Rare ‘Tintin in America’ cartoon fetches $635,000 at auction

A French auction house sold a rare Belgian cartoon for $635,000 (€600,000) Saturday, April 8.

The piece was drawn in 1937 by Georges Prosper Remi, known as “Hergé.”

It is in India ink with a separate color overlay—exceedingly rare.

“It’s not just a sheet of paper—it’s a work of art. It’s a drawing on paper, using Indian ink and accompanied it’s tracing paper to show color,” said Comics Expert at Artcurial Auction House, Eric Leroy.

“You have drawings by Delacroix or Picasso which are quoted at a fortune, and here we are really in a pure form of drawing, we’re not even in comic book drawing anymore. This is really a kind of iconic type of drawing, typical of 20th our century history and culture.”

Hergé sold a very popular series of comic books called “The Adventures of Tintin.”

Tintin was a young reporter who traveled the world, offering contemporary commentary.

Hergé sold about 230 million Tintin books before he died in 1983.