It was a big day for Heritage Auctions, with a couple of new record sales, as well as new records for Jack Kirby, Harvey Kurtzman and Richard Corben.
A near-mint copy of Captain America Comics No. 1 has become one of the world's most valuable comic books. The issue was printed in 1941 and features Captain America punching Adolf Hitler on its cover. It stands as the highest price ever paid at auction for Steve Rogers' debut with a whopping price tag of $3,120,000. The Super Soldier joins Superman and Spider-Man as the only three superheroes whose debuts have sold for more than $3 million. It is also the fourth-highest price ever paid for a comic book at auction.
This copy of the comic book introduced Cap's sidekick Bucky and their Nazi nemesis Red Skull. It also bears a grade of Near Mint 9.4 from Certified Guaranty Company. It's the finest copy of Jack Kirby and Joe Simon's powerhouse comic book Heritage Auctions has offered in the last twenty years.
The Sentinel of Liberty and Kirby set another record during Heritage's first session of their three-day auction with the splash page from 1964's Tales of Suspense No. 59. The splash page includes Captain America's first solo Silver Age story and sold for a whopping $630,000. This is the highest price ever paid at auction for a "King" Kirby original. The previous record holder was the cover of Fantastic Four No. 86, which sold for $480,000.
The entire 10-page story kicked off Heritage's April 7th-10th event today and marks the first time that the entire work has ever been to auction.
Be sure to check out the first page by clicking here! The 10 pages sold for a combined $975,600.
“Every time I looked up during the comic art portion of the session, a new record was falling, and with the comic books, that trend continued,” said Heritage Auctions Vice President Barry Sandoval. “We knew this was a selection of truly exceptional material, and we’re thrilled bidders agreed with that.”
Captain America wasn't the only Marvel comic making waves today as a copy of the Fantastic Four's 1961 debut sold for $1.5 million. The comic marks the first time the world saw Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, the Human Torch, and The Thing have hit the million-dollar mark. It is also the second-highest price ever paid for a non-Golden Age comic book.
Today saw the very first painting from the Richard Corben Estate make it to auction - the original art for the poster for 1981's Heavy Metal film (you can check it out here). It sold for $288,000, which is seven times more than Corben's previous auction records.
The classic cover of MAD No. 9 sold for $264,000. This is a new record for Harvey Kurtzman and is one of his few original MAD ocvers to hit the auction block. It sold for almost three times his previous auction high.
Frank Miller's cover art for the third book in his The Dark Knight Returns mini-series sold for $264,000. The series featured Miller's new Robin, 13-year old Carrie Kelly. The series is credited for transforming Batman's Caped Crusader into The Dark Knight and has irrevocably altered his character in comics, cinema and pop culture.
Heritage Auction's Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction and bidding runs through the April 10th. You can learn more by heading over to their official site - Comics.HA.com