Page 37 - JOA-Oct-21

Heritage Tops $26.5 Million in Comics Auction

t’s going to take weeks to fully digest the results of Heritage Auctions’ for $45,600 that same day. This is more
September 8 - 12, 2021 Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction. The than five times the previously reported
IDallas-based auction house realized a (very) grand total of highest sale price for CBPG #1.
$26,555,721 for the event, which saw a number of high-profile record “The most important book in the
prices and solid results across the board. Whether or not the market will history of comic collecting, and, astonish-
cool off anytime soon is a subject for debate; that this particular auction is ingly, a copy has survived in this condi-
one for the record books is not open for discussion. tion. The whiteness of the cover is
remarkable – even nice copies we’ve seen
Amazing Fantasy #15 Sells tend to have a fair bit of tanning. Given
for $3.6 Million the thickness of this book (well over 200
The friendly neighborhood Spider- pages) it probably never should have been
Man’s debut appearance has just set a staple-bound in the first place, another
new world record for the most valuable factor that has prevented many high-grade
comic. A CGC-certified 9.6 copy of copies from surviving. And there were Selling for in excess of five
Amazing Fantasy #15—the highest- only 1,000 of this white cover edition to times the previous top price,
graded copy on the CGC census—sold begin with,” Heritage said in the catalog a CGC-certified copy of
for $3.6 million at Heritage on description of this edition. This is the only The Overstreet Comic Book
September 9 to kick things off. copy certified 9.6 on the CGC census, Price Guide #1 (1970) closed at
“What better book to break the which shows no higher-graded copies. $45,600 at Heritage.
record than the debut of Marvel’s most “Last year, when we were celebrating Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
beloved character, Spider-Man?” the 50th anniversary of the Guide, I ended up using the phrase ‘I never
Heritage Vice President Lon Allen said. would have imagined…’ more than a few times. Well, I can definitely say
“Amazing Fantasy #15 is the Action that I never imagined Overstreet #1 selling for in excess of $45,000,”
Comics #1 or Detective Comics #27 of the Overstreet said.
next generation. I’m honored to have
been a part of the most important comic Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man
book sale to date. In my 20 years at It’s not uncommon for franchises to crossover. Whether we’re talking
This CGC-certified 9.6 copy Heritage, to bring the most expensive Aliens vs. Predator (the comic book version spawned the video games, then
Amazing Fantasy #15 sold for the book to market has been the pinnacle of the movies), Star Trek/X-Men, or even Tarzan on the Planet of the Apes,
record price of $3.6 million, my career.” the financial and creative rewards can be very compelling.
making it the most expensive This sale topped the previous world However, it’s hard to replicate the impact of 1976’s collaboration of
American comic book sold to date. record set by Superman. The Man of DC Comics and Marvel Comics on their first high-profile crossover,
Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions Steel’s first appearance in Action Comics Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man. In those days, such a thing was
#1 CGC 8.5 sold for $3.25 million in April 2021 in a private sale brokered almost completely unheard of. Its impact was bigger than its Treasury-size
by ComicConnect. (almost tabloid) format.
Prior to this sale, the highest price paid for a copy of Spider-Man/Peter DC Publisher Carmine Infantino developed the cover concept, which
Parker’s first appearance was a CGC 9.6 that realized $1.1 million in was then executed by artist Ross Andru. It helped that in addition to being
2011. Heritage’s previous top sale for Amazing Fantasy #15 was a CGC a talented draftsman, Andru was no stranger to either DC or Marvel.
9.4 that reached $795,000 in March 2020. Inker Dick Giordano provided the finishes.
“The sale of this CGC-certified 9.6 copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 Along with writer Gerry Conway, Andru and Giordano delivered the
signifies a lot of strength in the marketplace, the enormous demand for story’s interior art, which, as the title suggests, pitted Superman against
rare, high-grade key issues, and the continuing appeal of Spider-Man. It Spider-Man (hey, it’s a superhero team-up story, we know how they start).
is, if you’ll forgive the choice of adjective, amazing,” said Robert M. With Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus as the villains, the story and art
Overstreet, author and publisher of Overstreet’s Comic Book Price Guide. captured so much of what made comics cool in that era – personal rela-
This copy of Spidey’s debut is among the 161 books in this auction tionships, egos, trials, and tribulations, combined with bombastic threats
from The #1 Amazing Spider-Man Registry Set Collection. An Amazing from intelligent villains playing out on a grand stage.
Spider-Man #1 CGC 9.4 hammered for $264,000. That book introduces Andru and Giordano’s clear storytelling moves the story along briskly.
J. Jonah Jameson and Chameleon, has the first Fantastic Four crossover, There were also chapter-break asides with the respective origins of the
retells Spider-Man’s origin, and is his first titular comic. Also, the Steve heroes and villains, and the whole package stands up remarkably well.
Ditko Amazing Spider-Man #18, page 12 original art featuring Spidey and It’s still a lot of fun to read after all these years, though any kind of
Sandman draw $156,000. higher-grade copy is going to cost you a lot more than the original, then
almost-astronomical $2 cover price.
Overstreet #1 Sets Its Own Record
As if the grand total and the splash of the Amazing Fantasy #15 sale
J.C. Vaughn is Vice-President of Publishing
weren’t enough to put this event in the history books, a CGC-certified 9.6 for Gemstone Publishing. Gemstone’s Amanda
copy of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #1 with white pages sold
Sheriff contributed to this column.
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