#7 in Comics

The Secret of the Unicorn

Name: The Secret of the Unicorn
Author: Hergé
ISBN: 9781855964280

Hergé

First published 1978

8.5

Score out of 1061 ratingsConfidence 29%: this much of the score is the readers’ own

Part of a seriesThe Adventures of TintinVolume 11 of 24

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In our Atlas

Hergé: Belgium

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Our view

“The Secret of the Unicorn” is an inventive Tintin treasure hunt, built around a riddle left by Captain Haddock’s seventeenth-century ancestor. Tintin and Haddock must track down three identical models of the old ship, the Unicorn, and rivals want them too. Some readers rank it the best album of the series up to that point and fondly remember its comic scenes. It first ran in “Le Soir” in 1942–43, under German occupation.

The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.

About the book

The Secret of the Unicorn is the eleventh volume of The Adventures of Tintin, the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was serialised daily in Le Soir, Belgium's leading francophone newspaper, from June 1942 to January 1943 amidst the Nazi German occupation of Belgium during World War II. The story revolves around young reporter Tintin, his dog Snowy, and his friend Captain Haddock, who discover a riddle left by Haddock's ancestor, the 17th century Sir Francis Haddock, which can lead them to the hidden treasure of the pirate Red Rackham. To unravel the riddle, Tintin and Haddock must obtain three identical models of Sir Francis's ship, the Unicorn, but they discover that criminals are also after three model ships and are willing to kill in order to obtain them.

Description: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Reading order · The Adventures of Tintin

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Where the score comes from

The sources average 8.7 across 61 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 29% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Comics average of 8.5. That is how 8.5 comes out.