The blockbuster sale at Heritage Auctions concluded with a staggering sum of $29.36 million in their recent Comic Art and Comic Books Signature® Auctions, underscoring the continually skyrocketing interest in pop culture memorabilia. A standout piece was Frank Frazetta's "Luana" poster art, which fetched a cool $1.75 million as part of the Howard Lowery Fantasy and Science Fiction collection, which, in total, exceeded all expectations.
Another star item from the Lowery trove was Frazetta's "The Moon Men," fetching $718,750, according to Heritage Auctions. Heritage's Executive Vice President, Todd Hignite, expressed a robust interest in science fiction and fantasy art. Neal Adams' cover of Superman breaking free from Kryptonite chains brought in $1.5 million, charting record territory for a pencil-and-ink comic cover.
While these amounts might already seem sky-high, the actual comic books held their own show-stopping moments. Teased by an attic find in Northern California, a pristine Superman No. 1, graded at 9.0, was among the long-hidden treasures unearthed by a set of brothers narrowly rolling the dice that they would find anything but cobwebs. Yet, as they rifled through their mother's belongings posthumously, they came upon the famed issue, which would eventually sell for an earth-shattering $9.12 million, outstripping the previous record of $6 million for an Action Comics No. 1 sold the previous year, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
"It wasn't like we said, 'Let's go find that comic book,'" the youngest brother, who's 57, told The Hollywood Reporter. Of course, in an unexpected and cinematic twist, they found what their mother had long insinuated to exist but had never substantiated. Further underlining their accidental windfall, the brothers uncovered additional Action Comics issues, each setting records for their respective issue, with sales prices ranging from $31,200 to $264,000.
This lucrative find wasn't the only testament to the enduring appeal of comic book lore; Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man No. 316 page, featuring a Venom-focused plot twist, sold for $218,750. Meanwhile, Gustaf Tenggren's work for Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fetched $187,500, setting a record for the artist, as laid out by Heritage Auctions. Norm Saunders' painting for the "Mars Attacks!" trading card also achieved record-breaking success, selling for $150,000.
