Hey - you're right. That description rustles some cobwebs in the back of my memory. I wish I could also remember the name of the publication. It was so much better than other kiddie writing of the time and I was an odd kid so I really appreciated it. Many of the stories were kind of dark. It was about the size of Reader's Digest and also had puzzles.
Tintin in America was a little dark. We've slowly been accumulating the books for our three year old, and we got about half-way through that one when we decided to put it away til he was older. The concept of a lynching is just a little beyond a toddler :-P
The rest have been wonderful for him though. Also, if you happen to have a tv that displays PAL/SECAM it's well worth it to seek out the DVDs of the cartoon series. They include the english language tracks and are very faithful to Herge's books.