None higher is the clarion call of the collector for whom only the perfect and pristine will suffice.None higher. The best of thebest.Its a phrase that will be heard duringHeritage Auctions Thursday to Sunday, Sept. 12 to 15, Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction, applied to mint-condition moments spanning some of comics and pulp fictions most significant offerings. Among their precious ranks: Marvels first superhero book of the Silver Age thats as treasured as gold, a copy of the 1928 magazine that introduced an oversleeping time traveler named Buck Rogers, Doctor Dooms first solo title and the KISS comic book that, seriously, was once Marvels biggest seller. Thats in addition to a varied selection of comic art, including horrific highlights from the pre-Code era, Iron Mans initial tumble toward immortality and the cover from Wolverines first ongoing solo series. This catalog reads like a pie-in-the-sky wish list filled with all the important books and iconic moments you likely remember as though you just read them yesterday, says Heritage Auctions Vice President Barry Sandoval. Who could have imagined a single auction during which you could find the best Fantastic FourNo. 1, the page of art on which Iron Man takes his first steps, or some of Steve Ditkos most memorable pages from the 1960s? Yet here they are, among so many other historic and meaningful works, offered in a single place, and with no minimum bid, to boot. Among this events centerpieces isone of only two copies of 1961s Fantastic FourNo. 1 awarded a Near Mint+ 9.6grade by Certified Guaranty Company. Most copies of this Marvel landmark didnt look this clean and crisp, this impressively immaculate, when they rolled off the printing press, fell off the distributors truck and landed on newsstands 63 years ago. Its the Silver Age dipped in platinum, a sonically sealed time machine heading to auction for the first time. Heritage has never offered so highly a graded copy of the firstFantastic Fouras this one. This was Marvels first superhero book of the era, and, given its mint condition, there will be little debate about its value, asa copy graded Near Mint- 9.2 sold in 2022 for $1.5 million. The book also serves as a springboard for the most anticipated Marvel movie in a long while: July 2025s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, starring Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm andThe Bears Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, a period piece set in the 1960s in keeping with the titles debut. But this firstFantastic Fouris more than a comic book franchise awaiting its latest big-screen iteration. It redefined the superhero whole cloth. Marvel launched the book to complete with DCsJustice League of America. But Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and their super friends were square-jawed paragons of virtue, as longtimeFFwriter Tom DeFalco notes in the paperback collection Fantastic Firsts. Marvels new superhero team, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, possessed quirks and flaws, too. Wrote DeFalco, forever after that firstFF, Heroes were required to have individual personalities, dialogue patterns, interesting backstories and personal conflicts. Fantastic FourNo. 1 was more than just a superhero tale. It created the entire foundation upon which the Marvel Universe was eventually built and commingled numerous genres into a singular, riveting narrative. As Douglas Wolk wrote in All of the Marvels, the teams debut was an adventure-serial comic thatsalsoa superhero comic andalsoa monster comic andalsoa romance comic andalsoa teen-humor comic andalsoa sci-fi comic, all at once. Theres a museums worth of masterpieces on offer, and a few hundred spinner racks worth of marvels and Marvels of significance throughout this auction, chief among them the book that introduced Spider-Man less than a year after the FFs first fight:1962s Amazing FantasyNo. 15, graded Very Fine/Near Mint 9.0. This is no ordinary copy, as it bears from CGCs Curator Pedigree, which a former museum worker assembled from the 1950s well into the 1980s (hence the name) and stored in the institutions vaults until a collector acquired them in the 1990s. The Curator Pedigree is one of the best Silver Age collections ever discovered, according to CGC, which means this Spidey swings to the top of any historic assemblage. This event has one other book that can shout out loud its best-of-the-best status:the worlds single finest copy ofMarvel Comics Super SpecialNo. 1, a unicorn from June 1977, when everything Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss KISS-ed turned to gold. This copy of Marvels biggest seller (until Todd McFarlane suited up for the million-plus-sellingSpider-ManNo. 1 in 1990) is graded 9.9 by Certified Guaranty Company. And with Doctor Doom finally set to make his formal bow in the MCU, thanks to Robert Downey Jr., theres no better time for Heritage to offerone of the worlds finest copies of Marvel Superheroes No. 20, the 1969 book in which the FFs nemesis makes his solo debut. This is one of five copies graded CGC NM/MT 9.8 with, you guessed it, none higher. For more information, visit www.HA.com.