Year: 1942

Important Characters: Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, The Thompsons, Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine

French Title: Le Secret de la Licorne

In an act of sheer escapism from the rigours of war, Hergé chose a treasure hunt as the subject of Tintin's next adventure. The Secret of the Unicorn was the first part of this adventure and deals with the part of the hunt often neglected by storytellers: the finding of the treasure map.

The author brings together with great narrative skill three different strands in the story. The first is the search for the three models of the Unicorn containing the clues for the treasure and the battle with other collectors: the mysterious Sakharine and the dangerous Bird brothers. The second theme is one which, until the end of the book, seems totally unrelated: that of the investigation by the Thompsons into the recent increase in pickpocketing. Once the pickpocket is captured, Tintin finds two of the missing clues in one of the wallets he has stolen.

The third, and most refreshing, theme is that of Haddock's ancestry, and how he recounts the adventures of the famous Sir Francis Haddock. It is interesting to note that this is the only place where any character in any adventure is given a family history and background.

The Unicorn itself is an intriguing aspect of the book. The drawings of the ship were the result of significant research by Hergé. Though it does not correspond to one ship in particular, it was influenced by many found in the archives of the Naval Museum in Paris. It bears all the characteristics of the French navy at the end of the seventeenth century. At that time ships were divided into ranks according to their firepower. An examination of Hergé's drawings tells us that The Unicorn had 50 guns. This made it a ship of the third rank, more than 40 metres long and 11 metres wide. The principal model for The Unicorn must have been Le Brilliant, built at Le Havre by Salicon in 1690. Only the unicorn at the front of the ship is not derived from Le Brilliant. This may have come from the British frigate, Unicorn, bulit in 1745, somewhat later than the events described in this adventure.