DALLAS, TX.- Two “Holy Grails” of the comic collecting hobby each surpassed the $1 million mark Thursday to kick off Heritage Auctions’ May 7–9 Comic Books Signature® Auction, which took in a total of $10,234,100 by the end of the three-day sale. Combined with the overlapping May 8–10 Comic Art Signature® Auction take of $12,151,880, the four-day event rang up a total of $22,385,980.

Offering at least one copy of the top seven most valuable issues on the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, the Comic Books auction was led by eye-catching copies of the two most valuable issues in the hobby: a CGC 7.0 Conserved copy of Action Comics No. 1, the 1938 issue that marked the first appearance of Superman and created the concept of the modern superhero, and a CGC 6.5 copy of Detective Comics No. 27, which introduced Batman to the world in 1939. Action Comics No. 1 has topped the Overstreet guide for decades, with Detective Comics No. 27 usually just behind it.

The Action Comics No. 1 copy sold for $1,403,000 including buyer’s premium — a new record for a Conserved label, more than doubling the previous Conserved label record, set by Heritage Auctions with a CGC Conserved FN-5.5 copy of Action Comics No. 1 sold in June 2021. The Dark Knight debut realized $1,525,000 including buyer’s premium Thursday. This Detective Comics No. 27 copy is one of only six graded a 6.5 by CGC, and only eight copies have higher marks on the CGC census.

“Anytime we have a price surpass $1 million, it is an exciting moment,” says Heritage Auctions Vice President Barry Sandoval. “To have two lots hit seven digits in the first hour is thrilling, and it was an auspicious start to a fantastic four-day Comic Books and Comic Art event.”

The Action Comics No. 1 book was sold by a longtime collector who splurged on a copy as a young man in the mid-1980s and managed to hold onto it until the auction, weathering some hard times and not selling until he was ready. He entrusted the copy to Timmy Heague, a California comics writer and shop owner, to broker the sale. Heague donated a portion of his commission from the sale to three different comics- and publishing-industry charities and organizations: the Hero Initiative, the Book Industry Charitable Foundation and Comics Professional Retail Organization.

“It has been the thrill of a lifetime being part of this sale,” Heague says. “I’m extremely thankful to the original owner for entrusting me with this piece of comic book history, thankful to CGC for all their amazing help and to Heritage for making all this happen. I’m over the moon on what it sold for, and the percentage going to my selected charities and organizations is substantially more than I dreamed it be.”

Each copy of the rest of the top seven on the Overstreet list in the Comic Books Auction realized six figures. Listed in order of their Overstreet value:

• Superman No. 1 CGC 1.5 — $109,800
• Marvel Comics No. 1 CGC Restored Apparent 9.0 — $158,600
• Batman No. 1 CGC 5.0 — $366,000, the third-highest lot in the Comic Book auction
• All-American Comics No. 16 CBCS 4.0 — $158,600
• Captain America Comics No. 1 CGC 4.0 — $128,100

A spectacular CGC 8.5 copy of Amazing Fantasy No. 15, the 1962 Silver Age title that introduced Spider-Man and launched the Marvel Age, was the fourth-highest lot at $268,400. It is one of 13 copies graded 8.5, with only 26 higher on the Census.

Just behind it was the $244,000 sale of a Census-topping 9.8 copy of Marvel Spotlight No. 5: Ghost Rider, the issue that introduced the Spirit of Vengeance, a.k.a. Johnny Blaze.

Leading the May 8–10 Comic Art Signature® Auction was the John Romita Sr. cover for The Amazing Spider-Man No. 41, which ended up at $656,250. Just Romita’s third cover for the title, it is a bold depiction of the Rhino, introduced to the Marvel Universe here charging toward the reader and practically bursting off the page. The price tied the February 27 sale at Heritage of the cover of The Amazing Spider-Man No. 84 for the most ever paid for a Romita cover. Three other Romita covers were featured in the auction, and each hit the six-figure mark: Spidey with a gang of classic supporting characters on No. 91 ($325,000), the Shocker’s second cover appearance on No. 72 ($300,000) and the Punisher’s second cover appearance on No. 135 ($137,500). The four tallied up to $1,418,750.

A newly discovered Action Comics cover by Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman, took in $450,000. Original Golden Age-era DC art was rarely saved for posterity, and Shuster drew for a relatively short time before leaving the work to assistants, making his pieces especially uncommon. This was only the second original published Shuster Superman cover Heritage has ever offered.

An unprecedented initial offering of 30 Al Williamson Star Wars comic strip original artworks consigned directly by the revered artist’s estate realized a total of $465,312, led by the April 26, 1981, Sunday strip, with its amazing portrait of Darth Vader and detailed depictions of C-3PO and R2-D2, which sold for $75,000.

Jim Starlin’s original art for story page 14 of Iron Man No. 55, the half-splash, first full reveal of Thanos, tied with one of the Romita Spider-Man covers for the third-highest total of the art sale at $325,000.

Intricate, painstaking work from the 1990s performed particularly well over the weekend. Joe Madureira’s original art from the wraparound gatefold cover of The Uncanny X-Men No. 350, the final issue of his time on the title, took in $275,000. Inker Tim Townsend marks the end of the run with a handwritten note reading, “It’s been awesome bro. Take care,” and signed off “Tim Sad” under Madureira’s “Joe Mad” signature.

Jim Lee’s X-Men II Keepsake Collection portfolio cover original art, which was subsequently used on posters, sold for $212,500. It captures the three most popular mutants in iconic poses as depicted by the X-Men’s definitive Modern Age artist.

“Some of the strongest growth in the field continues to be in art from that era, which is gaining new collectors by the day,” says Todd Hignite, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Comic Art.

A couple of bidding wars Sunday drove home how rapidly collector demand is growing for the highly detailed work of Modern Age artists, including some still working today. On the 1986 cover of Longshot No. 6, the final issue of Arthur Adams’ groundbreaking Marvel series, Spiral wallops Longshot as Mojo laughs maniacally in the background. The unforgettable original cover art packed a punch in the auction, realizing $150,000. An explosive 1994 Stephen Platt promotional illustration for Prophet featured in the Prophet Art Portfolio sold for $137,500.

“In general, it seems the wildest and most unpredictable bidding wars lately have been for 1990s stuff,” Sandoval says. “Arthur Adams was a major influence on the hot 1990s artists, so I think his work has gotten a boost as well.”