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Superman Items Surpass Auction Estimates at Heritage Comics & Comic Art Event
Heritage Auctions began its four-day Comics & Comic Art event with a first session full of slam-bang action that smashed most expectations and pre-auction estimates. After a mere 105 minutes had elapsed, the Platinum Session filled with historic titles and significant works of original art had tallied almost $3.3 million.
Sales from session 2, which kicked off later in the day Thursday and featured more than 150 additional comics, pushed the first day's total past the $5 million mark. Nearly every single page of original art sold for well beyond pre-auction estimates; some doubled and tripled expectations.
Among the items sold were an original 1939 vintage copy of Superman #1 (CGC VG/FN 5.0) and original artwork from the back cover of Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel/DC, 1976) as drawn & inked by Ross Andru, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano.
The issue of Superman #1 sold for $360,000 and is currently ranked #3 on Overstreet's Top 100 Golden Age Comics list and extremely difficult to find in nice grades with this copy ranking among the 10 nicest copies CGC has certified to date. The first four Action Comics Superman stories are reprinted here, and creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster provide a new 2-page origin plus four additional pages not published in the original Action Comics origin story. The first pinup in comics is the back cover of this issue.
Original artwork from the back cover of Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man sold for more than twice its estimate at $33,600. The comic featured the first history-making heroic crossover between Marvel and DC! The image was changed slightly for publication, with the background simplified, and Spider-Man's head changed to make him look straight at the reader rather than back at Superman. Marvel and DC split creative duties amongst their creators, with Marvel tapping Ross Andru for the pencil work, and DC putting forth Dick Giordano for the inks. Neal Adams was brought in to do redraws of Superman figures, but was not credited.
The Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction continues with a floor session Friday at 11 a.m. Central, followed by four more Friday-Sunday sessions. For a complete list of results from the entire auction, register for free at HA.com.
