Frank Frazetta Painting Sets Record At Chicago Comic Art Auction

CHICAGO, IL — Heritage Auctions set two world records with Chicago's first public auction for vintage comic books and original comic art Thursday. And while Superman might be more powerful than a locomotive, his earning power at the sale paled next to an ax-wielding barbarian.

"Death Dealer 6," an original 1990 painting by the late renowned fantasy artist Frank Frazetta, sold for $1.79 million, nearly three times more than the estimate for the work, according to the auction house. The sale of the painting — featuring the artist's popular Death Dealer character, which has been used as a Molly Hatchet album cover, a U.S. military mascot and an airbrushed design on the sides of countless of vans from the 1970s — set a world auction record for a Frazetta piece.

Original art from Gary Larson's "The Far Side" comic strip also set an auction world record. It sold for $31,070, the most any of the cartoonist's "Far Side" strips have earned at auction, Heritage said.

Superman might not have set any world records, but Action Comics #1 from 1938 — the character's first appearance — sold for $573,600. The seller, a longtime U.S. comic book collector, had purchased the issue for $50,000 15 years ago.

Other notable sales in the auction's opening lots included:

• Batman #1 (1949), featuring the first appearances of Catwoman and the Joker, $227,050
• original cover art from Amazing Spider-Man #61 (1968) by artist John Romita Sr., $167,300
• original art from a 1986 "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip by artist Bill Watterson, $65,725
• a page of original art from New Mutants #98 (1991), featuring the first appearance of Deadpool, by artist Rob Liefeld, $51,385

The auction, which includes art by Frank Miller, Jack Kirby, Alex Raymond and Charles Schulz, runs through Saturday at Heritage Auctions' Chicago location, 215 W. Ohio St., and its website.

"Death Dealer 6" by Frank Frazetta (Image via Heritage Auctions)