Art News

Rare Tintin Artifacts to Go Under the Hammer at Piasa Auction House

PARIS (REUTERS).- Finding a safe investment in crisis times may be tough, but just a year before Hollywood takes Tintin to the big screen, collectors are vying for rare memorabilia of the cub Belgian cartoon hero at a Paris auction. The Tintin series — created by Georges Remi under his pen name Herge — has become one of the most popular comics in the world with translations in more than 50 languages and 200 million copies of the 24 books sold. There is huge appetite for collectors of anything related to the diminutive investigative journalist and adventurer. In 2008, the original cover of “Tintin in America” sold for about 750,000 euros ($931,200). Last year, a lot of almost 600 items, including hand-drawn original cartoon strips, raised nearly 1.2 million euros with buyers from as