A piece of original art from the internationally-beloved comic Tintin has sold for more than $1 million, the Wall Street Journal‘s Speakeasy blog reports.
The piece features the final two pages of King Ottokar’s Sceptre, a story from 1939 that dealt with a fictional European nation being invaded by its neighbor. And if that feels somewhat…topical…for its time, Tintin mentions Germany’s invasion of Czechoslovakia by name in the tale.
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The pages of inked, lettered art are by Tintin creator and legendary cartoonist Herge.
“The market really took off over the past few years, as collectors realized original works were underpriced and comic-book artists are really gifted,” said Eric Leroy, a comic book expert at Artcurial, the Paris auction house where the sale took place. While an impressive haul for a single piece of original comics art, it’s not a record: a previous Tintin original fetched just over $3 million in 2014. Back in 2012, Artcurial sold the cover to 1932’s Tintin in America for $1.6 million.
