A double plate page from Herge's Tintin story King Ottokar's Sceptre has sold for $1.2m at Artcurial in Paris.
The lot, which consists of the final panels, was consigned by the French singer Renaud, who has been a passionate collector of comics and comic book art for many years.
 The double page is from the collection of French singer Renaud |
It sold along with a selection of other comic book art on April 30, beating its estimate of $865,000 by 38.7%.
The story is one of the most popular in the franchise. Other plates have sold well in the past, with one achieving $1.7m last year.
It was first published in Belgian newspaper supplement Le Petit Vingtieme in 1938-1939, shortly before the Nazis invaded Poland.
The story concerns the overthrowing of a monarchy in a fictional state in eastern Europe.
It was the last story published in its entirety before the magazine was forced to close due to the war.
Renaud explained he bought the plate from Herge's widow: "At the time, she sold it to me for 100,000 francs.
"It was the biggest cost out of my entire collection but I don't regret a thing."
The record for any work by Herge is $3.4m, set for a page of artwork printed on the inside cover of a number of Tintin books.
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