DALLAS, TX.- Frank Frazetta’s cover painting for the 1967 Lancer/Ace Conan paperback, a landmark of modern fantasy art commonly known as Man Ape (1966), sold for a record-shattering $13.5 million including the buyer’s premium on September 12 at Heritage Auctions. This new world record for an original Frazetta painting follows the parade of Frazetta records set by the auction house in recent years and illuminates the ever-increasing desirability of the American artist’s works. This is currently the highest auction result for any Frazetta work and any Comic or Fantasy artwork globally.

“This is one of the most important paintings in the history of fantasy art ever to come to auction,” says Todd Hignite, Heritage’s Executive Vice President. “Frazetta didn’t just illustrate Conan — he transformed him into an icon. This result is a testament to the power and permanence of his vision and to the unmatched reverence collectors have for his work.”

The painting, consigned by the Frazetta family, sold on Friday morning in a one-lot auction — part of a sweeping three-day Comic Art summer event that wraps on Sunday, September 14. Scores of bids online preceded the live event, and the morning’s live bidding in the auction room was brief, fast and furious.

The painting’s image crystallized a literary hero and reset the expectations of popular Illustration Art. Completed in 1966 and published the following year, the oil-on-canvas masterpiece endures as one of the most recognizable of Frazetta’s Conan works and among the greatest images the artist ever produced.

A favorite of Frazetta, Man Ape had until now remained with the artist and his family since its creation, preserving an unbroken link to Frazetta’s studio.

Holly Frazetta, Frank Frazetta’s daughter and the co-founder of frazettagirls.com, says, “Our family is beyond thrilled with this incredible result — and the most gratifying aspect is knowing without a doubt how proud my dad would have been. He often talked about how much breaking records meant to him, but I don’t think he could have imagined this record! My daughter Sara and I are blown away by the enthusiasm Conan has generated and see the entire process as a celebration of the Frazetta legacy. We’re so grateful to Heritage for collaborating with us over many years as expert co-custodians of that legacy — their commitment has helped us realize record result after record result, and our relationship has played a huge role in continuing to expose new generations of fans to Frank’s fantastic artwork, which is the goal of everything we do. So, our sincere thanks to Heritage and congratulations to the winning bidder of this masterpiece!”

Today’s staggering auction record joins a rich history of Heritage claiming the auction records for Frank Frazetta’s original works. In May 2019, Egyptian Queen realized $5.4 million at Heritage, setting a world and house record for original Comic Book and Fantasy Art. That record was surpassed by Dark Kingdom, which sold for $6 million at Heritage in June 2023. His drawings go for out-of-this-world prices as well through Heritage. In June of this year, a magnificent Frazetta 1954 pen-and-ink work, Famous Funnies No. 214 Buck Rogers Original Cover Art, which portrays Buck Rogers sailing through space, sold for $1,035,000.

Man Ape tops them all. “This painting by Frank Frazetta is one of the most recognizable and iconic images of Conan the Cimmerian,” says Robert E. Howard historian Mark Finn. Drawn from Howard’s tale “Rogues in the House,” the scene stages Conan’s brutal encounter with the man-ape Thak. Frazetta distilled the story into an unforgettable tableau: a barbarian warrior squared against a hulking beast, each figure modeled with authority and electrified by movement.

When Man Ape appeared on the cover of the 1967 Conan paperback reissues, it did more than sell books — it reinvented a character for a new era. “Frazetta’s covers for the Lancer/Ace series introduced a new theatricality into paperback illustration,” says Hignite. “They made Howard’s prose feel palpable to a new generation of readers, and for a huge number, these images became the stories.”

Those covers ignited a Conan resurgence in the late 1960s, sparking Marvel Comics’ long-running series and later feature films. Frazetta’s imagery, elemental and larger-than-life, redefined how the barbarian would be envisioned across all media. Posters, comic book covers and endless reproductions spread the image globally, yet the power of the original remains unique.

“Frazetta’s work continues to set the benchmark for Comic and Fantasy art at auction,” Hignite says. “We’re proud to be the auction house trusted with his legacy, and with each new record, we see more clearly just how influential and enduring his imagery truly is.”