Cigars of the Pharaoh Pasha showing Tintin a copy of "Tintin in America", in the 1955 version this was changed to the earlier "Tintin in the Congo", and Hergé would change it again for subsequent printings, this time to "Destination Moon" (1953), an "Adventure" set chronologically after "Cigars". Benoît Peeters exclaimed that with this scene, the reader can imagine Tintin's surprise at encountering an adventure he had not yet had and which included the characters of Captain Haddock and Cuthbert Calculus whom he had not yet met. Another anachronism in this version appears when Snowy refers to Marlinspike Hall, the ancestral home of Captain
The Secret of the Unicorn Haddock was "the best realised character" in the story, conversely describing the Bird Brothers as "relatively uninspired villains". They went on to state that "The Secret of the Unicorn"-"Red Rackham's Treasure" arc represents "a turning point" for the series as it shifts the reader's attention from Tintin to Haddock, who has become "by far, the most interesting character". They praised the "truly outstanding storytelling" of "The Secret of the Unicorn", ultimately awarding it a rating of four out of five. Phillipe Goddin commented on the scene in the story in which Haddock relates the life of his ancestor, stating that