D’Artagnan is initially portrayed by Dumas as a hotheaded youth, who tries to engage the Comte de Rochefort and the Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis in single combat. He quickly becomes friends with the musketeers, and has a series of adventures which put him at odds with Cardinal Richelieu, then First Minister of France. In the end, Richelieu is impressed by d’Artagnan, and makes him a lieutenant of the musketeers. This begins his long career of military service, as detailed in the sequels. D’Artagnan’s role among the musketeers is one of leadership (his skills and brains impress the musketeers greatly), but he is also regarded as a sort of protégé given his youth and inexperience. Athos sees him not only as a best friend and fellow musketeer but nearly as a son. At the end of the series, his death at the siege of Maastricht is given an extra tragic twist – he is mortally wounded while reading the notice of his promotion to the highest military rank.
First Appearance “Les Trois Mousquetaires” serialized in Le Siècle (March to July 1844)
First Publisher Meline, Cans, et Compagnie, Brussels
Appearance List Les Trois Mousquetaires serialized in Le Siècle (March to July 1844). Novels: The Three Musketeers (Les Trois Mousquetaires, 1844); Twenty Years After (1845); The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later (1847-50). Film: The Three Musketeers (1903) by Georges Melies; La maschera di ferro (1909); The Three Musketeers: Part 1 and Part 2 (1911); The Three Musketeers (silent, 1914); The Three Musketeers (silent, 1916); A Modern Musketeer (1917); Les Trois Mousquetaires (serial, 1921); The Three Musketeers (US, 1921) featuring Douglas Fairbanks; The Three Musketeers (12-episode serial, 1933). Comics: Black Cat Mystery #49, Jackpot Comics #6, Kid Eternity #1 and 4, Hit Comics #41 and 55.
Description D’Artagnan is initially portrayed by Dumas as a hotheaded youth, who tries to engage the Comte de Rochefort and the Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis in single combat. He quickly becomes friends with the musketeers, and has a series of adventures which put him at odds with Cardinal Richelieu, then First Minister of France. In the end, Richelieu is impressed by d’Artagnan, and makes him a lieutenant of the musketeers. This begins his long career of military service, as detailed in the sequels. D’Artagnan’s role among the musketeers is one of leadership (his skills and brains impress the musketeers greatly), but he is also regarded as a sort of protégé given his youth and inexperience. Athos sees him not only as a best friend and fellow musketeer but nearly as a son. At the end of the series, his death at the siege of Maastricht is given an extra tragic twist – he is mortally wounded while reading the notice of his promotion to the highest military rank.
