in 9 instalments in issues 559 (30 September 1972) to 567 (25 November 1972) of Look and Learn magazine.

It is reprinted in Volume 9 of The Trigan Empire—The Collection (the Don Lawrence Collection).

It is reprinted in Volume 3 of The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire (Rebellion).

Plot summary

During the construction of a skyscraper in Trigan City, a historic tomb is discovered. Peric translates the inscriptions on the tomb and discovers that King Yutta, a ruler of an ancient kingdom, is buried there. Peric also discovers a curse stating that anyone who disturbs King Yutta’s rest will be destroyed, along with the rulers of his land and their subjects. The Imperial Council, led by Councillor Rothi, decides to ignore the curse and move the artifacts to the Imperial Museum. One night, the mummy from the tomb in the museum suddenly disappears and the guard is killed. The landowners of the skyscraper, Ricci and Obolom, die: Ricci in a car accident and Obolom is torn apart by zannas in his pool, believed to have entered through the filtration system.

Since the curse applies to the rulers and their subjects, Trigo is guarded at night. Keren guards Trigo at night but is knocked out. A large sword is found in Trigo’s bed, but Trigo had been sleeping on the balcony. The next day, the plane carrying Councillor Rothi crashes. Months later, the wreckage is found on the shore of the Great Ocean.

Trigo dives to the sea’s bottom with a new diving apparatus, where they are attacked by a monstrous creature but manage to escape. Brag crashes his plane and is seriously injured. Now taking the curse seriously, Trigo has Janno guarded by Sweya, Councillor Rothi’s son. At night, Janno is attacked by a mummy. Janno captures it but is then knocked out from behind. Trigo, finding the situation too dangerous, sends Janno and Sweya to a remote uninhabited island. There, Sweya attacks Janno, intending to kill him, but Janno overpowers him. Janno leaves to warn Trigo.

The mummy, at Trigo’s place, places a poisonous spider in his bed. Janno arrives just in time and overpowers the mummy, revealed to be Rothi. Councillor Rothi had intended to murder the entire imperial family and become the dictator of Trigan. Peric admits he no longer believed in the curse, having discovered an inscription indicating that the coffin was fake and that King Yutta’s final resting place was elsewhere—at the bottom of the sea. Rothi and Sweya are punished, and Brag recovers from his injuries.