Best of 2025 :: Published/Unpublished Strip Art

Herge (Georges Remi), Tintin, The Secret of the Unicorn, panel 3 of strip 174 (published first in Le Soir magazine, January 1943)

Owner: Doug L.
Artist: Herge (All)

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Letter from the Herge Authentification Committee

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Artwork Details

Title:	Herge (Georges Remi), Tintin, The Secret of the Unicorn, panel 3 of strip 174 (published first in Le Soir magazine, January 1943)
Artist:	Herge (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
Views:	51
Likes on CAF:	4 5
Added to Site:	12/21/2025

Description

There are great purchases, acquisitions that are grails, and then there are things that seem so far from reality as to seem nonsensical to even consider. On the top of that list for me is anything from Herge, especially Tintin.

Here is a small panel from the original strip publication of The Secret of the Unicorn, the first part of a story concluded with Red Rackham's Treasure. This panel was authenticated by the Herge Committee on April 12, 2011.

Unicorn (and Treasure) is my favorite Tintin tale. While the 11th volume of Tintin adventures, Unicorn is really where Herge added many of the elements now considered key parts of any Tintin tale: exotic travel, Marlinspike, Nestor the butler, and at the very end of the book the introduction of Tintin's shirt and sweater outfit. Tintin also breaks the fourth wall on the last two pages - the only time he did this in any book.

Unicorn was serialized in Le Soir, the largest daily newspaper in Belgium. Le Soir was operating under the German/Nazi occupation of Belgium, and routinely published antisemitic positions while supporting the German war effort. It has always been unclear how much Herge believed and followed the Nazis, as opposed to whether he used his position at Le Soir as a popular cartoonist to further his career. The truth likely lies in between these two conclusions. One thing is certain: Unicorn dropped the overtly political views found in the first 10 volumes of Tintin and instead focused on action, plot and adventure.

Unicorn was first serialized in Le Soir in Belgium from June 1942 until January 1943 before being published in Belgium as a 62 page book. It was later republished in the French newspaper Coeurs Vailliant beginning in March of 1944. Unicorn and Treasure became the first Tintin books translated into English in 1951.

Tintin, with Peanuts and a few other cartoons, is among the most famous and influential works of all time. The books have long been one of my favorites and are still in print and widely read. My younger daughter used Tintin books to help with her French reading and comprehension. I am looking at the small panel right now and still find it hard to believe I own it. It is 30 years older than any other item in my comic art collection but is almost certainly the most recognizable. It is small but mighty.

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About the Owner

	Doug L. ( 4 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	September 2019
Last Login:	January 2026
Country:	Not Specified
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Doug 's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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