DALLAS, TX.- The original artwork for the first of six Dark Horse Comics Star Wars comic books soared to $143,750 – more than four times its high pre-auction estimate – to lead Heritage Auctions’ International Original Art & Anime Signature® Auction to $2,346,577 in total sales Oct. 1-3.

The outstanding results in Original art, as well as U.S, Franco-Belgian and Anime helped the event shatter the Heritage record, a 47% increase over the $1.56 million International Comic & Animation Auction in March 2021.

Nearly 3,000 bidders from around the globe got in on the bidding in the event, which produced near-perfect sell-through rates of 99.9% by lots sold and 99.5% by value.

Among the most famous images of Star Wars pop culture in both Europe and the United States, the top lot, Mathieu Lauffray Star Wars: Heir to the Empire #1 of 6 Cover Original Art (Dark Horse Comics, 1995), was offered at auction for the first time. It was consigned from the artist’s personal collection.

“Mathieu Lauffray’s original art was the cover lot for this event, and with good reason,” Heritage Auctions International Comic Art Director Olivier Delflas said. “It is an extraordinarily powerful image from the cover of one of the comics tied to the most popular film franchise of all time. His passion for this assignment was rewarded through feedback from a number of important sources, including Lucasfilm.”

Lauffray called Star Wars “hands down, the most important work of fiction to me. I discovered the trilogy indoors, in 1977, 1980, and 1983. The world was never the same afterwards.”

Hergé (Georges Remi dit) Les Aventures de Tintin, Vol 714 pour Sydney Tome 22 Double Planche 15 Préparatoire Originale (Le Journal Tintin, 1967-68) drew an avalance of 42 bids before closing at $125,000. Autographed by the revered artist, the page comes from one of Tintin's science fiction theme-based albums, the only one in the series in which the action takes place within a limited amount of time — in this case, about 24 hours. The story was printed first in 1967 and 1968 in Journal Tintin magazine, with the album by Casterman Editions following in 1968. The preliminary art is Hergé's original work, so the finished version rarely deviates from it. The artist never has parted with more than 10 of his preliminary arts on Tintin's works; all the others are carefully kept at Studios Hergé.

Albert Uderzo Astérix, La Rose et le Glaive #29 Story Page 38 Original Art (Les Editions Albert René, 1991) also sparked 42 bids before ending at $118,750. The page shines a spotlight on Asterix the Gaul, the character the artist created in 1959. The eighth panel of this exceedingly rare page features an Asterix drawn outside the panel, as well as Dogmatix, Panoramix, the irrepressible Gaul villagers and a poor Roman, who will never recover from his visit, all bathed in this unique humor, “a bag in Lutetia skin is signed Herpès”!




Don Rosa Kalle Anka & C:o [Donald Duck & Company] #1992-33 Uncle Scrooge Cover Original Art (Egmont, 1992) nearly doubled its high pre-auction estimate when it brought $68,750 from 48 bids. Originally published in Denmark by Egmont in 1992, the “Last of the Clan McDuck” story is Chapter 1 of The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck. The illustration depicts an older Scrooge McDuck nostalgically reminiscing on his adventures as a young duck, and how he acquired his lucky number one dime. This story was reprinted in the U.S. for the first time in Uncle Scrooge #285 in 1994.

Enric (Enric Torres-Prat) Vampirella, the Daughter of Drakulon Painting Original Art Illustration (Undated) more than tripled its high pre-auction estimate when it climbed to $62,625. This painting of the Daughter of Drakulon comes from one of the premier Vampirella artists, successfully capturing the allure and sensuality of the character.
A Pokémon French First Edition Base Set Sealed Booster Box (Wizards of the Coast, 1999) drew 61 bids before finding a new home at $47,500. It features 102 cards, most notably the Charizard, and 36 booster packs, each of which includes 11 cards, for a total of 396 cards. These box sets have become very scarce, due to their low print run, and very few still remain in this sealed state. Since the cards haven't been handled, they are likely all in GEM MINT condition. The box is a sealed French edition in its original shrink-wrap that includes the Wizards of the Coast logo.

More than two dozen bids poured in for Neon Genesis Evangelion Eva Unit 01 Cellulo de Production Cel A13, Production Background (Gainax, c. 1995-96) until it reached $47,500, more than twice the high pre-auction estimate. From one of the most beloved, influential, critically acclaimed anime of all time, this incredible hand-painted original production cel from the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime. Neon Genesis Evangelion led to a rebirth of the anime industry and has since become a cultural icon.

Other highlights included, but were not limited to:

• $37,500: Don Rosa Kalle Anka & C:o [Donald Duck & Company] #1992-33 Story Page 7 Uncle Scrooge Original Art (Egmont, 1992)

• $35,000: John Byrne and Terry Austin Uncanny X-Men Vol 1 #122 Story Page 6 Original Art (Marvel, 1979)

• $32,500: Charles Burns Skin Deep, Tales of Doomed Romance Splash Page 29 Original Art (Penguin Books, 1992)

• $32,500: Don Rosa Kalle Anka & C:o [Donald Duck & Company] #1992-33 Story Page 15 Uncle Scrooge Original Art (Egmont, 1992)

• $32,500: Don Rosa Kalle Anka & C:o [Donald Duck & Company] #1992-33 Story Page 1 Uncle Scrooge Original Art (Egmont, 1992)