PARIS, March 31, 2008 - Captain Haddock would have choked on his
whisky: original artwork for a Tintin comic book fetched a record 764,200
euros (1.2 million dollars) at a Paris auction Saturday, organiser Artcurial
said.
   The 1932 oil painting, executed for the iconic cover of "Tintin in America" smashed the previous world record for an original comic book work.
   That was set in March 2007 when a drawing by artist Enki Bilal called Bleu Sang (Blue Blood) fetched 177,000 euros.
   Judged a "museum piece" in Artcurial's auction catalogue, the painting by Tintin's Belgian creator Herge finally sold for 764,200 euros, including expenses.
   Total earnings for Saturday's one-off sale of 650 comic originals -- each of which had a starting price of 280,000 euros -- came to roughly 3.4 million euros, the gallery and auction house said.

AFP