Rare Tintin comic book art set to sell for millions

PARIS » Not even the coronavirus can get in the way of intrepid Belgian reporter and comic book legend Tintin.

Comic book lovers and tourists alike can catch a socially distanced glimpse of a Tintin drawing by Herge in Paris before it goes under the hammer Thursday, estimated to sell between 2 and 3 million euros and possibly break the record for the most expensive comic book art in history.

The 1936 work in Chinese ink, gouache and watercolor, was destined as a cover for The Blue Lotus, the fifth volume of the Belgian journalist’s adventures. But it never sat on any book store shelves because it was rejected for being too expensive to reproduce on a wide scale — a victim of its own rare craftsmanship.

“They had to do a four color process printing, with an additional color. (But the publisher) thought that the comic albums were already expensive. Reproducing

this cover art would increase the production costs,” said comics expert Eric Leroy at Art Curial auction house by the Champs-Elysees avenue.

MICHEL EULER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Chinese inked on paper original of the comic character Tintin and his dog snowy as a pirate made for an advertising and drawn by Belgian creator Herge, is displayed at the Artcurial auction house in Paris, Wednesday.