Wolverine concept art, Batman’s first appearance, a famous Spider-Man cover and a Mad masterpiece push November’s Comics and Comic Art event to $16.6 million finish
DALLAS, Texas (Nov. 25, 2024) – Maximum effort, maximum result!
More than 5,700 bidders worldwide participated in Heritage’s $16.6 million November 21-24 Comics & Comic Art Signature® Auction. And several of them spent a long time Friday afternoon tussling over creator Rob Liefeld’s original art for Page 14 from The New Mutants No. 98, better known as Deadpool’s debut.
Ultimately, the Merc with a Mouth carved out a final price of $960,000, a new auction record for Liefeld that shattered the previous highwater mark set last November, when his Captain America “Heroes Reborn” promotional illustration realized $132,000 at Heritage. That’s how legendary and coveted this page is, Liefeld’s first glimpse at Wade Wilson long before Ryan Reynolds turned Deadpool into a big-screen franchise worth billions.
“I’m still buzzing with excitement,” Liefeld says about the sale of this landmark page. “I never imagined that this page, my debut as writer and artist on New Mutants No. 98, would command such an impressive price. Making comic books has been my entire life. I started drawing professionally as a teenager, and it’s a thrill that my biggest and most profound successes continue to come from the characters I created and the stories I brought to life with pen and paper.
“Deadpool continues to leave his mark on pop culture writ large, and I’m excited for both seller and buyer. I hope it brings great joy to both of them. Thank you to Heritage for their excellent auctions and promotions. They continue to provide the best experience for collectors of all ages.”
This page had never been to auction. It hasn’t even been seen since it entered a private collection in the 1990s, just as Deadpool took over the Marvel Universe like a few characters in the company’s storied history.
The Deadpool who crash-landed on comic stands on Dec. 11, 1990, didn’t yet have a backstory; he was just an assassin sent to kill Cable. But he’s immediately identifiable to anyone who’s seen a second of Reynolds’ big-screen version: a brash, quippy, indestructible killing machine with two katanas strapped to his back. He was a hit from the moment he crashed New Mutants No. 98 and has made a killing ever since.
Deadpool’s big-screen bub also cut a wide path through this auction, as John Romita Sr.’s 1974 conceptual rendering of the Wolverine realized $240,000. Romita’s rendering, created shortly before Logan’s quick cameo in the final panel of October 1974’s The Incredible Hulk No. 180, also made its auction debut in this star-studded event that set numerous records.
There are numerous memorable moments throughout Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and now one page from The Dark Knight Triumphant ranks among the most valuable: the moment Carrie Kelley introduces herself to a battered Bruce Wayne as the newest Robin. It realized $288,000 Friday to become the most expensive panel page from the landmark book.
Batman comics likewise landed several blows throughout the $16,599,370 event, as a CGC Poor 0.5 copy of 1939’s Detective Comics No. 27 – the Dark Knight’s debut – realized $312,000. That’s not only the highest amount ever realized for the grade, but proof that Detective No. 27 ranks among the comicdom’s coveted rarities, as only 32 copies have earned higher grades.
But Batman bidding wars were common throughout the four-day event: Collectors tussled over a rare unrestored CGC Very Fine 4.0 copy of Detective Comics No. 31. This classic Dark issue with the iconic Bob Kane cover, which also introduced the Batplane and the Batarang, realized a new auction record at $174,000. And one of the two highest-graded copies of Batman No. 11 (CGC Near Mint 9.4) featuring a classic Joker cover by Fred Ray and Jerry Robinson, sold for a record-setting $132,000.
A seldom-seen gem from Mad’s earliest days, Harvey Kurtzman’s cover of 1954’s Issue No. 10, realized $204,000 to become the second-most valuable Kurtzman work ever sold at auction, trailing only the cover of Mad No. 9. That’s to be expected: The EC Comics editor and Mad co-founder’s glorious, wild covers from this period are among the rarest and most sought-after works. This one is particularly thrilling, what the catalog described as “an absolutely great example of Kurtzman’s bold, fluid, and inky cartooning.”
This auction featured more landmark EC Comics art from the collection of the late Roger Hill, revered as one of horror-comicdom’s most passionate and thoughtful fans, collectors, historians and authors. But the top lot from Hill’s collection this time around hailed from a 1963 Gold Key comic book: the cover of Magnus, Robot Fighter No. 1, which introduced the superhero who fights, well, robots in the year 4000.
The work was painted by George Wilson, who’s the subject of an upcoming monograph and was among the most prolific and pulpy (and least-known) cover artists of the 1960s, painting covers for such titles as Classics Illustrated, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Ripley’s Believe It or Not and myriad other Dell and Gold Key titles. His cover of Magnus, Robot Fighter’s debut realized $168,000 – by far a new record for the influential illustrator finally getting his due.
One of recent comicdom’s most controversial covers also set an auction record for its creator during this event: the variant cover from 2009’s The Amazing Spider-Man No. 601 by J. Scott Campbell, who once took to social media to defend this rendering of Mary Jane Watson. Its infamy has certainly done it no harm: This work was later used as a lithograph print and numerous sold-out facsimile reprints and has now shattered the artist’s previous auction record. This original work opened live bidding at $55,000 and swung to a $144,000 finish after a heated bidding war.
In all, a dozen works of original comic art sold for more than $100,000, among them two Frank Miller Daredevil pages – from Issues No. 161 and 189 – that each sold for $114,000 and a Sept. 29, 1991, Peanuts Sunday comic, which also realized $114,000. Only two Peanuts strips have ever sold for more at auction – one of which was set at Christmas, the other from 1950 and just the 40th Peanuts strip ever published.
Another Spidey favorite helped set a new auction record for Erik Larsen as collectors tussled over the stunning original cover art for 1990’s Marvel Comics Presents No. 49, featuring a rare team-up of Wolverine and Spider-Man. It realized $90,000.
There were other records in the spinner racks, too: Eel O’Brian’s first appearance in 1941’s Police Comics No. 1 realized $43,200 to become the most valuable copy of Plastic Man’s debut. Adam Strange’s first flight in 1958’s Showcase No. 17 realized $84,000 to shatter the previous auction record for this historic book. The previous record was $26,400 – an out-of-this-world result in an auction full of them.
“It seems only fitting at this time of the year to extend a sincere thank-you to the thousands of bidders who helped make this auction such a remarkable, resounding success,” says Heritage Auctions Vice President Barry Sandoval. “The passion and enthusiasm from collectors worldwide continue to inspire us, and we’re honored to provide a platform where these incredible works of art and pieces of comic history find new homes. Congratulations to all the winning bidders and consignors who made this an auction to remember.”
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