Heritage Auctions began their four-day Comic & Comic Art Signature Auction with an enormous $4.45 million in just the first session. Nearly every comic and piece of original comic art in those 52 lots climbed beyond their preauction estimates. The rest of the auction’s 1,431 will close over the weekend on April 2-4, 2021.

DC’s cigar-chomping bounty hunter from space took one of the top spots on day one when Simon Bisley’s cover to Lobo #1 ended at $192,000 – more than six times the estimate. The artwork features a close-up portrait of the Main Man psychotically grinning as he bites his tongue.

A new record was set for the Dark Knight when Batman #1 CGC 5.0 hammered for $360,000 – nearly twice the highest price paid for that grade. That major Golden Age key marked his first titular comic and is the second most valuable to feature the Caped Crusader.

The Man Without Fear nabbed two incredible results, starting with the Daredevil #1 page 2 original art that closed at $288,000. Selling for nearly four times the preauction estimate, that page contains the panel in which Bill Everett introduced Daredevil. The other sale was Daredevil #1 CGC 9.6 that set a new record by selling for $150,000.

“Every book offered so far has set a new record,” Heritage Vice President Lon Allen said. “To say this has been a thrilling beginning to the auction would be understatement.”

That includes Fantastic Four #1 CGC 9.0 (first appearance of the team) for $264,000, Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 7.5 (Spider-Man’s introduction) for $156,000, and Tales of Suspense #39 CBCS 9.4 (first Iron Man) for $132,000.

One of the auction’s most unique items was the Action Comics #1 prototype ashcan from 1937. This book was the first to advertise the Action Comics title and iconic logo that DC still uses after 84 years. It reached $204,000, making it the highest price ever paid for one of the early DC prototypes.

Dave Stevens’ cover art to 1983’s Alien Worlds #2 soared to $120,000 – three times its estimate. This EC nod is one of the earliest covers The Rocketeer creator produced and a rarity that depicted his character Aurora.

Giant-Size X-Men #1 page 22, written by Len Wein with art by Dave Cockrum, hammered for twice its estimate at $102,000. This page introduces Nightcrawler as part of the pivotal story that redefined the X-Men team.

“The results from the first day of this four-day sale are amazing, but not surprising,” Allen exclusively told Scoop. “Already this year, Heritage has set two all-time records for Batman books, and what we saw today alone suggests the market for historic titles is as strong as ever. Moreover, the extraordinary results for original comic art confirm what we’ve long known to be true: These pieces are cultural touchstones, extraordinary works of storytelling and just wonderful works on their own to be displayed like anything that might hang in a museum.”

The rest of Heritage’s Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction closes on April 2-4.