Archie Andrews may not be a super hero, but on February 24′5 the carrot-topped cartoon figure set a super world record when a 1942 Archie Comics #1 sold at Heritage’s Signature vintage comics and comics art auction for $167,300, including the 19½ percent buyer’s premium.
“Archie may have a ways to go to catch the likes of Superman and Batman, his Golden Age counterparts,” said Lon Allen, managing director of comics at Heritage, “but you can bet that collectors sat up and took notice when this comic brought that price.”
George Pantela of GPAnalysis, which tracks all sales of CGC-certified comics, confirmed that this is the highest price ever paid for a non-superhero comic book. It sold to a West Coast collector who chose not to be identified.
The Heritage auction realized a total of $4,270,483, with more than 2,375 bidders vying for 1,262 lots, which translates into a 99.6 percent sell-through by both lot value and lot total.
Carl Barks’ original artwork of Scrooge McDuck continued to perform superbly, as paintings from the Kerby Confer Collection dominated the top ten lots of the auction. The artist’s “Business as Usual,” 1976, a classic Uncle Scrooge in his massive money bin image, lead the way with a final price of $179,250.
For information, 800-872-6467 or www.ha.com. A complete review will appear in a future issue. ⁁K
