Original comic book art: next-level collecting

This cover illustration for the Incredible Hulk #283 by Ed Hannigan (Marvel, May 1983) ticks all the boxes, but the fact that it was in color had no effect on its performance at auction. It attained $33,314 including the buyer’s premium in March 2022. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.
This cover illustration for the Incredible Hulk #283 by Ed Hannigan (Marvel, May 1983) ticks all the boxes, but the fact that it was in color had no effect on its performance at auction. It attained $33,314 including the buyer’s premium in March 2022. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.
This cover illustration for the Incredible Hulk #283 by Ed Hannigan (Marvel, May 1983) ticks all the boxes, but the fact that it was in color had no effect on its performance at auction. It attained $33,314 including the buyer’s premium in March 2022. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — People of all ages buy comic books to read for pleasure, and a subset of them enjoy collecting investment-grade examples. Still others chase the original hand-drawn illustrations that are reproduced en masse in the actual comic books. “This is another level of fan that very much revels in owning one-of-a-kind works of art,” said Alex Winter, president of Hake’s Auctions in York, Pennsylvania. “It is this unique nature that makes comic art highly sought after by that crowd.”

Continue reading

Sept. 6 no-reserve auction packs a punch with vintage comic books

Superman #233, est. $5-$500

NEW YORK – You can get comics delivered to your iPad or phone, but there’s something special about rifling through boxes or racks of printed, physical comic books. That sense of specialness is enhanced when the comic books are vintage, and date from times you never knew or barely existed in. It gives the sense that the stories are bigger than you – that they were there before you were born, and will be there to delight your great-grandchildren.

On Monday, September 6, starting at 7 pm Eastern time, Jasper52 will hold an 147-lot sale titled No Reserve Rare Comics. Absentee and Internet live bidding will be available through LiveAuctioneers.

Continue reading

Vintage comic books and Pokemon cards triumph at Bruneau

Marvel Comics Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963), graded CGC 8.0, which sold for $23,125
Marvel Comics Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963), graded CGC 8.0, which sold for $23,125

Marvel Comics Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963), graded CGC 8.0, featuring the debut of the Avengers, which sold for $23,125

CRANSTON, R.I. – A copy of Marvel Comics’ Avengers #1 from September 1963 sold for $23,125, a copy of Marvel Comics’ Amazing Spider-Man #14 from July 1964 brought $17,500, and a first-edition, factory-sealed booster box of Wizards of the Coast Pokemon Gym Challenge from 2000 made $17,500 at a pop culture auction held July 10 by Bruneau & Co. Auctioneers.

Continue reading