A Spinner Rack Full Of Records As Comic Book And Comic Art Auction Surpasses

$13.5 Million

X-Men, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, And Richie Rich Set New Highwater Marks

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C-02/03

No single comic was left on the spinner rack, nor a single work of art left hanging on the gallery wall. By the time Heritage Auctions’ sold-out Jan. 12 to 15 Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction ended, its final total was $13,508,641. For the 1,015 lots, numerous records were realized involving, among others, SpiderMan, the X-Men, Frank Miller’s take on Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Conan the Cimmerian and Little Dot and her pal Richie Rich, the poor little rich boy himself.

“By Heritage standards, this was something of a boutique event, yet prices were fantastic across the board as evidenced by the records set for several artists and such landmark titles as Amazing Fantasy No. 15, Batman No. 1 and Whiz Comics No. 1,” remarked Senior Vice President Ed Jaster. “No matter what happens in the outside world, it’s clear the vintage comic market remains resilient, while the market for original comic art continues to exceed all expectations.”

Nearly 4,700 bidders from around the world participated in this four-day event, which kicked off with a Platinum Session that exploded with a bidding war that led to a new auction record for legendary artistcreator Dave Cockrum. He was the man who helped save Marvel Comics’ X-Men after readers abandoned Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s team of young evolutionary marvels in the 1970s and their books filled with reprinted stories languished on shelves and racks.

One of Cockrum’s earliest original art covers from his legendary X-Men run with writer Chris Claremont made its auction debut with April 1976’s X-Men No. 98, featuring Storm, Nightcrawler and Colossus, all Cockrum creations, and an early cover appearance of Wolverine. The art opened live bidding at $120,000, but heated bidding drove its final price to $432,000, shattering the previous record for the beloved artist set just one year ago.

The tussle over Cockrum’s gem was but a prelude to what followed. Moments later, bidders fought it out over one of the most memorable Frank Frazetta originals at auction in a while: the cover for 1973’s Signet paperback Flash for Freedom! This Frazetta piece, which renders the anti-hero Harry Flashman more cocksure cowboy than Victorianera military hero, realized $660,000. This cover painting is now tied for the fifth-most valuable Frazetta piece ever sold at Heritage, which holds all of the artist’s auction records.

Spider-Man’s 1962 inaugural swing through Marvel Comics continues to attract collectors: A copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15 graded CGC Near Mint- 9.2 sold for $810,000, a new record for the grade. And, of course, several landmark titles realized remarkable numbers, including a Superman No. 1 graded CGC Very Good/Fine 5.0 that realized $675,000 and a Batman No. 1 graded CGC Fine 6.0 that sold for $552,000.

A copy of Flash Comics No. 1 graded CGC VG/FN 5.0, which opened live bidding at $70,000 and sold for $192,000, the second-highest price