Early Spider-Man Original Art and First Comic Led at Heritage Auctions
DALLAS — The Amazing Spider-Man proved himself the top hero over the three-day span of Heritage Auctions’ $4+ million May 16-18 Comics Signature® Auction as John Romita, Sr.’s The Amazing Spider-Man #85 Kingpin and the Schemer Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1970) and a CGC-certified 8.0 copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 (Spider-Man’s first appearance) realized identical $71,7000 prices. All prices include Buyer’s Premium.
“Bidding was steady, prices were solid and interest remained strong throughout the auction,” said Barry Sandoval, Director of Auction Operations for the Comics category at Heritage. “Spider-Man and Batman related material, from the comics to the original art, continue to be the mainstay of collectors, with early comic strip and pre-code comic book art also proving quite popular.”
Two pieces of early comic strip and book art stood out in particular when they crossed the block: Al Feldstein original 1952 cover art for EC’s Weird Fantasy #11 — the iconic Bombing of Manhattan artwork, a heart-stopping scene of atomic warfare in this cover based on the yarn, “10th at Noon.” — which realized $65,725, and a fantastic hand-colored George Herriman original Krazy Kat Sunday comic strip original dated June 25, 1922 (King Features Syndicate, 1922), which brought $59,750.
While original comic art provided most of the fireworks in the auction, a significant run of Golden Age Batman titles provided significant ballast the On the comic book side, totaling more than $200,000 altogether and led by a CGC-certified 9.2 copy of Batman #3 (DC, 1940), an issue is notable for its classic cover art and for having the first time Catwoman appeared in costume — which makes this the first appearance of a costumed villainess in all of comics — that realized an impressive $40,332.
Further highlights include, but are not limited to:
Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott Fantastic Four#57 Doctor Doom and Silver Surfer Page 7 Original Art (Marvel, 1966): Realized $53,775.
Dave Gibbons Watchmen #6 "Rorschach Inkblot" Cover Original Art (DC, 1987): From the Shamus Modern Masterworks Collection. Realized $44,813.
John Romita Sr. Marvel Treasury Edition #1 "The Spectacular Spider-Man" Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1974): Realized $44,813.
Frank Miller and Klaus Janson Batman, The Dark Knight Returns #2 Batman and Robin Splash Page 36 Original Art (DC, 1986): Realized $41,825.
Steve Ditko Amazing Spider-Man #12 "Unmasked by Doctor Octopus" Page 14 Original Art (Marvel, 1964): Realized $41,825.
Heritage Auctions is the largest auction house founded in the United States and the world’s third largest, with annual sales of more than $850 million, and 750,000+ online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and receive access to a complete record of prices realized, with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com
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