Il mistero dell'Unicorno
After their adventures in the Sargasso Sea and Scotland, Zagor and Chico arrive in Boston, where they encounter Felix, a clever and mischievous pickpocket, and a mysterious man with an artificial hand. They soon discover that someone is trying to sabotage the Dragoon, the ship belonging to their friend Honest Joe.
After foiling the sabotage, Zagor and Chico set sail aboard the Dragoon for Greenland. There lies the wreck of the Unicorn, a 17th-century galleon aboard which, in the autumn of 1681, a mysterious epidemic wiped out the entire crew. In its hold are said to be deadly weapons originating from a legendary lost continent. This is what Professor Van Dicke reveals to Zagor during the voyage he hopes to reach the Unicorn before his rival, Professor Weiss, who has made a deal with a foreign power.
Upon arriving in Greenland, Zagor and his companions use a hot air balloon to reach the Unicorn, now embedded in the ice. There, they are captured by Weiss’s men. Weiss reveals that the weapons aboard the ship are remnants of the ancient civilization of Mu. A struggle breaks out between him and Van Dicke, during which one of the ancient weapons is accidentally activated, fatally infecting them both.
To prevent the outbreak of a devastating biological threat, Zagor and Honest Joe blow up the ship’s powder magazine eliminating the Mu weapons and saving the world from disaster.
This story contains numerous references to the Martin Mystère series, functioning as a clear homage to its themes and characters:
• The Timeless War between Atlantis and Mu is a central element, directly tying into the mythos explored in Martin Mystère.
• The dynamic between the two archaeologists once friends, now enemies, mirrors the relationship between Martin Mystère and Sergej Orloff. In this story, the roles are echoed through Van Dicke (the “good” archaeologist) and Weiss (the “bad” one).
• Then Van Dicke's assistant is the beautiful Miss Adah (Diana) and the bodyguard the corpulent Stern (Java).
• This story is mentioned in a book of Storie da Altrove by Mabus, when he was in the 18th century.
• The “villainous” archaeologist is physically marked: Orloff famously had a ray weapon in place of his lost arm, while Weiss sports a wooden prosthetic hand with a hidden spring-loaded knife.
• The name of the “good” archaeologist, Martin Van Dicke, is a not-so-subtle nod to Martin Mystère himself.
• Additionally, the “Donovan Warehouses” seen in issue N. 392 are hidden reference to Ken Parker N. 59 “I ragazzi di Donovan”, further connecting the Bonelli universe through layered intertextuality.
