YORK, PENN. — Hake’s March 25-26 auction of extraordinary rarities from across today’s most popular collecting categories rocketed to a lofty $2.2 million, with many new world records set along the way. Prior to the sale, Hake’s president, Alex Winter, had predicted the Star Wars original comic art would reach “a new level in the marketplace.” It did exactly that. The greatest prize in the comic book art category was Howard Chaykin’s (b 1950) original pen-and-ink page (Page 16) from Star Wars #1, the first of six issues in a series published by Marvel in July 1977 as a print adaptation of the film, Star Wars: A New Hope. Following a bidding battle royale, it closed at $80,475 including premium, a record price for any Star Wars comic book story page original art. Following the sale, Winter was able to share only that the lot was “going into a serious top level comic art collection in the US.” For information, 717-434-1600 or www.hakes.com.