Even into the late Silver Age, comic publishers looked upon original art as a liability. Terrified that competitors would snag their valuable content and republish their work, original pages and covers were sliced, trashed, burnt, and torn apart with frightening and depressing regularity. This made art from the pre-1970s period extremely rare and coveted by comic art collectors.

ComicConnect is offering one of these holdovers, the Avengers Annual #1 cover, in their current auction. This art has only been offered for sale once before and even then, nearly two decades ago. The cover was drafted during the fertile period when Marvel had ascended to alpha dog in the endless tug-of-war between the Big Two comic publishers.

“This mind-blowing classic boasts a veritable smorgasbord of Avengers, expertly rendered by legendary draftsman Don Heck, whose distinctive and versatile style kept him in demand from the pre-Code horror period through the Marvel Age and finally Bronze and Copper DC classics,” said Rob Reynolds, Director of Consignments. “Here, he is ably assisted by Marvel Bullpen giants John Buscema and John Romita, making this amazing piece a sterling example of 1960s Marvel mania.”

The art auction ends the evening of June 2, 2014 at 7 PM EDT.