The earliest existing Superman cover art is up for sale from February 20 through 22 at Heritage Auctions’ “Vintage Comics and Comic Art Signature Auction” in New York. The black and white cover of “Action Comics #15” by Fred Guardineer, depicting the Man of Steel underwater and rushing to save a U.S. submarine, is ranked #67 on Overstreet’s Top 100 Golden Age Comics list and is expected to realize $200,000. In August 1939, the date of the issue, that comic went for a mere 10 cents.
“Guardineer’s cover is the earliest Superman cover art in existence,” said Heritage senior vice president Ed Jaster in a statement. “It is a blockbuster piece of early American comic art history and a fitting companion to the landmark finds in this auction.”
But Superman isn’t the only comic hero whose first appearance will be celebrated at next week’s auction. Among the roughly 1,200 lots on offer is “Amazing Fantasy #15,” which includes the first appearance of Spider-Man. The punchy colorful cover of this 1962 Marvel comic by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, featuring Spider-Man sailing across a city skyline in his signature blue and red outfit, is in “Very Fine/Near Mint” condition, or a 9.0 grade by Certified Guaranty Company. A high-grade copy of “Tales of Suspense #39,” with the first appearance of Iron Man, is also up for grabs.
At the other end of the comic hero spectrum are the “flunked out hipsters” and “stoned out gurus” of Robert Crumb’s original 1968 drawings for the three-page story “Ducks Yas Yas,” which appeared in “Zap Comix #0,” and are also up for auction. “Finding any published R. Crumb comic book original art from this period is remarkable,” reads the description, “but getting the chance to bid on a complete story like this is practically unheard of.”
