DALLAS, TX.- Two Albert Uderzo original Astérix and Obélix artworks and two by Jean Giraud, aka Moebius, reached or surpassed the six-digit mark during the April 18–19 International Comic Art Signature® Auction, led by the instantly recognizable cover painting from Les Lauriers de César, which realized $450,000. The sale was a rare opportunity for collectors to obtain an Uderzo painting and Heritage Auctions’ first time to offer one.

Consistently ranked among the five best-selling comics of all time with over 380 million copies sold worldwide, Astérix is a pillar of global popular culture. Few of Uderzo’s cover paintings have ever hit the open market, though, despite the comic’s worldwide popularity and long publication run, as most remain in institutional collections or the artist’s estate.

The cover painting to Les Lauriers de César showed Uderzo’s mastery of color and composition with its monumental marble profile of Julius Caesar dominating one side as Astérix and Obélix clownishly advance toward it, all set against a radiant orange background. The next highest-priced lot of the auction, on the other hand, was a showcase of the absurd humor and characterization that made the series such a hit: a story page from one of the most beloved albums, Astérix Chez Les Helvètes No. 16, with an ensemble of beloved Gaulish villagers. Its final price of $212,500 set an auction record for an Astérix page.

“The price achieved for the page is significantly above what has been seen on the market for at least the past two years,” says Olivier Delflas, Heritage’s Director of International Comic Art and Anime.

Moebius works also performed strongly, with Major Fatal, The Airtight Garage of Jerry Cornelius Splash Page 4 realizing $137,500 and The Old Major and Jerry Cornelius, a standalone canvas featuring Major Fatal seated at a table with a large painted image of Michael Moorcock’s character Jerry Cornelius hanging on the wall behind him, fetching an even $100,000.

Delflas was thrilled by the performance of the Uderzo and Moebius lots and points out that Heritage Auctions, through its International Comic Art Signature sales, is uniquely positioned to reach this level of buyer. The lots were part of the Platinum selection, a grouping of 18 premier items that combined for a total of $1,399,375.

Other highlights of the Platinum group included cover art from Robert Crumb’s The Complete Crumb Comics Vol. 10, which achieved $75,000; a late-Silver Age Jack Kirby Silver Surfer page from Fantastic Four No. 76, which went for $68,750; a striking story page by Enrico Marini from Batman: The Dark Prince Charming No. 2 featuring Batman astride the imposing Batpod, which reached $57,500; and the dynamic Bronze Age John Romita Sr. cover for Captain America No. 140 showing Cap and the Falcon struggling against the Gargoyle, which fetched $51,250.

The results for original Manga art confirmed Delflas’ confidence in the genre’s increasing prominence in the market. Masanobu Asai’s Adventure King Astroganger Splash Page 1, introducing characters Kantaro Hoshi and Rie Hayakawa, sold for an impressive $15,000. Other Manga highlights included Buichi Terasawa’s kinetic story page 67 from Space Adventure Cobra: Secret Of The Ultimate Weapon Vol. 3 Chapter 3 achieving $11,875 and a remarkable color page by Jiro Kuwata from Moonlight Mask reaching $10,625.

“The results achieved are exceptional,” Delflas says. “Buichi Terasawa, Jiro Kuwata and Masanobu Asai show very promising momentum for the future of this category.”