$4.71 Million Realized in Heritage Comic and Comic Art Auction!

Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries' most recent Vintage Comic and Comic Art auction was held August 2-4, 2007 at Geppi's Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, MD with a Final Session on August 7. The Signature Auction realized $4,536,566 for 2,314 lots, while the Final Session brought $175,202 for 754 lots for a total of $4,711,768 realized for 3,068 lots offered. After-auction sales are still ongoing and are expected to raise the final total to even higher levels.

"As we predicted it would be, this was one of our strongest auctions ever," said Ed Jaster, Vice-President for Dallas-based Heritage. "Bidder participation was fierce across all categories, resulting in some incredible prices realized and new records set. Another factor in the success of this auction was, undoubtedly, the participation of bidders through our new live bidding platform, Heritage Live. By logging in at www.HA.com/Live, bidders were able to follow the auction remotely, and place their bids in real time, competing with those bidders on the floor. Nearly 600 bidders competed in this fashion, significantly increasing the action on each lot."

"As always, Golden Age comics were strong performers," Jaster said, "with truly exceptional books bringing truly exceptional prices. At the top of anyone's 'truly exceptional' list would have to be the legendary Marvel Comics #1 Pay Copy, an outstanding piece of four-color history that fetched $204,999. Also impressive were the prices realized for the Mile High Green Lanterns. The unrestored books in this run brought, on average, six times top of Guide! A CGC-graded NM 9.4 copy of Four Color #386, a key book for Barks collectors as it's considered to be Uncle Scrooge #1, sold for $28,680, a solid 11 times top of Guide."

"Speaking of Carl Barks," Jaster said, "his original oil paintings topped the list of original art sold in this auction. 'Spoiling the Concert,' from 1973, a painting that has never been reproduced in any form, brought an impressive $155,350, while 'Dubious Doings at Dismal Downs,' featuring Uncle Scrooge, Donald, and his nephews, brought $150,570."

"Original art collectors had a lot to chose from in this auction," Jaster said, "including some exquisite Charles Schulz Peanuts originals. A Sunday strip, dated March 1, 1959 and featuring Linus and Charlie Brown attempting to fly a kite, sold for $77,675. This is a new Heritage price record for a Peanuts Sunday, and may be the highest price any such piece has ever attained. Another significant result in this area was the baseball-themed daily featuring Charlie Brown and Lucy dated April 9, 1980 that realized $26,290, certainly the highest price ever paid for a Peanuts daily from such a late date."

"Proving that art doesn't have to be from the Golden or Silver Ages to be valuable," Jaster said, "were two beautiful Bronze/Modern Age pieces. A panel page from the critically and popularly acclaimed graphic novel, Batman:The Killing Joke, written by Alan Moore with art by Brian Bolland, brought a staggering $35,252, an incredible price for a non-splash page from that era. Also, the Jim Lee/Scott Williams cover to X-Men #3, from 1991, brought $25,850, a new Heritage record for a cover of such recent vintage."

"We were pleased to offer several original covers from past editions of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide," Jaster said, "none of which had ever been offered to the public before. The top piece was a beautiful World War II-themed painting by Alex Schomburg spotlighting Timely's biggest heroes: Captain America, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, which sold for $41,825."

"In other categories," Jaster said, "a copy of the October 1912 All-Story Magazine, featuring the first appearance of Tarzan, brought $23,900, the second highest price ever paid for a pulp magazine, exceeded only by the McLaughlin copy of the same pulp we sold in our September 2006 Signature auction. Silver Age comics continued to show strength, with many CGC-graded copies selling for anywhere from five to nine times Guide. A good example is the Fantastic Four #1, CGC-graded FN+ 6.5 from the Janowicz Collection with white pages and a snow-white background cover we offered in this auction. It realized a whopping $13,384, nearly $3,000 more than the Overstreet VF 8.0 value. To further put it in perspective, it was the third highest winning bid we've ever had for a copy of this key issue in any grade, behind two VF+ copies that went for $18,400 and $14,662 respectively. We've auctioned six VF 8.0 copies in the past, with winning bids ranging from $9,982 to $12,650. The one time we've previously sold a FN+ 6.5 copy, it went for $5,750, making this a truly outstanding result!"

"We're already hard at work on our next Signature auction," Jaster said, which will be held on November 15-17 in Dallas, Texas. Interested bidders can watch the auction grow at www.HA.com, where they'll find full-color, enlargeable images of each lot, complete with our detailed catalog descriptions. Once the auction opens, they'll even be able to bid online from their home or office."

Highlights of the auction included:

Marvel Comics #1 Pay Copy (Timely, 1939) CGC VF/NM 9.0 Off-white pages:
REALIZED: $204,999

Carl Barks - "Spoiling the Concert" Oil Painting Original Art (1973):
REALIZED: $155,350

Carl Barks - "Dubious Doings at Dismal Downs" Oil Painting Original Art (1986):
REALIZED: $150,570

Charles Schulz - Peanuts Sunday Comic Strip Original Art, dated 3-01-59 (United Feature Syndicate, 1959):
REALIZED: $77,675

Green Lantern #3 Mile High pedigree (DC, 1942) CGC NM 9.4 White pages:
REALIZED: $50,787

Green Lantern #1 Mile High pedigree (DC, 1941) CGC Apparent VF+ 8.5 Slight (A) White pages:
REALIZED: $44,812

Alex Schomburg - Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #21 Cover Featuring Captain America, The Human Torch, And The Sub-Mariner Original Art (1991):
REALIZED: $41,825

Batman #1 (DC, 1940) CGC FN+ 6.5 Cream to off-white pages:
REALIZED: $38,837

Jack Kirby and Mike Royer - The Forever People #10, Complete 22-page Story "The Scavengers" Original Art (DC, 1972):
REALIZED: $38,837

Jim Lee and Scott Williams - X-Men #3 Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1991):
REALIZED: $35,850

Brian Bolland - Batman: The Killing Joke, page 32 Original Art (DC, 1988):
REALIZED: $35,252

Charles Schulz - Peanuts Daily Comic Strip Original Art, dated 5-18-53 (United Feature Syndicate, 1953):
REALIZED: $33,460

Charles Schulz - Peanuts Daily Comic Strip Original Art, dated 7-12-65 (United Features Syndicate, 1965):
REALIZED: $28,680

Four Color #386 Uncle Scrooge (Dell, 1952) CGC NM 9.4 Off-white to white pages:
REALIZED: $28,680

Charles Schulz - Peanuts Daily Comic Strip Original Art, dated 4-9-80 (United Feature Syndicate, 1980):
REALIZED: $26,290

Detective Comics #1 (DC, 1937) CGC GD/VG 3.0 Cream to off-white pages:
REALIZED: $23,900

Mark Bagley and John Romita Sr. - Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #22 Cover Featuring Spider-Man and The Green Goblin Original Art (1992):
REALIZED: $23,900

All-Story Magazine Oct 1912 (Munsey, 1912) Condition: GD/VG:
REALIZED: $23,900

Wally Wood - Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #9 Science Fiction Cover Original Art (1979):
REALIZED: $22,705

Fantastic Four #1 (Marvel, 1961) CGC FN+ 6.5 White pages:
REALIZED: $13,384

Prospective consignors and sellers of Comics and Comic Art are invited to www.HA.com/Sell. Or simply email Ed Jaster at EdJ@HA.com, or call 1-800-872-6467, ext. 288.

To reserve your copy of any Heritage auction catalog, please contact Client Services at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 150, or visit www.HA.com/Catalog to order by email.