3 - HERGÉ

HERGÉ The Adventures of Tintin Coke in stock Graphite pencil on paper for the preliminary sketch of plate 1 of this album, published in 1958 by Casterman. Pre-published in the magazine *Tintin* No. 44, October 31, 1956. In the weekly magazine version, this page consisted of four comic strips. The first showed Séraphin Lampion on the phone with Nestor, who wanted to know where Haddock and Tintin had gone. The butler, after making the effort to answer him, and in order to continue reading a philosophy book, then pretended to listen to the rest of the commentary from this tedious insurance salesman who was heavily insisting on his uncle Anatole’s comedic talent… For the collected edition, this strip was replaced by the title of this adventure. Paradoxically, the story begins with the word “THE END,” which appears on a movie screen. In *Coke en stock*, familiar faces—other than that of Alcazar—made their reappearance, notably Dawson, Senhor Oliveira da Figueira, and Dr. Müller. 48.5 x 37 cm. Just as he would do with the Gypsy fortune-teller in *The Castafiore Emerald*, (“I see beautiful foreign lady… She will come to visit you…”), Hergé discreetly hints at what is about to happen. Captain Haddock seems a little disappointed by the movie he has just seen with Tintin. “But still, the story is far-fetched,” he says. Far-fetched is the right word. Haddock is certainly an accomplished sailor, but also a magician unaware of his own powers: all he had to do was utter the name of General Alcazar—from whom neither he nor Tintin had heard in a long time—for the general to appear immediately around the corner! They obviously hadn’t forgotten this character (a minor one, but an important one, given his role in *The Broken Ear*), nor his inimitable accent (“Amigo mio, what a surprise!” he said, greeting Tintin at the beginning of *The Seven Crystal Balls*). Tintin had met him when he went to South America in search of a precious Arumbaya fetish that had disappeared from the museum where it was on display. On that occasion, the general, who was then in charge of the San Theodoros, had even appointed him colonel and aide-de-camp! Later, they had briefly met again, but Alcazar’s situation was very different: a revolution had broken out in his country, and after being ousted by his rival, General Tapioca, he had been forced to go into exile in Europe and change his name, and he had become a knife-thrower in a variety theater. What has the general been up to since then? Was he able to return to his country? That remains a mystery… Tintin would very much like to know what has become of him. But Alcazar, who used to be so talkative, is much less so now; he seems hesitant, a little flustered. He, too, did not expect to have such an encounter. His attire, moreover, is not that of a high-ranking military officer, but rather that of a businessman; furthermore, he seems to be in a hurry. He certainly has an important appointment to keep. And Alcazar will disappear just as quickly as he reappeared. HERGÉ