DALLAS, TX.- Proving itself once again the dominating force in the comic art and comic books collectibles industry, Heritage Auctions wrapped up its Nov. 19–23 Comic Art Signature® Auction with a final tally of $14.91million — the day after its landmark Comic Books Signature® Auction realized $14.45 million and included the highest price ever paid for a comic book, among a handful of records broken over the course of the five-day pair of auctions, each of which achieved 100% sell-through.

“Godfather of Fantasy Art” Frank Frazetta’s 1972 painting for the poster and promotional art for the U.S. release of the Italian jungle-adventure flick Luana — and subsequently used for that movie’s 1974 Ballantine Books novelization and a 13-page adaptation of the story in the comic Vampirella — took in $1.75 million to lead the comic art auction.

The Frazetta painting was part of Howard Lowery’s Fantasy and Science Fiction collection, a special single-owner catalog and session of items from the famed collector and auctioneer. Another Frazetta painting from the Lowery collection, The Moon Men, created as the cover for the 1974 Ace paperback edition of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel of the same name, realized $718,750. The collection widely surpassed expectations, says Todd Hignite, Heritage’s Executive Vice President, and those expectations were high to begin with — for the Lowery collection and the auction as a whole.

“The Howard Lowery Collection showed an intense collector appetite for science fiction and fantasy-related art,” Hignite says. “We saw very strong prices across the board for all eras, genres and artists, which is particularly gratifying, as the market is incredibly deep,”

In 1971, Superman No. 233 ushered in a new era for the Man of Steel as a scientific experiment gone wrong set off a chain reaction that resulted in all the Kryptonite on Earth being transformed into iron, thereby eliminating Superman’s famous Achilles heel, his vulnerability to the element from his home planet. Neal Adams’ cover illustration of Superman breaking free from Kryptonite chains for the issue met this historic moment, and it set history all over again when it sold for $1.5 million at auction. Not only was this an auction record price for an Adams work, it also commanded the highest amount ever paid for a comic cover’s pencil-and-ink original. It beat the record set by Frazetta’s Famous Funnies No. 214 Buck Rogers cover at Heritage in June.

The cover art was also a callback to the chain-busting back-cover image of Superman No. 1, an issue that also made history as part of the concurrent Comic Books Signature® Auction when the highest-ever-graded copy of the 1939 issue, found by a Northern California family in the attic of their late mother's home last year, took the record as the world’s most expensive comic book after selling for $9.12 million with buyer’s premium, besting the previous record set by an 8.5-graded copy of Action Comics No. 1 that sold for $6 million through Heritage Auctions in 2024.

Todd McFarlane’s run on The Amazing Spider-Man was an especially beloved era for Spidey, and this kinetic, dramatic three-panel action page showcasing his unmistakable style and attention to detail from No. 316 is an exceptionally fine example. The page comes from a key issue for the series, as it marks the return of Venom, out for vengeance after escaping the Vault — and $218,750 will now escape the winning bidder’s own personal vault. McFarlane’s Spider-Man No. 13 page 14 showing the origin of Spider-Man’s black costume also made the top 10 price list, taking in $162,500.

The original movie poster art for Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Gustaf Tenggren, a talented and renowned children’s book artist, captured Snow White’s timeless beauty, the personality of each of the Seven Dwarfs and the distinctive “Old World” look Disney sought for his breakthrough animated movie. Bidders appreciated this exceptional piece of Disney history to the tune of $187,500, setting an artist record for Tenggren. Esteemed pulp, comic and paperback painter Norm Saunders’ painting for Topps’ Mars Attacks! trading card No. 18, “A Soldier Fights Back” — in which an Earthling soldier makes a valiant but futile last stand against invading Martians — set an artist record as well, selling for $150,000.

The record-busting Superman No. 1 sale was the headline story of the Comics Auction, but it wasn’t the only big sale of the event — nor even the only Superman comic found in the attic by three brothers in San Francisco to earn a record-breaking CGC grade and subsequently sell in the auction. Also mixed into that historic stack of vintage newspapers was a copy of Action Comics No. 15 that earned an eye-popping 9.4 grade from CGC, putting it atop the census and garnering a sale price of $264,000. Likewise, their copy of Action Comics No. 12 is the lone 9.0-graded example, and it enjoys some alone time in the Fortress of Solitude for that grade with none higher. All told, the family found five copies of Action Comics in addition to the famous Superman No. 1, and each of the five set the price record for its respective issue: Issue No. 9 with $50,400, No. 12 with $204,000, No. 15 with $264,000, No. 18 with $31,200 and No. 21 with $33,600, as each achieved CGC grades varying from fine-plus to near-mint.