A rare Hergé comic book, estimated at €32,000–36,000 is now up for auction on Catawiki until the 28th of September
This Tintin Moon comic, signed by astronauts from six Apollo missions, has become the meeting point between imagination and history
Brussels, X September 2025 - Long before Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon in 1969, Tintin had already been there. Hergé’s On a marché sur la Lune, published in 1954, imagined space travel with remarkable accuracy, over a decade before it became reality. Now, a rare copy of this iconic album, signed by Hergé and six Apollo astronauts, is up for auction on Catawiki, the leading marketplace for special objects.
Far from an ordinary collector’s item, the book carries a first-class backstory. Its Belgian owner, a patron of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, secured the astronauts’ inscriptions during encounters at the Kennedy Space Center between 2009 and 2015. Photographs of the signings, VIP passes, and original documents are included in the sale.
What truly makes this book exceptional is the dialogue between fiction and history. The six Apollo astronauts have inscribed their names and added some quick-witted remarks linking their own missions to Tintin’s adventure:
Buzz Aldrin, from the Apollo 11 mission, wrote: “First Moonwalkers after Tintin,” while Fred Haise, from the Apollo 13 mission, joked: “Like Tintin before me, we had problems on our way to the Moon, but we came back safe.”
Edgar Mitchell, from the Apollo 14 mission, noted with humour: “Longest walk on the Moon after Tintin.” Al Worden, from the Apollo 15 mission, reflected: “When orbiting the Moon, I took the farthest-out space walk, including Tintin’s.”
Charlie Duke, from the Apollo 16 mission, joked: “The youngest man after Tintin to explore the Moon.” Gene Cernan, from the Apollo 17 mission, added playfully: “I’m not sure Tintin was the first Moonwalker, but I’m sure to be the latest one (up to now).”
“Tintin walked on the Moon long before mankind, and Hergé’s vision inspired generations of explorers,” said Marc Toussaint, Catawiki’s Comic expert. “The astronauts’ own tributes make this album not just a collector’s treasure, but a bridge between imagination and reality.”
