Heritage is starting the year strong. The auction house held their first Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction of the year on January 12-15, 2023, bringing in a total of $13,508,641. Featuring 1,015 lots of memorabilia, the auction set records forDave Cockrum art, Spider-Man, Little Dot, and more.

“By Heritage standards, this was something of a boutique event, yet prices were fantastic across the board as evidenced by the records set for several artists and such landmark titles as Amazing Fantasy #15, Batman #1, and Whiz Comics #1,” Senior Vice President Ed Jaster said. “No matter what happens in the outside world, it’s clear the vintage comic market remains resilient, while the market for original comic art continues to exceed all expectations.”

Dave Cockrum’s X-Men #98 cover, one of his earliest for the series, realized $432,000. Featuring Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus (all of whom were created by Cockrum), plus an early Wolverine cover appearance, the art opened at $120,000, before quickly breaking the record for the artist’s work.

Frank Frazetta’s cover for 1973’s Signet paperback Flash for Freedom! showing antihero Harry Flashman rose to $660,000, tying for the fifth most valuable Frazetta piece sold at Heritage.

The comic offerings were led by Spider-Man’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 9.2, which sold for $810,000, setting a new record for the grade.

Major Golden Age keys led comics with number one issues dominating the biggest sales. Superman #1 CGC 5.0 brought $675,000, Batman #1 CGC 6.0 cleared $552,000, Flash Comics #1 CGC 5.0 ran to $192,000, and Whiz Comics #1 nabbed $120,000.

Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, and Joe Rubinstein’s Wolverine miniseries page 17 from the second issue went for $156,000. Bob Layton’s cover to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #7 featuring Captain America, She-Hulk, Spider-Woman, and the X-Men hit $132,000 – setting a new record for his art.

Don Heck’s Tales of Suspense #39 page 4 in which Tony Stark takes shrapnel to the heart went for $132,000. Werner Roth, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers’ X-Men #26 cover with Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, and Angel cleared $132,000. George Pérez and Joe Sinnott’s Fantastic Four #184 cover hammered for $120,000. Don Perlin, Ian Akin, and Brian Garvey’s Transformers: The Movie #1 cover brought $102,000.

Outside of superhero titles, Little Dot #1 CGC 9.6, with the debuts of Richie Rich and Dorothy Polka, set a new auction record at $78,000.