Less than a week after its record-smashing $22.4 million Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction, Heritage Auctions set a new world record for the largest weekly comics auction ever held when its Sunday and Monday Comic Books Weekly Select Auction (June 20 and 21) and its Wednesday Comic Art and Animation Select Auction (June 23) amassed $904,285 in total sales.
The Comic Books Auction reached $759,941 in sales, while the Comic Art and Animation Auction brought $144,344. Add in Tuesday’s $64,715 Video Games and Trading Card Games Auction (June 22), and the department’s weekly sales climbed to $969,000, smashing the previous record of $799,725.
The record for any weekly comics auction is $799,725, but that sale included video games and comic art, but the new total sets a new standard for events dedicated solely to comic books.
“We added a night to our weekly auctions because we simply had too many comic books to sell in one night without keeping live bidders awake too late!,” said Barry Sandoval, “and I think this record total shows that there is plenty of quality, not just quantity. To give one example, we have sold 35 copies of Hulk #181 so far in 2021, but still have many more to come.”
Forty bids poured in for Journey Into Mystery #83 (Marvel, 1962), CGC FN+ 6.5 off-white to white pages, until it finished at $26,400 to lead all lots in the auction. The No. 6 issue on Overstreet’s list of Top 50 Silver Age Comics, with its dramatic cover by Jack Kirby and art by Kirby and Steve Ditko, includes the origin and first appearance of Thor. According to the June 2021 CGC census, it is one of just 66 copies graded in 6.5, with only 173 known to carry a higher grade.
Challenging for the auction’s top result was X-Men #1 (Marvel, 1963), CGC VG 4.0 white pages, which brought $24,000. The issue features the origin and first appearance of the X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Marvel Girl), as well as the first appearances of Professor X and Magneto. Jack Kirby created the cover and art for the issue, which is ranked No. 8 on Overstreet's list of Top 50 Silver Age Comics. The offered copy, from the Oregon Coast Collection, is one of 397 graded 4.0, according to the June 2021 CGC census. Other performers in the comic book category were The Incredible Hulk #181 (Marvel, 1974), CGC NM 9.4 white pages, selling for $19,200, and The Incredible Hulk #1 (Marvel, 1962), CGC GD/VG 3.0 white pages, $18,600.
Daredevil #1 (Marvel, 1964), CGC VF- 7.5 cream to off-white pages, realized $14,400. The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Marvel, 1963), CBCS VG 4.0 white pages, sold for $13,800. Amazing Fantasy #15 (Marvel, 1962), CBCS Restored GD+ 2.5 (moderate) white pages, sold for $12,300, and The Incredible Hulk #181 (Marvel, 1974), CGC VF/NM 9.0 off-white pages, went for $10,500.
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