fetch record 269
"Astro Boy" drawings fetch record 269,400 euros at Paris auction
PARIS – A rare series of sketches featuring "Astro Boy," the robot character created by late Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka, fetched a record 269,400 euros ($322,300) for works by the artist at an auction Saturday in Paris. Auction house Artcurial said the successful bid was nearly five times the estimated bid price of between 40,000 to 60,000 euros. Artcurial said it is very rare for the original drawings of Tezuka (1928-1989) to be auctioned, and that the successful bid was likely the largest ever for the cartoonist's work. The drawings comprise six panels of a page of a comic and depict Astro Boy's fight with an enemy. They were published in a manga magazine in Japan around 1956 or 1957.