An original drawing from “Explorers on the Moon“, widely regarded as one of the two best Tintin adventures, sold for a record €1.55 million at auction in Paris. The 50cm X 35cm page of comic-strip pictures by the cartoonist known as Hergé had been expected to sell for between €700,000 and €900,000. The drowing in Chinese ink shows the boy reporter, his dog, Snowy, and sailor Captain Haddock wearing spacesuits and walking on the moon while looking at Earth.
Explorers on the Moon was published 15 years before the first moon landing, and is an iconic work for comic-strip lovers.
Saturday’s sale was a record for a single cartoon drawing.
The late Belgian artist already holds the world record for the sale of a comic strip. A double-page drawing that was the inside cover for all Tintin adventures published from 1937 to 1958 sold for €2.6 million two years ago.