Heritage’s upcoming Comic Books Signature Auction and Comic Art Signature Auction on July 9-12, 2026, are headlined by the first page of Iron Man’s debut and two copies of Action Comics #1.

The comic auction on July 9 and July 11 offers seven of the top 10 most valuable Golden Age keys and nine of the top 10 issues ranked by The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide #55. The overlapping art auction on July 10 and July 12 features works by Joe Shuster, Alex Schomburg, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby, and Charles Schulz, among others.

Original art highlights begin with Don Heck’s Tales of Suspense #39 first page, heralding the birth of Iron Man. The page shows Iron Man breaking through his imprisonment, giving a glimpse of his strength. It is accompanied by bold text stating that “Iron Man is born!”

Comic offerings start at the beginning of superheroes with Action Comics #1 CGC 4.5 and a CGC Restored 6.5 copy. Featuring the introduction of Superman, it is the most valuable Golden Age book and has more sales over $1 million than any other comic. The Man of Steel’s keys continue with Superman #1 CGC Restored 5.5 with the origin of Superman and first mention of Krypton in comics.

One of the top Silver Age comics is Tales of Suspense #39 CGC 9.4, a high grade copy of Iron Man’s debut and a companion piece to the original splash page in the auction.

“Original artwork from the first appearance story of one of the truly major characters seldom comes up for sale, and to have the very first page of such a story is even more special,” Heritage Vice President Barry Sandoval said.

The comic art continues with John Byrne and Terry Austin’s Secret Wars II #1 cover art featuring an ensemble of popular characters ready to battle the Beyonder. Not only did the cover kickoff a crossover event, it saw the reunion of the art team behind the X-Men run of the late 1970s and early ‘80s.

There are a dozen lots of illustrations by Superman co-creator Joe Shuster, such as recreations of the Action Comics #1 and Superman #1 covers drawn in the 1980s. Those lots also include a series of Superman educational comics that teach science, world history, and geography that were meant for people of different backgrounds and nationalities. Shuster’s complete 13-page set of preliminary drawings for the Superman #43 story “The Molten World” shows the breakdowns, staging, and character work.

“This lot is particularly significant because it is a whole Superman story from Joe Shuster’s hand,” Sandoval said. “John Sikela and George Roussos were credited as the artists when it appeared in No. 43, but the version in the published comic was not as good. These have a dynamism and vitality the printed one didn’t quite reach.”

Art highlights continue with the debut of Marvel’s British hero in Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia’s Captain Britian #1 cover, Alex Schomburg recreations of his famous comic covers as fine art paintings, and seven of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts works, including a 1964 daily strip showing Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Sally, Lucy, Pigpen, and others.

The comic auction presents 81 issues from the Lost High-Grade DC Collection. This group of books features 350 comics with an average grade of 9.4, and 257 of which either jointly or singularly hold the highest grade for that issue. The collection was purchased between 2009 and 2015, and will be offered by Heritage now through August 22.