Rare Tintin comic book art set to sell for millions in Paris

"A huge red dragon appears on a black background by the Belgian reporter's petrified face."

The cover for the Blue Lotus displayed a black dragon on a red background. So the only difference between the cover and this art which never made it to the cover is the difference in background colors and still folks are willing to pay 2.6 million for it?

@EvilBuddha

Perhaps you should have another look.

There are far more differences, the background is solid red dragon near solid black.

The auction one has far more intricate details including designs of yellow and green in the black background just for starters.

@Antiquesaving

When I made the above comment I did not have a look at the painting going on sale. Now I have had a look at it and yes, you are correct there are a few more differences.

Tintin's expression in the painting looks petrified, whereas the one that made it to the cover originally only had Tintin looking astounded.