DALLAS, TX.- Heritage Auctions, the world's largest comics auctioneer, set a new world record for the largest weekly comics auction ever held, when its Sunday & Monday Comics, Animation, Video Games & Art Weekly Online Auction, which closed Feb. 1 on HA.com, amassed $621,231 in sales.
The two-day event drew 3,123 bidders, 537 of whom won one or more of the 1,166 lots.
The total smashed the previous record for a weekly auction, when Heritage's weekly total reached $573,095 in its March 3, 2019 Sunday Internet Comics, Animation & Art auction.
"Our weekly sales have grown incredibly over the last 20 years," Heritage Auctions Senior Vice President Ed Jaster said. "The market for vintage comics and comic art is on a run of nearly 10 years of escalating values, animation art is at a new level, and new categories like video games and Pokémon cards are on a trajectory to become standalone categories for us.
"Not so long ago, we were very pleased with a $100,000 sale, and now we've crossed $600,000 in sales for a single week! Considering how popular comic book characters have become throughout the world in recent years, most mid-priced comics and comic art pieces still seem quite reasonably priced to me, with plenty of room for further growth."
A staple in most serious collections, Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962) CGC GD- 1.8 Cream to off white pages was the auction's top lot after it climbed to $16,800. The top-ranked issue on Overstreet's list of Top 50 Silver Age Comics, the issue features the origin and first appearance of Spider-Man, as well as the first appearances of key supporting characters like Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
The sale also drew collectors of in-demand original art. Sanjulian (Manuel Perez Clemente) - Death Dealer Painting Frank Frazetta Tribute Original Art (2020)generated nearly two dozen bids before selling for $9,000. This vibrant oil on canvas by Sanjulian, a noted Spanish painter and cover artist, is a tribute to Frazetta's iconic Death Dealer character, ready to strike.
Another issue in high demand was Journey Into Mystery #83 (Marvel, 1962) CGC VG 4.0 White pages, which prompted nearly 40 bids before finding a new home at $8,100. The No. 6 issue on Overstreet's Top 50 Silver Age Comics list, with a cover by Jack Kirby and art by Kirby and Steve Ditko, includes the origin and first appearance of Thor.
Other top lots in the sale included, but were not limited to:
$6,900: X-Men #12 (Marvel, 1965) CGC NM- 9.2 White pages
$6,000: Alex Ross JSA Kingdom Come Special: Superman #1 Story Page 7 Original Art (DC, 2009)
$5,760: The Incredible Hulk #181 (Marvel, 1974) CGC VF+ 8.5 Off-white to white pages
$5,520: Tales of Suspense #39 (Marvel, 1963) CGC GD+ 2.5 Cream to off-white pages
$5,040: The Avengers #55 (Marvel, 1968) CGC NM/MT 9.8 White pages
Heritage Auctions' next Sunday & Monday Comics, Animation, Video Games & Art Weekly Online Auction includes 1,217 lots. The event closes Sunday, Feb. 7 for comic books and Monday, Feb. 8 for everything else on
HA.com.