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Captain Haddock is one of the characters created by Hergé the man behind Tintin. The Adventures of Tintin are now some of the well known comic albums in history. Tintin has been able to shift over 200 millions books over his life time. Captain Haddock was introduced to the world in The Crab with the Golden Claws and was depicted as a feeble character who indulged too much in the drink. Captain Haddock’s drink of choice was Loch Lomond brand whisky which he drank in copious amounts.
In the Crab with the Golden Claws; Captain Haddock is Commander of the Karaboudjan where he seems almost as dangerous to Tintin as the enemies the Walloon reporter is
chasing. There is one sequence in which believing Tintin to be a bottle of champagne he tries to rip the poor boys head off. In this same album Captain Haddock proves to be a short-tempered and wildly erratic and often prone to expletive outbursts.
Hergé though then slowly develops the character through out the album. He is shown to be deep down an honest and decent man and with the aid of Tintin finally becomes a sober chap. The Captain and Tintin are seen to be firm friends by the end of The Crab with the Golden Claw.
The introduction of Captain Haddock was to bring about a change in the way Hergé worked. He now allowed Captain Haddock to become a balance for Tintin in later albums. Previously Hergé supporting characters would not appear regularly but were used for back story an only with in one album. Captain Haddock though was a perfect foil for Tintin with his gruff manor and sarcastic view of life proving a great balance to the naïve heroism of Tintin.
Snowy; Tintin’s dog had previously been Tintin’s main counterpoint but now his trusted wire fox terrier took on a lighter more humorous role and in some albums can even be seen to be drunk. Captain Haddock soon became a firm Tintin fan favourite.
Hergé gave Captain Haddock a lot of facial expression when compared to many of the characters in Tintin and even Tintin himself who had few facial characteristics. In some frames you can see Captain Haddock’s face contorted with contempt or anger.
Captain Haddock from his humble creation becomes a heroic figure in the Tintin Adventures with Haddock actually offering up his life to save his pal in Tintin in Tibet. He is later seen as a retired captain in following albums and starts to take on even more central roles.
Hergé built a back story around Captain Haddock and give him a family home called Marlinspike Hall and even introduces relatives and ancestors of Haddock in these adventures (e.g. Sir Francis is a Captain in King Charles II's Navy, the Commander of Unicorn, and Captain Archibald Haddock's ancestor).
Captain Haddock takes a serious role in The Shooting Star, where he is shown to be the President of the Society of Sober Sailors. His presence is futher felt in Th Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s treasure. Hergé by the timeof his last completed album Tintin and the Picaros gives Captin Haddock the central role in the first half of the album. Hergé was very found of the character at the end of his life.
Pings on Captain Haddock – The Rouge Sea Captain
Comments on Captain Haddock – The Rouge Sea Captain
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