Comic Hero Tintin Nets $1.3 Million in Auction at Drouot-Montaigne

PARIS.- A life-size bronze statue of comic book reporter Tintin and more than 200 other items linked to the diminutive globetrotter have fetched more than euro1 million ($1.3 million) at a Paris auction.

The most expensive lot was two inked and water-painted original panels from the 1938 “King Ottokar’s Sceptre” album, which went for euro243,750 ($299,620).

A porter displays a watercolor, named "Tintin and the Sea Shells" drawn by Belgian creator Herge during the auction of rare memorabilia of Tintin, at the Drouot auction's house, in Paris, Saturday May 29, 2010. The panel was sold for euro 105,000 ($129,000)

The bronze statue, showing Tintin with his hands in his pockets and dog Snowy at his side, went for euro 125,000 ($153,650) in the Saturday auction at the Drouot-Montaigne auction house.

Belgian artist Herge’s adventures of Tintin have been translated into nearly 80 languages and sold more than 200 million books since 1929. Racial and cultural stereotypes in books such as “Tintin in the Congo” have prompted criticism, but demand for Tintin artifacts remains strong.

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