At auction: Detective #27 comic, first Batman, worth $400K+, was purchased by consignor in 1939 for 10c

Heritage Auctions features best Carl Barks and Hank Porter Disney work, R. Crumb original cover art, high-grade Green Lantern #76, Daredevil #1, original Miller, Frazetta and Watchmen art, Nov. 18-19

DALLAS, TX – A 7.0 CGC-graded copy of Detective Comics #27, the famous and very valuable first appearance of “The Batman,” consigned by Sacramento, CA native Robert Irwin, its original owner – the very person who bought it off the newsstand for 10 cents in May 1939 – will be the centerpiece of Heritage Auctions very deep Nov. 18-19 Signature® Comics & Comic Art Auction. It is estimated at $400,000+.

“It’s amazing to consider that the seller of this comic book, Robert Irwin, is the same person who bought it off the stands more than seven decades ago,” said Ed Jaster, Senior Vice President of Heritage Auctions. “This is the first time that’s ever happened for one of these huge comic books and, more incredible, it’s the only comic book the man kept of the many he purchased over the years. Imagine realizing that the one comic you kept from your childhood, and that you tucked carefully away, emerges as one of the great pop culture treasures of history.”

When asked why he kept this particular comic book, Mr. Irwin replied simply, “I don’t know. I must have just liked the cover.”

Chief among the other high profile lots in this auction is what many Disney aficionados consider to be the very best Carl Barks painting ever done by the famed “Good Duck” artist – and the cover of his catalogue raisonné – his 1973 oil painting This Dollar Saved My Life At Whitehorse, estimated at $150,000. This is closely followed in terms of Disney desirability by the incredibly detailed line work from Hank Porter’s original 1938 Christmas Carolers illustration art, believed to have been created as the cover for a Sunday newspaper supplement, most likely Hearst's American Weekly Magazine, as the Disney newspaper comic strips were syndicated by Hearst's King Features, and a tie-in with Disney would have been a natural. It is estimated at $75,000+.

“Two unquestioned original Disney masterpieces in one auction is astounding to us,” said Jaster “We expect Disney collectors to go absolutely crazy over these lots, as well as over the rest of Barks’ artwork in Part two of The Kerby Confer Collection.”

The original R. Crumb cover artwork for Motor City Comics #1 (Last Gasp/Rip Off Press, 1969) – Crumb’s third solo comic – takes the auction back into distinctly more subversive, but no less valuable territory, as Crumb’s favorite female freedom fighter, Lenore Goldberg, delivers a crushing blow to "the man" in this fabulous cover. It is estimated at $75,000.

“It doesn’t get too much better than this great piece from the hand of America's number one Underground artist,” said Jaster. “This masterpiece hails from Crumb's ‘golden era,’ when he was traveling around the country, in this case Detroit, following his muse and doing comic pages everywhere he went. There is no doubt he was at the top of his form when he did this in 1969.”

With the high-powered Detective Comics #27 comic and so many amazing pieces of original comic art on the block Nov. 18-19, it’s important not to overlook the top-shelf vintage comic books offered elsewhere in this auction, many of which are expected to be among the most hotly anticipated and contested lots of the entire auction.

These comics start with a CGC NM+ 9.6 graded copy of Daredevil #1 (Marvel, 1964), an issue tied for the highest-graded copy of DD’s debut, estimated at $60,000+. This important issue will be closely followed by the only CGC-graded NM/MT 9.8 copy of Green Lantern #76 (DC, 1970), generally considered to be the first Bronze Age comic. It is estimated at $40,000+.

“This comic is going to be one of the most pursued lots in the whole auction,” said Barry Sandoval, Director of Operations for Comics Original Comic Art at Heritage. “It was recently featured on the front page of the New York Times Arts & Entertainment section, and is as close as you can get to a lock to break the record price for a 1970s comic, which currently stands at $32,001.”

A pair of William Randolph Hearst birthday and Christmas tribute books form what are assuredly two of the most remarkable lots Heritage has ever offered in a Comics & Original Comics Art Auction, as both of these books contain original color comics by every top King Features Syndicate comic strip artist of the early 1940s, including legendary names like Alex Raymond, Phil Davis, Hal Foster, George Herriman and Chic Young, among the many. They are estimated at $30,000+ and $25,000+, respectively.

Further highlights include, but are certainly not limited to:

Frank Miller and Joe Rubinstein Wolverine (Limited series) #3 Cover Original Art (Marvel, 1982): Here's a sensationally iconic and striking cover illustration by Frank Miller from his heralded run on the limited series that showcased one of the Modern Age's most popular characters ever, Logan, the Wolverine, in his very first solo comic title. At once dramatic and somber, Miller and inker Joe Rubinstein have created a show-stopping design, with its expressive fine line work contrasted against deep pools of mysterious shadows. Miller's Wolverine series is considered one of the highlights of its era, and covers from the series are seldom, if ever, seen in the market. This graphic gem is one of the key images from this great artist's peak period and Marvel Comics in general. Estimate: $50,000+.

Frank Frazetta After the Fox Movie Poster Illustration Original Art (United Artists, 1966): The Peter Sellers comedy, costarring Victor Mature and Sellers' real-life love, Britt Ekland, gets the Frazetta touch in this frantic movie poster illustration. Estimate: $30,000+.

Dave Gibbons Watchmen #1 Page 1 Original Art (DC, 1986): It starts here – the incredible 12-part saga that shook up the comics world and later spawned a hit movie. Watchmen pages do not come along often, in fact Heritage has never offered one before. This is a page Watchmen fans have scrutinized at length, not only because it's the first page of the series but because Alan Moore's detailed script for the page has been reprinted in a couple of the deluxe reprint editions. Themes introduced here include the blood-stained "happy face" badge (a motif that recurs throughout the series) with what Moore called a "jarringly inane expression". We're also introduced to Rorschach's journal, and of course the "End is Nigh" man in the third panel later turns out to be none other than Rorschach himself, though as Moore stressed to Gibbons at the time, "I don't want any particular importance attached to this scene." In general, Gibbons delivered the "familiar and yet curiously altered cityscape" Moore called for, and his visuals masterfully set the tone for this unsettling saga. Estimate: $20,000+.

Heritage Auctions, headed by Steve Ivy, Jim Halperin and Greg Rohan, is the world’s third largest auction house, with annual sales more than $600 million, and 500,000+ registered online bidder members. For more information about Heritage Auctions, and to join and gain access to a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit HA.com.

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