A single page of a Spider-Man comic book fetched a record-breaking $3.36 million at Heritage Auctions on Thursday (January 13).
The page was the original artwork by Mike Zeck and shows Spider-Man with a black costume for the first time.
“It’s one of a kind,” Joe Maddalena, the vice president of Heritage Auctions, told Reuters.
“It just was one of those moments in the lore of Spider-Man’s fame that told this important part of this story that subsequently this character would turn into Venom. It’s pretty amazing,” he said.
The Spider-Man page wasn’t the only comic-related lot making millions at the auction.
“Just a few minutes after this we had Action number one, the origin and first appearance of Superman, ok? A high grade copy, $3.18 million dollars so Spider-Man from 1984 beat Superman, which is unbelievable,” Maddalena said.
Auction houses have turned to popular culture since the beginning of the pandemic, with record prices for comics and Pokemon cards.
“I think that popular culture is taking its place in the art world,” said Maddalena, adding “Collectors are buying their nostalgia so instead of buying their, you know, piece of contemporary art, this is it. They’d rather have this because this speaks to them more than a piece of contemporary art would.”
