Left, an original 1936 gouache painting for the cover of The Blue Lotus by Hergé sold at auction last week for €3.2m, a new record for an original piece of comic strip art. The picture was rejected as being too expensive to print on the 4-colour printing processes at the time, and given to the publisher’s son, where apparently it remained in a drawer for forty years.

Hergé produced another cover, right, using more simplified colours, which is more in keeping with the distinctive look of the Tintin books.

Previously on Barnflakes
Fake Tintins
Hergé’s favourite Tintin panels
Lookalikes #10: Thomson and Thompson