It has been said that art, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Art has the power to move us and affect us in ways that very few other mediums can. But what defines good art from bad art, and does it even matter? If I were to ask most art history students who their favorite artists are, I am sure I would get some predictable answers. Perhaps some would answer Vincent Van Gogh, maybe Picasso, or even Jean-Michel Basquiat. These are all popular artists, and I think we can all pretty much agree they have talent. However, in the eye of the trained art critic, not all artists are created equal, and some types of art are held in higher regard than others. Unfortunately, comic and fantasy art are two categories of art that have never been considered to be on par with fine art. To a certain degree this makes sense, as there are paintings by master artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Jackson Pollock, and Willem de Kooning that have sold for several hundred million dollars. Most comic and fantasy art pieces at the high end of the market have just started to break the six to seven figure price range within the last few decades. My personal favorite comic book artist is Neal Adams, who did a superb job in the 1970s by helping to transform the DC Comics character Batman into the much darker and edgier character that is demonstrated in the movies that have graced the silver screen over the past few years. It is no accident that the popularity of comic book characters has translated into prices for original comic art seeing massive success and recognition at auction. Still, these sales have excited comic book enthusiasts but havent really done anything to set the world of fine art on fire. There is, however, some evidence to suggest that this may be slowly changing. Frank Frazetta is a name that is probably unknown to most outside of the comic and fantasy art scene. He was born in 1928 and is credited with bringing the fantasy comic character Conan the Barbarian to life. He died in 2010, and to his fans, he is known as the Godfather of fantasy art, a reputation that cannot be disputed by those who praise his body of work. Due to his unique fantasy art style, he has done multiple comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, and even album covers. Over the past few years, his work has started to increase dramatically on the secondary market, and on May 18, 2019, Heritage Auctions sold his painting titled Egyptian Queen for a record price of $5.4 million at auction. The overall news media reported on the sale, but some art critics lamented that fantasy art will never be on par with fine art due to its depictions of fantasy violence and scantily clad women. With the sale of Egyptian Queen, Frank Frazetta became a very popular artist amongst higher end wealthy fantasy art enthusiasts. Demand for his original paintings grew, but few could have predicted what would come next. Roughly six years after the sale of Egyptian Queen, another prized Frazetta piece, unofficially named Man Ape, was offered at auction through Heritage Auctions. On Sept. 12, 2025, the piece sold with a record setting final bid of $13.5 million, putting Frazetta in a league of his own. Frank Frazetta has now joined the coveted list of artists who have work that has sold above the $10 million mark. This is an amazing feat for any artist, let alone an artist who is known mostly in the comic and fantasy art realm. Does this mean that the fine art world is starting to take notice of Frank Frazetta and more importantly, will this become a trend? To be fair, I think most people have some questions when certain art critics praise an art installation like Comedian. Comedian was the now infamous banana that was duct taped to a wall, created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, which sold for $6.2 million through Sothebys back in November of 2024. I know I may be comparing apples to oranges here (or at the very least, fantasy art to bananas), but I would prefer to live in a world where Frazettas works are valued a little higher than a banana duct taped to a wall, and unfortunately, Egyptian Queen only sold for $5.4 million back in 2019. This begs the question, can the fine art world take a fantasy artist who rose to fame creating comic art seriously? If prices continue to escalate on Frazettas works, I think they will have to at some point. I would also like to point out that art enthusiasts around my age (the under 50 crowd) are starting to demand art that speaks to them directly, and a lot of us grew up with the likes of fantasy and comic art. However, whether this becomes a powerful trend that the fine art world cannot ignore is still up in the air. Maybe instead of comparing Frazetta to Comedian, we should compare his works to that of Norman Rockwell instead? After all, Norman Rockwell was an American illustrator artist who was never really taken seriously by the fine art world either. He is best known for his nostalgia inducing paintings of everyday American life that harkens back to the early to mid-20th century. Unfortunately, even though some of his works have sold for millions of dollars, critics have dismissed his work as lacking any true artistic merit. Will Frank Frazetta suffer a similar fate? In order for me to continue to have faith in the fine art world, I certainly hope not. But then again, someone did pay $6.2 million for a banana duct taped to a wall, so I have little hope. Regardless, it is finally nice to see a fantasy comic artist get their just due, even if it is only at auction, but maybe thats really where it matters? Time will tell. Shawn Surmick has been an avid collector since the age of 12. He currently resides in his hometown of Boyertown, Pa., and is a passionate collector of antiques and collectibles. His articles focus on various topics affecting the marketplace.