If one needed further proof that funny books have become serious business, look no further than the results from Heritage Auctions June 16 to 19 Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction. The headline-making event realized $24,262,303, attracted nearly 4,900 bidders worldwide and was a near-complete sellout. This was among Heritages most successful Comics and Comic Art events in the auction houses 46-year history. The record was Aprils auction that realized more than $27.67 million. The $2.4 million realized for Frank Miller and Lynn Varleys original cover for 1986s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Book One garnered international headlines following its sale on day one. The image is as simple as it is powerful, a silhouette of The Dark Knight in front of a bolt of lightning, splitting a cobalt-blue sky. So immediately recognizable is the image it is instantly identified by readers and often imitated by other artists. This is an iconic piece of comic art, of comic history, said Todd Hignite, vice president at Heritage Auctions. Even the most casual comic fan identifies this artwork right away; it is one of the most recognizable images of one of the most popular superheroes ever created. Bruce Wayne continues to generate prices befitting his legend. Only last year, the finest known copy of Batman No. 1 sold for $2.22 million at Heritage to shatter the Dark Knights previous world record. The only two comic art lots that sold for more at Heritage Auctions were Frank Frazettas Egyptian Queen, painted for the cover of comics magazine Eerie in 1969, which realized $5.4 million in May 2019, and Mike Zeck and Others Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars #8 story page 25 Black Costume/Venom original art, which brought $3.36 million in January 2022. The previous record for the most expensive Batman original art sold at auction belonged to Millers mentor, Neal Adams, and his 1973 cover for Batman No. 251. That beloved work sold for $600,000 at Heritage in November 2019. The cover for The Dark Knight Returns Book One is also the first work of art from a DC Comics title to sell for more than $1 million. But the Dark Knight cover art was far from the only storyline coming out of the event, and not even the only lot to reach a seven-figure result. So, too, did All Star Comics No. 8 (DC, 1942), CGC NM 9.4 off-white to white pages, featuring Wonder Womans debut, which drew 35 bids before finishing at $1.62 million. Heritage Auctions experts never have seen a blue label copy of this issue with a grade higher than VF 8.0 before the copy offered in this sale. In other words, this is one of the most important issues in DCs history, it is tied for the No. 12 position on Overstreets list of Top 100 Golden Age Comics, and it is one of the toughest to find in high grade. Batman appeared on a fifth lot in the auctions top 10 when Detective Comics No. 29 (DC, 1939), CGC VF+ 8.5 off-white pages, realized $276,000. The second Batman cover is rarely found in such a high grade, and this copy is by far the finest offered by Heritage Auctions. This issue, featuring the first appearance of Dr. Death, is ranked No. 14 on Overstreets Top 100 Golden Age Comics list. Spider-Man swung into the events top 10 lots in the Todd McFarlane Spider-Man No. 16 cover X-Force original art (Marvel, 1991) titled X-Force Joins Spider-Man, which sold for $408,000. McFarlane ended his time on Spider-Man and left Marvel with a unique offering, a crossover with Rob Liefelds popular mutant super-team X-Force. But what makes it really special is that the book was created in a sideways landscape format. McFarlanes definitive look for Spidey, with his exaggerated pose and spaghetti webbing, is front and center, flanked by Warpath, Shatterstar, Boom-Boom and Cannonball, on this final Spider-Man cover by the fan-favorite artist. The event also featured the first Bob Kane original cover Heritage Auctions has offered, Detective Comics No. 59 from 1942, featuring Batman and Robin. This work by Batmans co-creator and Kanes collaborator, Jerry Robinson, realized $180,000. This auction also saw a new record for a 21st-century comic book: Gabrielle DellOttos variant cover for The Amazing Spider-Man No. 677, published just 11 years ago, is one of the rarest books of the modern era; between 200-500 copies were made available to comics retailers upon its publication in 2011. This 9.8-graded copy of the rare book climbed to a new high of $43,200, shattering its previous record of $33,600 set at Heritage one year ago. An Amazing Fantasy No. 15 (Marvel, 1962), CGC VF- 7.5 off-white pages, sold for $216,000; an X-Men No. 1 (Marvel, 1963), CGC NM- 9.2 off-white to white pages, $204,000; and a Superman No. 1 (DC, 1939), CGC FR/GD 1.5 cream to off-white pages, sold for $198,600. For complete results, visit www.HA.com/7274.