Tintin cover fetches $1.6M at auction

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PARIS, June 3 (UPI) -- A private collector paid a record $1.6 million at a Paris auction for a rare 1932 cover drawing of a Tintin comic book, the BBC reported.

The "Tintin in America" cover, hand-drawn by Belgian writer and illustrator Herge -- real name Georges Remi -- is one of only five such remaining works by the artist, who died in 1983. Only two of the covers are in private hands.

The drawing was done with Indian ink and gouache, and depicts the young adventurer dressed as a cowboy siting with his dog as American Indians creep up on them.

The same cover was previously auctioned off in 2008 for more than $943,000, the BBC reported.

The sale was part of a larger auction of Tintin memorabilia, including draft sketches of Tintin and a copy of "Explorers on the Moon," signed by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, the first men to reach the moon.