Red Rackham's Treasure

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Red Rackham's Treasure (Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge) is one of a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero.

Red Rackham's Treasure is the twelfth in the series. It is a continuation of The Secret of the Unicorn, and is one of very few Tintin books to directly carry on the story of the preceding title.

It is notable for the first appearance of the eccentric and deaf but ingenious Professor Cuthbert Calculus.

The storyline

In Secret, Tintin and Captain Haddock discover a map that they believe must lead to pirate treasure. Tintin and the Captain hire a boat under Haddock's command, to search for said treasure. As the crew prepare for the search, their plans are discovered and publicized enough for Tintin and Haddock to have to deal with numerous strangers insisting on a share of the treasure. Another petitioner is Cuthbert Calculus, an eccentric and largely deaf inventor who offers the use of a special shark-shaped, electrically-powered one-man submarine to help search for the sunken ship without being bothered by the numerous sharks in the area. The treasure hunters turn him down and later set off for the trip. Before Tintin and the Captain clearing port, their police friends, Thomson and Thompson intercept them with orders to join the crew to protect the treasure hunters from the possible threat of an enemy in their previous adventure. Shortly after the departure, Tintin and Haddock discover that Calculus has stowed away on board (in a lifeboat, complete with bedclothes and a tin of biscuits, which the ship's cook had blamed Snowy for swiping from the galley). The professor has stashed the complete parts assembly of his sub in the hold--removing the Captain's whiskey stash in the process. Despite initially threatening to throw Cuthbert into the hold on bread and water, he grudgingly decides to keep him along for the trip.

Initially, the party cannot find anything at the coordinates stated on the parchments, but then Tintin hypothesizes that Sir Francis used a Paris meredian instead of the Greenwich one. Sure enough, the ship reaches an unknown and uninhabited island, where they think the treasure is buried. As they come ashore, the Captain stubs his toe on a piece of wood protruding from the sand; while the Thompsons are busy fending off a crab that's biting their toes, Tintin aids Haddock in excavating what turns out to be the remains of Sir Francis Haddock's rowboat. As they penetrate into the interior of the island, they encounter numerous skulls, which Tintin deduces are the remains of the island's cannabilistic former inhabitants. There is also a magnificent paganistic icon of Sir Francis, and numerous parrots that repeat the Haddockian argot, which Tintin realizes has been passed down for generations. Upon finding a cross with Sir Francis's calendar etchings, the party begins to dig, but after a while, Tintin realizes that they are following a false lead, and they head back for the rowboat. For a moment, it seems that the Thompsons are missing, but it turns out that they have decided to fill in the hole, just in case someone might come along and fall into it.

Calculus' sub proves useful for the search for the Unicorn, while the actual examination of the wreck itself is performed with a hardhat diving suit. The Thompson twins soon begin to rue their decision to join the treasure-hunt, because they are consigned to manning the gigantic air pumps supplying the diving suit when Tintin, and later the Captain, explore the wreck. While facing complications like shark attacks, they discover a strongbox of old documents, the figurehead of the ship and, to Captain Haddock's delight, a large supply of vintage Jamaican Rum, they never actually find the treasure itself while on their trip.

They go home disappointed. Upon disembarking, the Captain is accosted by a reporter; impishly Haddock refers him to "my secretary, Mr. Calculus," whom the reporter futilely tries to interview. Upon further examination of the parchment documents, Tintin discovers that Haddock is heir to the large estate of Marlinspike Hall: "We must buy it back." With the help of Calculus, who is flush with money from the government after a profitable sale of his sub design, Haddock purchases the estate. In the cellars of the main house, amongst all the junk left by the malevolent Bird brothers, they discover the treasure hidden in a globe of a statue of Saint John who is often called The Eagle which is the signature bird of the saint and was holding a cross above the treasure, just as the map indicated.

Interesting facts

The shark-shaped submarine on the book's cover was the inspiration for "Troy," the real-life shark-shaped submersible constructed by aquatic filmmaker and oceanographic explorer Fabien Cousteau, the grandson of Jacques Cousteau.

It also features in the film "Tintin and the Lake of Sharks".

Template:Tintin booksfr:Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge id:Harta Karun Rackham Merah nl:De schat van Scharlaken Rackham sv:Rackham den Rödes skatt