An original drawing used for the first published Tintin cover was sold at auction on Saturday in Dallas for $1.12 million,
the Heritage Auctions house told AFP.
The identities of seller and buyer have not been released.
The illustration, by Tintin creator Herge (the pseudonym of Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi),
shows the plucky young reporter sitting on a tree stump carving a makeshift propeller for his plane after the original was damaged in a rough landing somewhere in the Soviet Union.
His faithful dog Snowy (Milou in the original French) sits and watches, bandaged from tail to nose.